"End of the Line"

"End of the Line" 

11" x 14" 

On Independence Day I went to the St. Paul Rodeo. That was my first time and I'll go back next year (my plan is to have an art booth this time!). I took almost 900 photos with my little Canon point and shoot camera, and about 20 are probably paintings worthy. 

This paintings is of one of the pickup men "bringing" a bucking bull back to the chute. These horses are really tough and brave for racing after a big horned bull and then dragging the beast which is almost the same size as them. I decided to be more loose with my background so that all the attention can be on the rider, horse, and bull. What do you think of it?

Happy Independence Day!

Independence Day at the St. Paul Rodeo. 

"Wichita"

"Wichita" 

5" x 7" 

SOLD (Thank You!)

Wichita is another horse from the Philmont herd I worked with in the summer of 2010. He's a sweet little horse and I rode him the second week of topping off. We were going great, walk, trot, lope, all in line with the 30 other wranglers in the large arena. And then it happened, Wichita tripped. Now, when horses trip, they catch themselves because they don't want to fall. But I guess we were going too fast around the corner and a dirt clod just happened to be in the wrong place. I remember his head disappearing and then I'm being thrown over his right shoulder. THUD. And I roll. I look up and see hooves, flaying legs, and blue sky. I roll more. I feel my heart thumping in my chest and I'm short of breath. I look around and see Wichita scrambling up; good he's ok. But I'm in pain - shoulder, arm, back. The bosses "escort" me to behind a solid wooden round pen to see if I'm seriously injured while the ambulance (modified SUV) is on its way. I went to the Philmont hospital, get checked out, and given pain killers. Nothing broken, but I sleep in a recliner for the next three or so nights because it's too painful to lay down all the way. Bruised, sore, but not broken. I have no hard feelings to Wichita. He was a willing little pinto pony who didn't do it on purpose (unlike some of the other new horses who were down right crazy - that's another story).

"The Grulla and his Girl"

"The Grulla and his Girl" 

11" x 14" 

SOLD

It has gone from a rainy Oregon to sweltering heat; all within a week. This is the time of the year I wish I was out in the county - wide open fields and shady forests. So, here is a recent painting I did featuring the landscape of Philmont and a wrangler riding a Philmont horse, Sizzler. Part of what I love about painting is that I can use two reference photos to complete a watercolor. The original photo of the cowgirl on the grulla was taken at Cattle Headquarters inside one of the corrals and the background photo was taken on the trail up to the Stockades. So I just put the two together to make a nice little painting! If you're familiar with Philmont, you can see the Tooth of Time between the cowgirl and Sizzler's left ear.

What do you think of that sky? Does it smell like rain?