Last week I talked about putting people into your landscape, and painting from life, which was a new experience for me. This week I worked on a very different kind of painting. I live in a rural area and although I'm a city girl I have grown to love it over time. Family farms
are still a way of life around here. Farmers raise cows, chickens, pigs,
and yes-- horses! I'm a portrait and wildlife painter for the most part, so I
have a certain affinity for animals. They are beautiful and whenever
possible I will include them in my pastoral landscapes. This painting is
a hybrid. I used a picture that I took of a farm I drive by often for
the background and the horse lives at an
historic village near my home where he pulls carriages. I took his picture the last time I
visited and I knew he would look awesome with this backdrop.
I have wanted to paint this barn for a long time and I have lots of pictures of it. What I didn't know when I started the painting was how much it needed to be placed in a 'context'. So what initially in my mind was to be a painting of a beautiful farm became a painting all about a horse. That's OK, because I've learned to live with this inner voice that pops up at some really opportune moments to tell me what I need to paint.
20" x 24" Spring on the Farm
