New Oil Painting by Kerry Nelson

A herd of wild mustangs gallop for sanctuary over the side of a steep hill. With the future of America's wild horses in question, I find myself dispairing of thier fate, and, I am impelled to paint them (always a favorite subject of my art) once again, perhaps in an attempt to capture the freedom, beauty, and, dignity that our wild horses have always represented...at least to me!

Available for sale HERE! 

 More work for sale at http://www.kerryoriginals.com/

And at http://www.kerryoriginals.etsy.com/

"Malpais Gold" original oil by Kerry Nelson

"Malpais Gold"

Living thier lives along the edges of the Malpais lava flows in southcentral New Mexico, this little family of mustangs seeks sanctuary and grazing among the treacherous walls and boulders of razor sharp volcanic rock.

"Malpais Gold" is painted on a hand-made 14x18x1/8 inch hardboard panel using archival materials and is signed on the front, and, titled, signed, and, dated on the back. This is the original artwork, not a reproduction! Comes with a gorgeous antique gold with black crackle insert wood frame
 
AVAILABLE FOR SALE $495.00.  Purchase here;
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31747446
 
See more work for sale at; http://www.kerryoriginals.etsy.com/
See new work and works in progress at; http://www.kerryoriginals.blogspot.com/

Presence

I painted this 30x40 oil on gallery-wrapped canvas as I was transitioning between series. I had been working on Equine Spirit paintings - somewhat abstracted/fantasy/dream images of horses that had more to do with capturing the essence of equine rather than literal interpretation. I was moving into (although I didn't realize it at the time) my totem animal series.

In this piece I really tried to suspend my own idea of what the painting should be and let the horses guide me. The thing I kept thinking about was the very subtle way horses communicate with each other - the position of an ear, a swish of a tail, an almost imperceptible shift in weight. To the untrained eyes, this small band of horses may seem to be completely at rest, unaware. But if you look at their ears, you can see as a group they are listening to each other and to sounds from the woods beyond. And they are aware of the viewer.

Click here for more information about "Presence."

Approaching the herd

I have a new horse photography client in my geographic area, and have been out to her place a couple of times since we first met in the late fall/early winter. I love her set-up and her herd, plus she is in a very nice prairie setting. The only thing lacking so far in our association has been decent weather, and that's something that I hope time will correct as our very long and harsh winter finally shows signs of a slow departure.

This shot is a merged one where I took one photo of Mable leading her boy Michael, and merged it with a different shot of the mare herd. I also altered the colors and added a mild wood texture. I'm quite happy with the end result. I've got lots of shots of Mable's horses in my portfolio already, and I hope for many more to come in the future. You can check her website to learn more about her operation, and my website (under the Western gallery) to see more photos from her place. 

Snowing again!

Snowing again this morning and for a change not in the minus twenties (or thirties) so I felt the need to run south of the city to get some more snow shots of my favorite herd while the getting was good. I never know for sure what I'll be offered by these horses when I go out there. Often as not they will be clustered around the rather unscenic fences and shelters which don't make for good backgrounds. The mare herd was exactly in that situation this morning, but the large group of youngsters in the north pasture was out in the field and sheltering in the trees, perfect for my purposes.

Of course as soon as they spotted me they started coming my way, since being youngsters they are pretty curious in general. Even the occasional one that exhibits a bit of "worried" body language still seems inexorably drawn to the intruder in their space, to get close enough for at least a sniff. I have to get my "incoming" shots quickly as in no time at all I'll be engulfed by the herd, and with my big lens on the camera, that just doesn't work for me. 

Overall it was a good shoot. Fingers got chilled a bit but not the searing pain I usually experience when I'm out in the colder weather. There was enough snow coming down that it was occasionally a bit confusing for the camera to figure out what I was focussing on, but I'm happy with the morning's outcome. More snow is possible in the next few days, and as long as the temperature doesn't take a dive on us, I'll head back out for another go-round. No such thing as too many "horses in snow" shots--or horses in any other circumstances, for that matter. As addictions go, this one is relatively harmless!

All my photos are for sale. Contact me to inquire further. More photos can be seen at my home blog

Sunset ghost herd

I have done quite a few of these "ghost" images, which appeal to me on a number of levels. I like to create images with a bit of visual ambiguity, where you have to look a second time to understand what you are seeing, and make your own interpretation of what is going on.

I try not to duplicate my posted images from one blog site to another, so you can always check my "home" blog page http://judywoodartphotography.blogspot.com/ to check out a lot of other visuals, not all equine, but lots of horses there.

All of my art photos are for sale in a variety of sizes and presentations, prices start at $40 for a matted 8" x 10" image on photo paper with archival inks. Thanks for looking. By the way, I just recently discovered that if you click on the images on these blogs (mine too) you get a nice enlargement of the image. Much easier viewing that way!!