The Carousel Horse

The Carousel Horse
On the outside, of a beautiful carousel horse, you see shiny paint, a wooden shell, glossy colors....but look deeply into their eyes and you will see the soul of a trapped horse, who longs to be free. He doesn't want to go round and round any longer. He wants to leap from the slick, circling platform onto green meadows and feel clean air sucking through his lungs.

You don't know it, but at night, when the carousel shuts down, the hooves are freed from their pedestals, wood becomes living flesh, and the horse's wish is granted.

When I was a child, and I visited the carousel with my grandparents, the horses knew I was "one of those who understood". They'd came to my house in the dead of night and I'd hear their impatient hooves outside my window. I could open the window and make the leap onto one of their backs and spend the rest of the magical night flying across the ground on the wildest of wild horses....the carousel!
Donna Ridgway
This painting is 8X10" on gallery wrapped canvas.
See more carousel horses here.
Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Wild girls

I did a photo shoot for a friend a few weeks ago. Mostly she wanted shots of her partner working with his Clydesdale, plus a few other of their horses. I was happy to be there since they had such an interesting assortment of horses and other species in a very nice setting. Having good backgrounds is a bonus for me. I was done with my other shots and went to see what else I could find to shoot when these young mares came charging out of the trees. The black one is a Canadian by breed, the other two are Hackneys (not the pony, but Hackney horses, which I hadn't seen before).

Contact me by email to purchase prints or for inquiries. judywood@sasktel.net

See more photos on my blog: http://judywoodartphotography.blogspot.com/

Lori's Foal

"Lori's Foal"
This is a pastel portrait I did a while ago.
My focus was on the coming of spring.
Lori was a horse I rode for a little while at Haskins Farm. She had a filly in the spring, 1997. I visited her and her newborn. One day they were outside in the corral enjoying the sun and warm weather. It was one of the First warm days of Spring and there was still some snow leftover. I watched as the foal investigated the snow and then rolled and played in it. I took a few photos of them. I then made a picture of "Mom" and her foal near a small pile of melting snow. My tribute to "Beings of spring".

Lori's Foal is available in cards at my Zazzle.com

and on a writing journal at my Cafepress store.

Happy Spring

Mar 5 - Elin Pendleton, 5 x 7 Oil of Clouds and Cows

This little 5 x 7 oil was started in the February Riverside workshop on the third day, demonstrating how skies can come together with the "magic three" plus white--how all skies can easily be done with this limited triad plus an occasional oddball color. In this case I added the cool yellow in various places.
I was specifically addressing the values in the sky during the lecture that accompanied the demonstration--emphasizing that the shadows on clouds are always lighter than any shadow on the ground, which makes for a believable "up there" in one's composition. Yes, there can be dramatic skies, but keeping those dark shadow clouds a skosh lighter than the shadows on the ground makes it readable for the viewer. And it always has to READ RIGHT.
Here's the version as the attendees at the workshop saw it--I didn't finish it until later on, and it is now on display, framed up at the Norco Western Art Show, which opens tomorrow with the Sponsors/Buyers Reception and Dinner.

You can see my entire blog here.



If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Mar 3 - Elin Pendleton paints mules as a demonstration

Here's another painting I took over to Norco this morning for the Western Art Show next weekend. An odd size at 12 x 13.5 inches, I painted this one as a demonstration for the workshop last month, depicting morning light using the Color System (even though the source photo was a black and white, and taken later in the day) for the students.

What I really like about it is the color harmony of the yellows, dusty salmon colors and the blues and violets, creating a nice complimentary balance. The distant buildings are essential for that color balance, even though they are compromised with cool yellow to gray them down. Note the darker shadow shapes in the nearby areas, where distant shadows are not as much of a contrast. "As things get further away, the contrast of values lessens".

This one is hanging and framed in dark warm wood on the wall of my "space" in Nellie Weaver Hall in Norco. The premier buyers' night will be this Thursday. I have nine paintings over there, and I like every one of 'em... High hopes here, even in a downturned retail market!

You can see my entire blog here.

If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Hi! And an introduction!

I'd like to thank Donna for inviting me to join this blog. I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Deborah O'Sullivan and I am (suprise!) an equine artist. I have been involved in the horse industry as a catch rider and then trainer. I evolved from showing jumpers on the A circuit to switching to Dressage and specializing in equine and rider biomechanics. I am a die hard Thoroughbred person. I have bought many horses from the killers and retrained them to new careers. One of my own went on to become a highly successful amateur /owner jumper. My most recent TB (and heart horse) was a wonderful third level Dressage horse and had to be retired because of health issues. I am a self taught artist and was strongly influenced by Sam Savitt in my youth. Most recently I am very influenced by Elin Pendleton who I am delighted to find on this blog! I am a stickler for correct anatomy, biomechanics and equipment in equine artwork yet I ahve deviated from my previous hyper-realistic style to favoring lots of color and the use of brushstrokes to capture the emotion of the moment. I work in watercolors and acrylics. You can visit me website at Art of the Horse
I ,also, maintain a blog at Art of the Horse Blog
I welcome comments and any artist that would like to do a link exchange, feel free to contact me with your info! I am delighted to be among such a wonderful group of artists!
Here are some recently completed paintings and they are available for sale on my blog.
This one is titled Baroque 3.
More info available here.. Baroque 3



















This next painting is a watercolor and was completed last year. It is part of my training scale series and is titled Connection. Original and prints available for sale here....
Collection











And for good measure here is a photo of me and my TB G (aka Giovanni) an ex racehorse purchased from the killers for 35 cents a pound and a case of Hamm's beer to seal the deal.......

Mar 2 - Elin Pendleton, Acrylic 24 x 30 Landscape

I didn't realize how much time has gone by--but then again, February is a short month. Here's one of the paintings that was in process during the last workshop, sitting on my easel awaiting time to finish it before delivery to the Norco Western Art Show next weekend. This is a 24 x 30 acrylic, and is loosely taken from the area behind us up on Box Springs Mountain.
It is done with many, many layers of acrylic paint, applied thinly and semi-transparently, and this digital image cannot show the depth and richness of all of those layers. I'm almost pleased with it.
There are five horses coming down from the hillside, and they are so much a part of the landscape that one notes them only secondarily after the pathway contrasts and colorful autumn foliage, yet they will hold your attention long after your eye wanders the landscape.
This and eight other paintings will be delivered tomorrow to Norco, where I'm honored to be a Premier artist for this weekend show. Lots of fun and western art and artists whose company I always enjoy!
The workshop was, according to the attendees, a roaring success. The survivors of "Color Boot Camp" are shown here on my studio steps with one of the many paintings they did during the concentrated weekend. I am so pleased that every artist came away with important knowledge they can use immediately! The Yahoo group "Color System" is a-buzz with their new painting journeys! In two weeks, the second workshop will be taking off!


You can see my entire blog here.



If you need to email me directly, please click here.