Despite a couple of false starts because of the snow and airport closures, we eventually managed to fly to our home in Fuerteventura (Canaries) on Saturday evening. It was bliss to escape the snow (much as I love looking at it, the practicalities get a bit boring after a few days).
This is a working holiday and I´m pleased at the progress we´ve made so far. One bedroom has been totally repainted and new lampshades/bedding installed. The lounge is 95% repainted so a few more hours tomorrow should see it finished. We plan to redecorate one more bedroom and the outside porch area ... then we´ll pay a professional to tile the walls in our back garden/pool area. They are currently painted but, because of the weird plaster mix used by the Fuerteventurian builders, the plaster on all exterior walls continuously bubbles and ´blows´. Every year, I rub the walls down and repaint them and its becoming a boring, expensive task. So we´ll bite the bullet and pay someone to fix the problem permanently (we hope)!!
Then I hope we can enjoy the next two weeks just relaxing and recharging the batteries. I´ve got a lot of work lined up when we get back and I´m already missing my pencils and can´t wait to make a start. I´ve got some graphite pencils here with me and made a start on a double ´people´portrait which is required for end March .... I should have that finished by end next week if the decorating schedule goes to plan.
Hope everyone at home is coping well with the snow :0) .... thankfully we have none of that here - although it isn´t quite as sunny as expected. It has been cloudy for the last few days but the temperature is still mid to high 70s (in the shade) so I´m definitely not complaining.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Friday, 8 January 2010
08/01: CAT IN COLOURED PENCIL - WIP
I'm really making this one up as I go along. He is actually a tabby but I thought I'd make him sandy/ginger coloured. Who knows, he may end up tortoiseshell colour at this rate. I'm really just killing time till we know what is happening at the airport tomorrow. Will we be celebrating at 'Sirena' our favourite beach bar in Corralejo, Fuerteventura tomorrow evening or will we be back in frozen Tankerton warming up the fatballs in the bird feeders? I've just finished reading an article on the BBC website which suggests that this harsh Winter will be a killer for many UK wildlife animals and birds - I do hope not :o(
Anyway, here he is ... I've been trying to think of a title for the picture. Originally it was going to be 'Peeping Tom' but I ended up drawing more body than intended - he's crawling out from under my fleecy top which is hanging on a chair back. 'Undercover Cat' maybe? Any ideas?
Anyway, here he is ... I've been trying to think of a title for the picture. Originally it was going to be 'Peeping Tom' but I ended up drawing more body than intended - he's crawling out from under my fleecy top which is hanging on a chair back. 'Undercover Cat' maybe? Any ideas?
08/01: IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM ......
We've had another heavy snowfall in the early hours today so we decided to walk down to the beach and watch the fun as kids (of all ages) took advantage of the icy Tankerton Slopes to test their tobogganing skills. No matter if they didn't own a 'traditional' toboggan - a lot of imagination and initiative had been used .... some worked better than others:
Being towed on the 'baby slopes - fun for all the family
If you can't find anything else - try using a sheet of polythene or plastic:
The milk crate wasn't very successful
But the Lilo worked very well - fastest thing on the slopes I think.
Specially adapted road signs - Diversion and Men at Work!! Don't think that will go down well with the authorities though!
and even the roof from a Wendy Play House - they managed to pack 5 lads into this and it worked pretty well for them
and it wasn't just the two legged 'children' having fun today:
Being towed on the 'baby slopes - fun for all the family
But the Lilo worked very well - fastest thing on the slopes I think.
and it wasn't just the two legged 'children' having fun today:
Thursday, 7 January 2010
07/01: STILL HERE!
We didn't get away as planned yesterday as Gatwick airport remained closed for most of the day. 400 flights were cancelled yesterday and 136 today - so we aren't alone in having our travel plans overthrown.
We have booked new flights for Saturday morning - this time leaving from Stansted airport. Sooooo fingers crossed we'll have more success then.
With our cases packed and sitting in the hallway, I haven't felt motivated to start any of the commission work as I keep getting sidetracked checking weather forecasts etc., I have been working on a coloured pencil cat picture which is easy to pick up and put down as the mood takes me. I haven't been keeping track of the time spent on the drawing so far but would guesstimate it to be about 5 hours at this stage - that's to sketch out the image and work on the folds in the material etc. I have spent another 3 hours on the drawing today but haven't photographed the latest version yet.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
06/01: I'VE CHANGED MY MIND!!
I no longer want snow .... send it away pleeeeeease!!! We should be flying to our house on Fuerteventura (Canaries) today but the runway at Gatwick has been shut since last night because of heavy snowfall. The snow at home in Whitstable has stopped now but more is forecast for this afternoon and evening.
Gatwick's website advises all travellers to check with their respective airlines re. flight delays/cancellations etc. Great!! Our airline, Viking, has an answerphone system. I've left two messages now and nobody has returned my calls ... so do we set out and brave the snowy roads on the offchance our flight will take off as scheduled? We should be flying at 1645 hours so there's a chance the runway may be cleared by then but of course we don't know if the plane will have arrived on its inwards journey.
To rub salt in the wounds - I'm listening to HOTFM.CANARY radio station on my computer - its the local radio station in Corralejo and we know all the DJs as friends. Although they had a rain shower this morning, they have just announced the news and weather and local temperatures are still 24degrees warmer in Corralejo than in Kent ... can't wait to see the sun again.
This is going to be a working holiday (albeit in the sun). We plan to paint all the downstairs rooms in the house and I am taking my graphite pencils with me to work on a double 'people' portrait. It is too complicated to take pastels or coloured pencils with me so my coloured commissions will be priority when I get home. Next up are two beautiful spaniels (separate portraits), a young boy and a grey horse. I'm still awaiting contact from the recipients of two gift vouchers so I shall be busy through February/March. I really hope to find time to work on a coloured pencil piece for entry to this year's UK Coloured Pencil Society's exhibition in the Spring.
Anyway .... assuming we do fly off sometime in the next day or so, I won't be posting much on my blog whilst away as internet access is limited. but I'll be back :o)
Gatwick's website advises all travellers to check with their respective airlines re. flight delays/cancellations etc. Great!! Our airline, Viking, has an answerphone system. I've left two messages now and nobody has returned my calls ... so do we set out and brave the snowy roads on the offchance our flight will take off as scheduled? We should be flying at 1645 hours so there's a chance the runway may be cleared by then but of course we don't know if the plane will have arrived on its inwards journey.
To rub salt in the wounds - I'm listening to HOTFM.CANARY radio station on my computer - its the local radio station in Corralejo and we know all the DJs as friends. Although they had a rain shower this morning, they have just announced the news and weather and local temperatures are still 24degrees warmer in Corralejo than in Kent ... can't wait to see the sun again.
This is going to be a working holiday (albeit in the sun). We plan to paint all the downstairs rooms in the house and I am taking my graphite pencils with me to work on a double 'people' portrait. It is too complicated to take pastels or coloured pencils with me so my coloured commissions will be priority when I get home. Next up are two beautiful spaniels (separate portraits), a young boy and a grey horse. I'm still awaiting contact from the recipients of two gift vouchers so I shall be busy through February/March. I really hope to find time to work on a coloured pencil piece for entry to this year's UK Coloured Pencil Society's exhibition in the Spring.
Anyway .... assuming we do fly off sometime in the next day or so, I won't be posting much on my blog whilst away as internet access is limited. but I'll be back :o)
Monday, 4 January 2010
04/01: EURODISNEY
I finally downloaded my Disney pictures from the camera. Because of the wet/snowy/cold weather I found myself photographing my fellow visitors rather than the Disney stars. Uncle Walt kindly positions a handy shop every 100 yards or so ... and he was doing an amazing trade in furry hats and minnie mouse ears, and of course the traditional wet weather plastic macs (condoms as we preferred to call them). Most of my photos seem to feature people dressed in outfits they'd never dream of wearing outside the Disney set up :o) but I've saved those pictures for another day. Here are some of the more boring ones ...
SPOT THE IMPOSTER!
The next two photos are from a selection showing the illuminated Parade. For some reason most of our fellow tourists stayed at ground level and had to battle to get a view of the wonderful floats. We found a relatively empty verandah on the second storey of the train station which gave us a great aerial viewing point of the procession.
Don't ask!!! We sampled a lot of the rides but this started out as a joke ride and ended up being one of the fastest! The cars are kind of dodgems but are 'choreographed' and they spin round narrowly avoiding each other. The ride is really meant for 'little people' but somehow we squeezed ourselves into the seats but it seemed that our car reacted badly to the additional weight ... it carried on spinning round and round after all the others had stopped. I had visions of clambering out of the car and falling flat on my face in front of hundreds of children !! We all got out safely though. David didn't join us for this one - he took the photos!
As the 'magic hour' approached everybody was jostling for pole position on the 'main strip' towards the Magic Castle, where the fireworks were to be let off. But we had a cunning plan .... my friend Jenni had spotted a deserted childrens playground, disguised as a pirate ship on a lake. We headed for that and climbed the rope ladder to the upper decks where we had a brilliant view of the fireworks and we had the whole place to ourselves. I'm not good at photographing fireworks but have shown a couple of pictures just to give a very poor idea of how brilliant the display was. From our vantage point the fireworks were reflected in the water of 'our lake' so the effect was even better.
SPOT THE IMPOSTER!
Don't ask!!! We sampled a lot of the rides but this started out as a joke ride and ended up being one of the fastest! The cars are kind of dodgems but are 'choreographed' and they spin round narrowly avoiding each other. The ride is really meant for 'little people' but somehow we squeezed ourselves into the seats but it seemed that our car reacted badly to the additional weight ... it carried on spinning round and round after all the others had stopped. I had visions of clambering out of the car and falling flat on my face in front of hundreds of children !! We all got out safely though. David didn't join us for this one - he took the photos!
04/01: SNOW YEAAAAAAYYHH!!
At last ... we've had enough snow to cover the grass! I realise this probably looks a very 'girlie' coverage compared to snowfall in the rest of the country - but I'm excited anyway!
Here's one of the fruit trees in our back garden (which still has some apples attached despite all the windy weather last month and the frost/snow now - frozen apple lollies? perhaps I should try one later). I've just thrown out some bread for the blackbirds and replenished all the fat ball holders and the blue tits and sparrows have been having a party this morning :o)
This is the driveway from our house - complete with wheelie bin tracks. Our drive is too narrow/winding for the dustcart to negotiate so we have to drag the bin down to the main lane each week - bit of a pain when the weather is bad, but I do like the fact that our house is tucked away and very private
This is the 'business end' of the house with 'his and her' rooms - my art room/studio on the left of the picture and his office on the right - in fact you can just make out David's silhouette through the blinds - huddled over his computer!
Here's one of the fruit trees in our back garden (which still has some apples attached despite all the windy weather last month and the frost/snow now - frozen apple lollies? perhaps I should try one later). I've just thrown out some bread for the blackbirds and replenished all the fat ball holders and the blue tits and sparrows have been having a party this morning :o)
This is the driveway from our house - complete with wheelie bin tracks. Our drive is too narrow/winding for the dustcart to negotiate so we have to drag the bin down to the main lane each week - bit of a pain when the weather is bad, but I do like the fact that our house is tucked away and very private
This is the 'business end' of the house with 'his and her' rooms - my art room/studio on the left of the picture and his office on the right - in fact you can just make out David's silhouette through the blinds - huddled over his computer!
Sunday, 3 January 2010
03/01: FIRST POST OF THE NEW YEAR
Can't believe its 2010 ... We saw in the New Year with friends, Ian and Jenni at Euro Disney, and spent New Years Day wandering around Paris - we just got home last night. 15 hour days at DisneyWorld in the rain/snow freezing wind did test the stamina a bit - but we found plenty of 'watering holes' along the way! The fireworks at midnight on New Years Eve were just fantastic (who'd expect anything else of 'Uncle Walt' though). We found a perfect vantage point, away from all the crowds - by climbing into the 'crows nest' of a pirate ship in the deserted children's playground. Despite having a combined age of 225 (!!!) we managed to scramble up the rigging without injury :o) I didn't take many photos, and haven't downloaded them yet but I don't expect to have any 'gems' there as the cold weather made it preferable to keep hands firmly in pockets for warmth rather than fiddling with camera settings.
Anyway, Here's a picture I believe its safe to post now as it should have been presented for Christmas. I've drawn this client's beautiful Boxer recently, and his daughter's terrier. These are his Grandchildren drawn in graphite. I have another couple of 'human portraits' completed at the end of last year but not sure whether its 'safe' to show them yet as one was a birthday and one an anniversary present:
Anyway, Here's a picture I believe its safe to post now as it should have been presented for Christmas. I've drawn this client's beautiful Boxer recently, and his daughter's terrier. These are his Grandchildren drawn in graphite. I have another couple of 'human portraits' completed at the end of last year but not sure whether its 'safe' to show them yet as one was a birthday and one an anniversary present:
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
29/12: COUGHS & SNEEZES
Hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year celebrations! David and I are a bit 'Bah Humbuggish' and don't like all the hype surrounding modern day Christmas so we always try to do our own thing on Christmas Day - then we give in and do the 'traditional' thing with family on Boxing Day.
On Christmas Day this year we drove to Green Lanes, Harringay in London where it is 'business as usual' as the population there is largely non-Christian. We had a Turkish meze type meal and drove/toured around the Capital for a while just looking at the sights - the roads are so much quieter on Christmas Day :o) We stopped off at a friends house on the way home for champagne and nibbles ... it was a lovely day!
We've both got colds so the house is echoing with coughs and sneezes .... we're desperately trying to shake them off as we leave for Paris tomorrow - we're going to Disney with friends to see in the New Year. I'm looking forward to the fireworks and just hope the weather will be kind to us - the forecasters predict rain (but what do they know)?
I haven't been neglecting my drawing, but I'm struggling a bit with the latest works - I'm blaming the cold which is making concentration difficult!
I'd set aside this time to do some 'me artwork' with coloured pencils as they've been a bit neglected in the run up to Christmas when most of my commissions were finished in graphite or pastel. Coloured pencils are much cleaner to use than pastels but much more time consuming and I haven't made much progress.
Here's one I've been working on - I photographed the tiger last year at a Big Cat sanctuary in Kent (I attended a one-day pastel/velour tutorial with Vic Bearcroft). Drawing this on black paper may have been a mistake - the paper colour affected the pencil colours quite dramatically - yellows looked green, white looked grey etc., and I had to use some pretty garish colours to obtain the vibrancy I was aiming for. It isn't quite finished and I'll leave it till after the holiday to decide whether to proceed or bin it .....
On Christmas Day this year we drove to Green Lanes, Harringay in London where it is 'business as usual' as the population there is largely non-Christian. We had a Turkish meze type meal and drove/toured around the Capital for a while just looking at the sights - the roads are so much quieter on Christmas Day :o) We stopped off at a friends house on the way home for champagne and nibbles ... it was a lovely day!
We've both got colds so the house is echoing with coughs and sneezes .... we're desperately trying to shake them off as we leave for Paris tomorrow - we're going to Disney with friends to see in the New Year. I'm looking forward to the fireworks and just hope the weather will be kind to us - the forecasters predict rain (but what do they know)?
I haven't been neglecting my drawing, but I'm struggling a bit with the latest works - I'm blaming the cold which is making concentration difficult!
I'd set aside this time to do some 'me artwork' with coloured pencils as they've been a bit neglected in the run up to Christmas when most of my commissions were finished in graphite or pastel. Coloured pencils are much cleaner to use than pastels but much more time consuming and I haven't made much progress.
Here's one I've been working on - I photographed the tiger last year at a Big Cat sanctuary in Kent (I attended a one-day pastel/velour tutorial with Vic Bearcroft). Drawing this on black paper may have been a mistake - the paper colour affected the pencil colours quite dramatically - yellows looked green, white looked grey etc., and I had to use some pretty garish colours to obtain the vibrancy I was aiming for. It isn't quite finished and I'll leave it till after the holiday to decide whether to proceed or bin it .....
Thursday, 24 December 2009
CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT ORDERS
Horrible thought I know, but Christmas really is looming.
At at today (4 September) I cannot accept any more orders for pre-christmas delivery. I have left a gap in my schedule to accommodate portraits for the recipients of 2 gift vouchers who might wish to redeem them before Christmas. Once I've heard from these clients I may be able to slot in another picture or two but I'm erring on the side of caution.
A Portrait Gift Voucher makes an unusual and welcome gift and allows the recipient to submit favourite photograph(s) at their leisure in the New Year. An added bonus is that I include the cost for p&p (normally £8)in my Gift Vouchers - for no additional cost to the purchaser
the portrait in the Xmas decoration above is Ben - a Keeshond (Dutch Barge Dog) I had the pleasure of drawing in January 2009)
24/12: MERRY CHRISTMAS
Well it won't be long now ......... I'd just like to thank all my friends and followers for keeping me company on my blogging voyage of discovery - technology isn't my forte and its been a huge learning curve but great fun!
Merry Christmas everybody and I hope 2010 will be a happy, healthy and successful one for us all.
Oh and don't forget to track Santa's journey across the World tonight - I did it last year and its great fun. He sets off at about 11pm tonight (GMT) Here's the link. Be sure to click on the headers to find out how Norad track Santa via radar and satellite - it has something to do with the infrared signals given off by Rudolph's red nose !! honest!!
Norad TRACK SANTA'S JOURNEY
Merry Christmas everybody and I hope 2010 will be a happy, healthy and successful one for us all.
Oh and don't forget to track Santa's journey across the World tonight - I did it last year and its great fun. He sets off at about 11pm tonight (GMT) Here's the link. Be sure to click on the headers to find out how Norad track Santa via radar and satellite - it has something to do with the infrared signals given off by Rudolph's red nose !! honest!!
Norad TRACK SANTA'S JOURNEY
Friday, 18 December 2009
18/12: ANIMATIONS .... AND LACK OF SNOW
Given the BBCs severe weather warnings for Kent, I was very disappointed when I looked out of the window at 6am this morning to find that I could still see the grass outside - looked as though it had been lightly dusted with icing sugar ... so any thoughts of wandering down to take photos of pretty snow beach scenes went by the board .... and I went back to bed!
We live close to the sea and that seems to protect us from snow. My friend who lives just 20 mins drive away reports 8 to 12 inches of the white stuff at her home. David (hubby) works for a charity and had to make a visit to an elderly client this morning so, anticipating poor weather conditions, he stocked the car with bottled water, a ginger cake and a packet of crisps. His reasoning was that he could be stuck in snow for hours (but anybody who knows David will know that he likes his food and this was as good an excuse as any)!!
So ... no pretty snow scenes, and I haven't any more commissions I can show - so on to Plan B:
That lovely man Dave (Sevenoaksart.co.uk) animated a couple of my pictures for me
Clever or what?
I've sent 4 of my graphite 'celeb' portraits to Dave. He will find ways to animate them and display them on his site. Can't wait to see what he comes up with. This is one of the 'victims'
We live close to the sea and that seems to protect us from snow. My friend who lives just 20 mins drive away reports 8 to 12 inches of the white stuff at her home. David (hubby) works for a charity and had to make a visit to an elderly client this morning so, anticipating poor weather conditions, he stocked the car with bottled water, a ginger cake and a packet of crisps. His reasoning was that he could be stuck in snow for hours (but anybody who knows David will know that he likes his food and this was as good an excuse as any)!!
So ... no pretty snow scenes, and I haven't any more commissions I can show - so on to Plan B:
That lovely man Dave (Sevenoaksart.co.uk) animated a couple of my pictures for me
Clever or what?I've sent 4 of my graphite 'celeb' portraits to Dave. He will find ways to animate them and display them on his site. Can't wait to see what he comes up with. This is one of the 'victims'
Thursday, 10 December 2009
10/12: NO WORK TO SHOW
I can't show my current Work in Progress for fear of spoiling a Christmas Present surprise ... but we're off to deliver a finished portrait today and then (fingers crossed) picking up Mum-in-Law from hospital and settling her back into her own home
Thanks to Sevenoaks art for their animations (see my link list for contact details) otherwise I'd be back to describing which soup I'm cooking today!
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
08/12: HAVING A TIDY UP !!
Its just too dark to draw now (daylight lamps are a godsend but they do make me 'headachey' after a while) so I decided to tidy up my folders of historic photos - more than half of them have gone to the recycle bin ....
I got a little sidetracked as usual. A common problem for me and my fellow pet/horse portrait artists is being asked to produce realistic portraits of four legged friends who have passed away and where there are no good close up references to work from. A fellow artist recently told me she's often felt like putting a huge notice on her site saying 'Please photograph your horse/dog/cat before its too late' .... not something we could really do methinks, but in this day and age with digital cameras readily available its much easier to do (in theory).
I'm one of the worst culprits. I've had my horse for nearly 20 years and in the 'early days' I took reels and reels of photographs on my non-digi camera - only to find there were no pictures I really liked. Now that we are both much older and greyer I have a good camera but don't really want to take photos of her - preferring to remember her as a younger lady. This is very much a personal thing, but I have been asked on many occasions to portray an animal using (poor ref) photos taken maybe 10 or 15 years ago rather than the more recent, better references, of the older animal. In such cases I usually work from a selection of photos to find the happy medium.
This afternoon I've been working my way through several folders containing photos of my mare, Roxy. I've deleted about half of them, which should free up some storage space. Its amazing how very different she looks in all the photos dependent on age, time of year etc., her colour and shape vary enormously! Although these are some of my favourites, none of them would present a good reference for a head portrait - I really don't have many close-up head shots of my own horse!! So please ..... don't do as I do, do as I say .... get out there and photograph your 'best friends' at all opportunities :o)
Roxy was in very poor condition when I bought her, she had obviously been broken to 'ride and drive', and still had driving shoes on when I saw her. She had recently lost a foal (according to the vet) and had mastitis and was generally very unhappy. She hated men (barely tolerates them even now) so I can only guess as what sort of treatment she had received in her early years. When I bought her the vet believed her age to be either 5 or 3 years, so for the first year or so we didn't doing any strenuous training - mainly tried to win her confidence and it paid off - she has never been an 'easy' mare but she is super-intelligent and great fun. I wouldn't have swapped her for any other horse.
This is Roxy when she came back into work after 7 months off following a fracture of the splint bone on her hind leg (instead of removing the splintered bone, vets allowed the bones to knit together and calcify to make a stronger repair). She is a cob and looks particularly 'chunky' in this picture but I think her 'bossy/inquisitive' personality shows through.
These are some of more recent shots in the last couple of years ... she doesn't pose for the camera - she definitely isn't a 'girly' mare - she wallows in mud and hates being groomed. She is also dominant and has had three fractures during her working lifetime. We know the first was through fighting (she was witnessed) but nobody knows how the other two occurred - she needs to be number one in the pecking order and keeps the others in check.
'Shan't pose for the camera' !!
"Still not going to pose" ..... and here you can admire the teeth that just cost me £250 following Roxy's equine dental treatment visit !
Well its been a productive afternoon taking a trip down memory lane. My recycle Bin needs emptying but I've just found one last thing to add:
Do you agree?????
I got a little sidetracked as usual. A common problem for me and my fellow pet/horse portrait artists is being asked to produce realistic portraits of four legged friends who have passed away and where there are no good close up references to work from. A fellow artist recently told me she's often felt like putting a huge notice on her site saying 'Please photograph your horse/dog/cat before its too late' .... not something we could really do methinks, but in this day and age with digital cameras readily available its much easier to do (in theory).
I'm one of the worst culprits. I've had my horse for nearly 20 years and in the 'early days' I took reels and reels of photographs on my non-digi camera - only to find there were no pictures I really liked. Now that we are both much older and greyer I have a good camera but don't really want to take photos of her - preferring to remember her as a younger lady. This is very much a personal thing, but I have been asked on many occasions to portray an animal using (poor ref) photos taken maybe 10 or 15 years ago rather than the more recent, better references, of the older animal. In such cases I usually work from a selection of photos to find the happy medium.
This afternoon I've been working my way through several folders containing photos of my mare, Roxy. I've deleted about half of them, which should free up some storage space. Its amazing how very different she looks in all the photos dependent on age, time of year etc., her colour and shape vary enormously! Although these are some of my favourites, none of them would present a good reference for a head portrait - I really don't have many close-up head shots of my own horse!! So please ..... don't do as I do, do as I say .... get out there and photograph your 'best friends' at all opportunities :o)
Roxy was in very poor condition when I bought her, she had obviously been broken to 'ride and drive', and still had driving shoes on when I saw her. She had recently lost a foal (according to the vet) and had mastitis and was generally very unhappy. She hated men (barely tolerates them even now) so I can only guess as what sort of treatment she had received in her early years. When I bought her the vet believed her age to be either 5 or 3 years, so for the first year or so we didn't doing any strenuous training - mainly tried to win her confidence and it paid off - she has never been an 'easy' mare but she is super-intelligent and great fun. I wouldn't have swapped her for any other horse.
This is Roxy when she came back into work after 7 months off following a fracture of the splint bone on her hind leg (instead of removing the splintered bone, vets allowed the bones to knit together and calcify to make a stronger repair). She is a cob and looks particularly 'chunky' in this picture but I think her 'bossy/inquisitive' personality shows through.
This was us returning home from a local dressage show - she was really on her toes here and unwilling to stand still for the photos ... bless!
and this was taken on one of the charity long distance rides we participated in - this was taken 15 years ago but I can still remember how bitterly cold that April day was - which is why my friend Laura and I are padded out like Michelin men.
Christmas Day (around 15 years ago). For various reasons my best friend Jenni and I always avoided the usual Christmas day hype and took ourselves off for a long 'pub ride' on Christmas day - appropriately decorated of course.
These are some of more recent shots in the last couple of years ... she doesn't pose for the camera - she definitely isn't a 'girly' mare - she wallows in mud and hates being groomed. She is also dominant and has had three fractures during her working lifetime. We know the first was through fighting (she was witnessed) but nobody knows how the other two occurred - she needs to be number one in the pecking order and keeps the others in check.
'Shan't pose for the camera' !!
"Still not going to pose" ..... and here you can admire the teeth that just cost me £250 following Roxy's equine dental treatment visit !
There ... that wasn't so bad was it???
I just wanted some more recent shots of the two of us - but it was dinner time and Roxy just wanted to get into her stable. She has gone really grey and now that she is retired I no longer clip her so she looks like a woolly bear from October till March!
Butter wouldn't melt !!
Well its been a productive afternoon taking a trip down memory lane. My recycle Bin needs emptying but I've just found one last thing to add:
 |
08/12: BAH HUMBUG!!
I must confess to not feeling very Christmassy at all .... so I'll keep plugging away with the Xmas theme headers here to see if it helps. With Mum-in-Law still in hospital (but hopefully coming out fairly soon) we've changed our holiday entertainment plans and luckily found a restaurant close to her home who can fit seven of us in for a Boxing Day lunch. So we won't have to transport her too far, and I won't have to cook, clean and stress!! Bit of a cop out but now David and I will just do 'our own thing' on Christmas Day and have a low key family get together on Boxing Day.
I'm feeling quite virtuous, having written all the Christmas cards - just have to buy some stamps and drop them in the postbox now ... Phew! another marathon task out of the way
I am back at the drawing board but working on a 'human' double portrait which is to be a surprise Wedding Anniversary gift and can't be shown yet.
Next up is a child portrait (another surprise) and then I can return to the four legged subjects - two dogs and a horse for January completion.
Monday, 7 December 2009
07/12: DOUBLE HORSE PORTRAIT FINISHED
This is a very quick blog today as I'm about to set off to my Mum's home where I've promised to paint her hallway walls, doors and ceilings to brighten it up a little - she had some plumbing work done recently and the workmen made a bit of a mess :o( We will also be meeting with the carers who will be helping Mum-in-Law when she returns home from hospital and finally we'll be visiting Mum-in-Law this evening in hospital - so another busy day ahead!!
I've photographed the double horse portrait 'as is' and again with the mount and frame that I intend to use for this one. It won't be seen by my client till 17th December, so fingers crossed she will be happy with her present!
Here they are - Riley and Jess
I've photographed the double horse portrait 'as is' and again with the mount and frame that I intend to use for this one. It won't be seen by my client till 17th December, so fingers crossed she will be happy with her present!
Here they are - Riley and Jess
Sunday, 6 December 2009
06/12: MY FIRST BLOG AWARD !!
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I'm supposed to give one-word answers to these questions, but I defy anybody to adhere to that rule. I had to think hard about some of the questions though:
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2. Your hair?… windswept
3. Your mother?… miles away :o)
4. Your father?… who cares?
5. Your favorite food?… curry
6. Your dream last night?… forgotten
7. Your favorite drink?… wine
8. Your dream/goal?… to die contented
9. What room are you in?… studio
10. Your hobby?… art
11. Your fear?… needles
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?… here
13. Where were you last night?… home
14. Something that you aren’t?… thin
15. Muffins?… Yuk
16. Wish list item?… new kitchen
17. Where did you grow up?… Kent
18. Last thing you did?… prepared dinner
19. What are you wearing?… casuals
20. Your TV?… not mine ... David's
21. Your Pets?… horse
22. Friends?… lovely
23. Your life?… very good
24. Your mood?… content
25. Missing Someone?… no
26. Vehicle?… necessary evil
27. Something you're not wearing?… shoes
28. Your favorite store?… Marks & Spencer
29. Your favorite colour?… anything bright
30. When was the last time you laughed?… 1 hour ago
31. Last time you cried?… don't remember
32. Your best friend?… husband
33. One place that I go to over and over?… Fuerteventura
34. Facebook?… yes
35. Favorite place to eat?… La Taberna
Now for the hard part - this award has to be passed to 5 other bloggers:
Here they are in no particular order:
Jo's Pet Portraits
Victoria's Art with a Pencil
Sally Lancaster Portraits
Nats Wildlife Art
Angela's 'Work in Progress'
06/12: UPDATE
It's been a very disjointed few days since we returned home from Sunny Fuerteventura. I'm pleased to say Mum-in-Law is making such good progress following the operation on her broken hip that we were told on Friday she can return to her home as soon as we can organise a suitable care plan. Easier said than done as David soon found out .... talk about getting pushed from pillar to post. However, there is now light at the end of the tunnel and provided the care company David has recruited, and the hospital authorities, are happy with each other, she may be allowed home on Wednesday.
The family portrait, two brothers and their Sister in graphite pencil, was approved and delivered on Friday but obviously can't be shown for fear of spoiling the Christmas surprise.
The portrait of Max (horse) has been approved but is still sitting here on my easel awaiting delivery instructions. Whilst it is a Christmas present it isn't a surprise as Max's owner was instrumental in selecting the reference picture etc.
I think the double horse portrait is now finished so I just have to give it a final 'clean up' removing any loose pastel dust and then it can be lightly sprayed with fixative. This is one that I will be mounting and framing but it isn't needed till 17 December so I won't know the client's reaction till then. I'll photograph it and post some pics tomorrow.
When the rain eventually stopped today we visited our local Christmas Fayre at Tankerton. Sadly only about half of the promised 100 stands were there as I guess many people changed their minds about taking a stand when they saw the torrential rain this morning.
Many Hoots (Owl Sanctuary) were there with a few of their rescue raptors. Sadly Lurch the Vulture wasn't there as it appears he is a 'fair weather' vulture! I was able to present them with the framed portrait of Lurch which was exhibited at the UK Coloured Pencil Society's recent show in Birmingham. The portrait will be hung in their classroom where it will be seen by all the visitors who are learning about the owls and other wild birds.
Shame Lurch couldn't make it today ... but this is one of his friends who braved the windy weather:
and this little chap who wasn't so keen on the wind and very sensibly tucked himself away in his flowerpot! Bless!!
Just as we were leaving the Fayre we saw the most amazing spectacle (which I hadn't seen advertised). Hundreds of motorbikes of all sizes and descriptions descended on Tankerton (from Whitstable direction). Many of the bikers were dressed as Santa and other Christmas characters. When we got home and 'Googled' the event, we found it is an annual Charitable Toy Run event to raise funds for disadvantaged children. Looked as though they were all having fun so I hope they raised lots of money. Tankerton is normally a fairly sleepy sort of resort so it added a bit of excitement to the afternoon!
The family portrait, two brothers and their Sister in graphite pencil, was approved and delivered on Friday but obviously can't be shown for fear of spoiling the Christmas surprise.
The portrait of Max (horse) has been approved but is still sitting here on my easel awaiting delivery instructions. Whilst it is a Christmas present it isn't a surprise as Max's owner was instrumental in selecting the reference picture etc.
I think the double horse portrait is now finished so I just have to give it a final 'clean up' removing any loose pastel dust and then it can be lightly sprayed with fixative. This is one that I will be mounting and framing but it isn't needed till 17 December so I won't know the client's reaction till then. I'll photograph it and post some pics tomorrow.
When the rain eventually stopped today we visited our local Christmas Fayre at Tankerton. Sadly only about half of the promised 100 stands were there as I guess many people changed their minds about taking a stand when they saw the torrential rain this morning.
Many Hoots (Owl Sanctuary) were there with a few of their rescue raptors. Sadly Lurch the Vulture wasn't there as it appears he is a 'fair weather' vulture! I was able to present them with the framed portrait of Lurch which was exhibited at the UK Coloured Pencil Society's recent show in Birmingham. The portrait will be hung in their classroom where it will be seen by all the visitors who are learning about the owls and other wild birds.
Shame Lurch couldn't make it today ... but this is one of his friends who braved the windy weather:
and this little chap who wasn't so keen on the wind and very sensibly tucked himself away in his flowerpot! Bless!!
Just as we were leaving the Fayre we saw the most amazing spectacle (which I hadn't seen advertised). Hundreds of motorbikes of all sizes and descriptions descended on Tankerton (from Whitstable direction). Many of the bikers were dressed as Santa and other Christmas characters. When we got home and 'Googled' the event, we found it is an annual Charitable Toy Run event to raise funds for disadvantaged children. Looked as though they were all having fun so I hope they raised lots of money. Tankerton is normally a fairly sleepy sort of resort so it added a bit of excitement to the afternoon!
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