Hartsville Horses & The Scottsdale Artist's School

Good news .... My painting, Hartsville Horses has been chosen for inclusion in the 2011 Scottsdale Artist's School "The Best and the Brightest" juried art show and sale. I'll be packing this painting up in a few weeks and sending it to Arizona to hang at the show which runs at the school from January 8 through March 15 2011. The paintings in this show will also be shown at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale.

I painted these draft horses at a farm on the road from Gallatin to Hartsville, TN. The back light was irresistible and I just had to paint this one. The horse on the right was the subject of a smaller painting that I did a while back that was on the cover of "The Barn Book" in 2009. That one was so much fun to paint that I just had to do more ....so here they are ..."Hartsville Horses", oil on canvas, 10 x 20.

Belmont Community Art Show and Sale

Just a few weeks and the Belmont Community Art Show and Sale will be in full swing.
I'm happy to be invited to participate this year. You'll find me including smaller sized works to help fill the need for gift sized paintings since it won't be that long until the holidays are here! See you at Christ the King school between Oct.1st and 3rd!

Chronicle of the Horse Cover Art

I was thrilled and honored to be chosen for another Chronicle of the Horse Cover for the July 23rd, 2010 issue. The Chronicle has a long list of artists over the years who have graced their magazine covers. Many of those names from the past have been an inspiration for me throughout my life as an artist.

Thank you Chronicle for choosing "View from Virginia Tech Barn"! Our sons both attended Virginia Tech and the many trips to campus we occasionally saved room for a photo shoot over at the equestrian facility and barns. The view out to the Blue Ridge mountains
with beautiful well cared for horses in the pastures
was inspiration for this painting.
I always smile at the memory of it.

A Horse in Vieste, Italy

I'm always looking for horses wherever we travel. My husband loves Italy and because of him I love it too. My only complaint is that we rarely see horses there in our travels. Granted, the rolling vineyards are breathtaking but the views of grazing horses are few and far between.
Last year we spent some time staying at a small coastal resort town called Vieste ( if you see the “spur” of the boot of Italy…that’s Vieste) It has beautiful white cliffs falling into flat sands and calm waters of the Adriatic. We were walking along the base of the cliffs near the town when we heard hoof beats! As a guy was leading his horse down to the beach, his friend pulls up in a small car beside the two of them. This picture is what I snapped as I saw the horse being exercised Italian style….. two guys in a little car, talking and smoking; one with his hand stuck out the window leading the horse at a slow trot with their little dog following behind. I love to see how the Italians sometimes do have a different way of doing things!

Featured Artist at Picture This Gallery in Hermitage, TN

This July I'll be one of the featured artists at PICTURE THIS GALLERY in Hermitage,TN.
Here is one of the paintings that I'll be showing there so stop by and check it out if you are in the area. Thursday, July 15th will be the wine tasting and art opening at the gallery. It is located at 4674 Lebanon Pike in Hermitage...Their phone number is 615-889-5640.

The painting you see here is "Calvin's Race" and is a 12 x 24 oil on canvas. I was inspired by the last day of racing at Churchill Downs in 2009. It was a rainy race day and the mud was a flyin'. That didn't stop Calvin Borel from winning almost every race he rode that day including this one aboard "Lawless Falls". So it goes that he battled for leading jockey with eventual winner Julien Leparoux throughout the 2009 spring/summer Churchill Downs meet. Calvin came in second that day for the season with 61 wins to his rival's 62. Calvin still had his trademark smile on his face after his last race that day and happily gave his goggles to the small group of starstruck little girls waiting with their Dads for a glimpse or autograph after the race! ( He did however, lead in earnings with $3,755,513 to Leparoux's $2,559,363.) In 2010, Mr. Borel was indeed the top jockey for the Churchill Downs season....go Calvin. He continues to make history in the racing world and in my opinion, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

"Horse Country" art show at ArtReach Gallery

Shown here is my painting entitled "Sisters", an 11 x 14 Oil on canvas. It's headed out to Memphis and Artreach Gallery in Germantown for their "Horse Country" art show. This event coincides with the Germantown Charity Horse Show and celebrates not only equine subjects, but the country landscape as well. "Alias", "Just an Itch", and "Heels Down" will also be making the trip to west Tennessee. The show will be hanging through most of the month of June.

Solo Show at Belle Meade Plantation 2010 and the "1000" year flood

Last night was the opening for my Solo Show at Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville.
Considering the fact that we are experiencing the devastation of a "1000" year flood....well....some die hard people showed up and it was a very pleasant evening shared with old friends and new!

Belle Meade Plantation itself was very lucky to be on high enough ground that it did not suffer terrible damage. Yes, the basement was flooded a bit but I was told that it is a managable problem and they are thankful because it could have been so much worse. The roads surrounding the Plantation left it like an island last weekend. So many are suffering in the area from the aftermath of last week's storm. Nashville is an awesome community and we are coming together to help those of us who really lost so very much. Personally, our home was spared, but many friends homes were not. It is overwhelming..... but it just takes one step at a time..... Nasvhille could really use your prayers for quite a while.