Sunset In Yosemite

Sunset In Yosemite, Acrylic on Canvas, 26 in. x 20 in.

I watched the sun sink over the mountains in Yosemite after a long day of hiking with friends. The light was an intense violet and rose, very different from the sunsets in Florida where I live. Darkness came quickly in the mountains, and we had to finish our drive out of the Park to the Yosemite Bug lodge.

Java Dawg

Java Dawg, pencil, 8 in. x 10 in.

Java Dog is a coffee bus at the Saturday morning farmers market in Sarasota, Florida. The bus has been converted into a funky coffee shop. The farmers market is full of interesting scenes for art and photography.

Equine Art - Polo

Cooling Down, Pencil, 12 in. x 9 in.

Here is another horse drawing for my equine art series. A groom unsaddles a polo pony so it can cool down between matches.
I worked from a photo that I took while walking around the horse trailers that were behind the polo field. My favorite places to take equine photos are behind the scenes of a horse event, as the riders and grooms get their mounts ready. The trailers also make a nice grid for the composition of the background. My horse drawing titled "Taking a Break" - which can be seen in a previous post - is showing in the Navarro Council of the Arts 2009 Juried Art Show in Corsicana, Texas through September.

Horses, Horses, Horses

The White Pony, pencil, 14 in. x 11 in.

I never get tired of drawing horses. This chunky pony was photographed at a farm in upstate New York west of Albany about 20 years ago and I finally got around to doing it's portrait in pencil. The flat, open landscapes of that area reminded me of Andrew Wyeth's art. The horses that I sketched and photographed that day had shaggy, unclipped hair and they grazed in fields that were full of goldenrod and sticky burrs.

Equine Drawing

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Taking A Break, 12 in. x 9 in., pencil on bristol paper

This horse was resting by the trailer and munching on hay during a horse expo. It looks like a Quarter Horse with its big muscles, thick neck, and relatively short legs. The Western saddle makes an interesting composition.

Wild Horses

Wild Horses, Oil on Canvas, 20 in. x 16 in.

I'm back to my old favorite: equine art. I've been reading about the plight of the American Mustangs and Madeleine Pickens Wild Horse Sanctuary. These horses are a living legacy and also have an intrinsic value as beautiful, wild creatures. My new painting shows a southwestern scene behind the close-up view of a pinto mare and foal. I picture these horses living peacefully in nature, without being menaced by people.

Marsh in the Morning, Oil, 16 in. x 12 in.

A white heron stands quietly in the beautiful, still waters of a marsh. Early in the morning, I walked my dog to a marsh near where I live, took photographs, and made watercolor sketches. The waterbirds are there in the morning and late afternoon. When the morning or late afternoon sunlight falls on the marsh grasses, they look reddish-orange.