2013 is almost over, and it has been an eventful year for me, in more ways than one! I have been juried into East Coast Fine Art, a vibrant and beautiful gallery in Manchester. I just hung my first group of paintings, and I am looking forward to an exciting 2014 as a member of the gallery.

I started doing hand-painted Christmas ornaments this year, and they were a great success. They were so much fun to create, but after almost 50 ornaments, I'm ready to get back to paper and canvas! One of my first projects for this year is a large 18x24" snow scene featuring the orphaned Navajo foals being cared for at Live and Let Live Farm in Chichester. The babies had a blast kicking up their heals in the first snow and I hope to capture that excitement in my painting.

I'm also working on my new year's resolutions (how about you?). Mine is, of course, to spend more time on my art - not so hard to do! The other is to be more organized and keep up with the office work in the studio - this one will be hard!

Here's to a wonderful 2014. Thank you for following my art and for all your compliments and encouragement!

Wishing you all a very happy new year!

It's been a while since I've had a chance to post here. I've been busy painting, teaching, Facebooking, and setting up a Pinterest account. I wanted to write something today because I just read a very disturbing article....It is very likely that horse slaughter will start again in the country as early as August 5! The USDA has granted licenses to several plants despite that fact that the Senate and House Appropriations Committees amended their fiscal year (FY) 2014 Agriculture Appropriations bills to eliminate all funding for the inspection of horse slaughter facilities. I think I smell a rat. There is a law suit pending by several equine welfare agencies to stop the plants from opening...fingers crossed. However, the ONLY way to get horse slaughter stopped for good in the USA is for The SAFE Act (Safeguard American Food Exports Act) passed in the House and Senate. Please take a few moments to contact your representatives and senators and ask them to support The SAFE Act. Horse slaughter is never humane and will not solve any problems.

There is quite a lot of information available about horse slaughter and The SAFE Act. Just Google!

The illustrations for this post are paintings from my Auction Series. Some of these horses were saved from kill buyers by rescue groups like Pure Thought Horse and Foal Rescue. Others, like the horses depicted in Requiem, were not so lucky.

I thought I would post a few of my seascapes today as I spent a lovely girls weekend in Ogunquit, Maine with some friends. We had a lovely, but cold time. I love spending time at the seacoast and enjoy painting seascapes almost as much as I enjoy painting horses.

Happy Friday! I've been working on  an 11x14" oil painting of a couple of the nurse mare foals that were just rescued by Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue. I am going to call this one "She's Got Legs" - for obvious reasons! I am using a wonderful photograph taken by Tommy Huffstetler of Bella and Cooper. Thank you, Tommy! I will be donating the finished painting to Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue to help raise funds for the babies. I will also have prints available.

I wanted to show you the work in progress......Here's my initial sketch, two photos of the underpainting in progress, and the first glaze of color. I am planning on spending a good part of today in the studio working on this one.

If you would like more information on the nurse mare foal rescue, see my earlier blog posts or go to the Pure Thoughts website: www.pthr.org. The babies even have their own Facebook page. If you would like to donate help take care of these babies, you can do so at the PT website.

I wanted to write a quick post to say happy birthday to Cathy of Journey's End Ranch Animal Sanctuary (JERAS), one of my favorite animal rescues! JERAS is home to a number of mustangs and burros, as well as dogs and a pig. Cathy has taken in mustangs that were once wild but ended up in bad situations. Because of JERAS these animals are now living happy lives. I have used the JERAS residents as models for many of my paintings, and I am happy to donate a percentage of the sale of originals or prints to JERAS.  You can learn about this wonderful sanctuary, donate, and read about the dogs and horses that call JERAS home here: www.jersanctuary.org/.   Have a great day, Cathy!!

The Baby Express arrived safely at Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue after their long trip from Louisville, KY to Florida. There are 8 fillies, and they are all adorable. I am going to have so much reference material for paintings. I can't wait to start. In fact, I have started. I've done a little sketch of the babies sleeping, and I've started a preliminary sketch for an oil painting. I am going to donate the painting to Pure Thoughts as a fund raiser - these little orphans need a lot of care, some are only days old! I will also have prints of the painting available with 100% of the proceeds going to the rescue for these little girls. Below is the sketch I call Nap Time, and the preliminary sketch for the painting.......I have to call this painting "She's Got Legs." I will post updates as the painting progresses so you can all follow along. You can also get updates on the babies and information at www.pthr.org.

In 2007 I was horrified to read about a trailer accident in Illinois that killed a group of horses that were being shipped to slaughter. That incident spurred me to research horse slaughter, and I found Pure Thoughts just as they were gearing up for their Home for the Holidays Rescue. The group went to the notorious Sugarcreek Auction and saved over 80 horses from the kill buyers. Over the next few months, I met an amazing group of people and horses. Many paintings have come of that fateful research. I call the series Second Chances. The painting to the left is called "Remembering Triumph" and was the very first painting in the series. Triumph, was brought to the auction sick and injured. The rescue purchased him, knowing he was near his end to spare him a horrible trip to slaughter. He was loved, named, covered with a Christmas quilt before he was gently euthanized. I will never forget his story.

There were many happy stories to come out of that rescue. Brad and Jen at Pure Thoughts (www.pthr.org) have continued to do an amazing job helping horses in need. I wanted to share with you some of the Second Chance paintings and the wonderful horses they depict. These rescued horses have truly become my muses, and I thank them.

What is a nurse mare foal?

Orphan nurse mare foals are a by-product of the so-called nurse mare industry. They are babies born from a mare that was specifically bred to provide milk for a "more wanted" foal such as a race horse or show horse. Once the call comes to lease the nurse mare, her baby own is no longer wanted or needed.
These foals are very young when intentionally separated from their mothers, sometimes only days old. Historically these foals have been killed or sent to slaughter, but recently many horse rescues are stepping up to take some of these babies and raise them. The foals must be purchased from the farmers by the rescues then shipped to the rescue location. Being so young they require a tremendous amount of care such as feeding every 4 hours - some can drink from a bucket, but others still need to be bottle fed.

So there you have it - lovely industry, isn't it! Thankfully there are rescues out there who are willing to do the work to save these little babies. Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue (www.pthr.org) has taken in a large number of nurse mare foals over the last 10 years. Because of the way they are raised and hand-fed, most of these foals are very attached to people and make wonderful companion horses. In the next few days, I hope to bring you a success story about 2 little nurse mare foals who are all grown and living a wonder

Welcome to my blog! I have been thinking about doing a blog for quite awhile and finally decided to "just do it!" I want to share my art with you....not just how I do, but why I do it. What motivates my work, what is important to me, and what inspires me to paint. On that note, I have included a little graphic self-portrait in progress that I call "The Muse." I have been lucky enough to work with several equine rescue groups, and have had the opportunity to visit with some of their horses. The little nurse mare foal in the drawing was extremely curious about my sketch book and pencil. There were actually several of the nosy, little critters "helping" me to sketch. I was visiting Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue in Florida in 2008 when they took in a group of orphan nurse mare foals. Pure Thoughts is planning another nurse mare foal rescue in the upcoming weeks, and I plan to follow the "baby train" as it makes its way from Kentucky to Florida sharing thoughts and sketches with you.

So that is a little about me. In my next entry I will answer the question that many of you may be asking to yourselves, "What is a nurse mare foal, anyway?"