In the Light, horse ACEO, original oil painting.

Yes, I like painting on the white of the canvas. I don't think I'll switch back to a toned canvas. This one will come up for auction on September 2, at 6 pm, MDT.
donna

Wind Ridge Runner

This painting is my horse Class, modeling for me once again. She's in a real place, on Wind Ridge right in front of Split Mountain.
donna

Bull Elk Grazing, Wildlife ACEO

It's almost hunting season and I'm wishing I had one of these all ready in my freezer for next year! Wouldn't he be good?
donna

The Grey's Eyes

or you could call this, Yuppo Experiment! It's painted on plastic, Yuppo brand paper. I absolutely loved doing this painting. The paper is as slick and shiny as anything can get, yet it's kind of soft and the paint seems to stick to it easily. Your brush glides across the surface. I painted on the bright orange side. After I had paint on the surface, I rubbed the handle of my brush through it to get some orange back in. I also took a rough, scratchy brush and drug it across the surface of the paint in some places. It was so easy to sign my name! The part I always hate most about painting.... I just turned my brush around and used the handle once again....
Painting Sold
donna

Murphy 'n Class, Walkin' Along. Horse ACEO.

For several days now, I was struggling along with my paintings, then along came this one! It just fell together.

I think the difference is this, I like painting on the white of the canvas and I'd been toning the background red. I hope that's what the problem was, I sure like it when things come together without a hard struggle. I think it makes a better painting also.
Painting Sold
donna

Tiny mountains, Rocky Mountain Front miniature art.

Each of these paintings is 2.5 X1.5 inches in size. They're really little! This is the place I love most on all the earth. I guess I've told you that before. The Rocky Mountain Front, west of Dupuyer, Mt. There's a trail head there that goes into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, by taking you around Swift Dam.
donna

Pinto grazing near Square Butte.

This pinto is grazing near the famous Square Butte by Vaughn, Mt. He's a little short coupled, I don't know why I do that!
donna

Mustang's Muzzle, ACEO

I'm practising noses.
Painting Sold
donna

Another in the Murphy series. ACEO OIl Painting

Every time I paint Murphy, he looks like a different horse. That's because I'm not that precise in my painting. Ha. Murphy is a funny horse, he has this big soft pink nose, with nostrils that are almost to large, slanted, exotic looking eyes, a crooked blaze that makes him look positively raffish. His bottom lip and his top lip never line up straight. It makes him fun to paint.

I rode Murphy one time, back behind Split Mountain. We came down the trail after our trip and the pack horse was behind all of us as we were not being careful or thinking straight. We were just having fun.

Barney, the pack horse, was not a pack horse, he was my uncle Bill's favorite saddle horse and Barney knew it. He was royally mad because he was packing fencing tools. We got into the middle of an aspen thicket and Barney came unglued, bucking down through the middle of all of us on a real narrow trail.

Murphy came unglued when Barney came unglued. We headed down through the aspens at a high crow hop. Every so often a tree branch would hit me on the head. I tried to get Murphy's head up to no avail. I tried to get him to stop and settle down. Nothing worked, he was on a bucking spree and having the time of his life.

I finally remembered who's horse Murphy was and how he was used to being talked to and I said, "Whoa! You dumb sob!" Murphy put his head up and walked off like nothing happened. I was wishing I'd used my brain for something other than banging into trees sooner!

So maybe when I paint Murphy, some of that story enters into the fun I have with these paintings. My uncle died of cancer soon after that ride. He wasn't able to make the ride with us, but it was his idea we were to go. He told my aunt he'd promised me he was going to take me up behind Split and he wanted to know I'd ridden up there before he died.

My Murphy paintings have a lot of story to them that you didn't know until I passed this on to you.
Donna

Brownie's Eyes, ACEO, Oil Painting

Every day, I go on ebay, and type in aceo horse into the search bar. I've not seen very many aceo's done where both eyes of the horse were showing. Some people do one eye and I've done my share of those, but it gives you a more complete view of the horse's personality when both eyes are showing. I'm liking this look and it's fun to find horse's in my photos I can use for ideas. I've named this guy Brownie as he looks like the kind of horse you'd find in a dude string or being the kids horse on the ranch.
Painting Sold
donna

Buck's Eyes, Buckskin horse, ACEO oil painting.

I put Buck and Murphy both on here as these two paintings are similar. They're both posted on ebay right now. Along with a whole lot of other cards. I've been playing around with painting this composition for a while and finally tried it. I kind of like the way it fits on an aceo card. I'll probably do some more!
Painting Sold
Donna

Thoroughbred playing in the moonlight. ACEO

All of these are my horse Classy (Crescent Lass) playing with the moon and in the moonlight. You can see two of the cards are pretty fanciful. Classy was having fun so I decided I'd have some too. The top card is more realistic. They're all posted on ebay, the two will show up together tonight and the top card is on auction right now. If you click the title to this post, it will take you to my auctions.
donna

More in the Murphy series.

Two different takes on the same horse. Different poses and different light. I've changed the bottom painting since I took this picture of it. I should up load the new version so you can see it. Maybe I'll get it done tomorrow. We had a nice rain and my phone cords going to the other house are wet in the connections...when they dry out, I'll be painting next to my scanner again. I've been playing around with light a whole lot lately.

Once again my cards have sold on ebay. I'm so happy when people buy them. When you post 5 and have them all sell, it gives you a reason to continue! Thank you to my collectors.
Both Paintings Sold
donna

Paint horse walkin', ACEO, Oil Painting

Here's a paint horse walking away from you. The way they sometimes do when you're trying to catch them!
donna

Bay running along the Rocky Mountain Front. Augusta, Mt.

Here's my horse Classy, running along the Rocky Mountain Front. This is below the Benchmark area, near Pishkin Resevoir.
donna

Airplane Ears

Mules ears are so cute. I could sit and look at them or play with them for a long time. They're floppy, or alert but they can sure show the mood the mule is in.

To this point in time this year, I've done 126 aceo cards. I'm glad to be able to say, there are only a few in my own aceo book that haven't sold. I'd hate to be making all of them for myself and my grandkids!
donna

Grazing in the Bob Marshall Wilderness

This sorrel horse was grazing the high country of the Bob Marshall Wilderness when I took a picture of him. We were camping and looking over the high country when we found him. I think he was part of an outfitters string. I liked the way he was stretched out on the mountainside.
donna

Paint horse grazing, ACEO, oil painting.

I've started painting on a red canvas. I just love the look it gives a painting. What a fun experiment.
donna

Another buckskin grazing. ACEO

Buckskin grazing in the evening light.
Painting Sold
donna

Classy Runnin', ACEO, Oil Painting

We took the horses back to their mountain pasture on Saturday. It was sad as we know how much we're going to miss them from here but two acres is not much of a place to keep horses. We planted grass but they'd eaten it up faster than it can grow back. If we keep them here, they'll have nothing but dirt next year. We're going to plant more grass this year, and try to thicken up what we got growing this year.

Anyway, back to this painting, it's what Class did when she was turned loose! She was so happy to be able to run and run. It felt good to her. After all, she was bred to run, she's a retired race horse. I wouldn't be surprised if she's still running, just for the sheer joy of it!

The title bar of this aceo is a link to an organization that rescues race horses. I don't have any personal experience with them but if you want to learn more about thoroughbred rescue, there you go.
Painting Sold
donna

In the Meadow with Mom, ACEO, oil painting.

It's early summer and this mom and her baby are enjoying the meadow grass. The flies are out and babies tail is short, so he stands where his mom's tail swipes across him also.
Painting Sold
donna

Walkin' in Bluebells, ACEO QH foal

What a nice little guy. This foal looks postively sweet. I wish he was mine, in a few years, I'd be riding him. :) I put this one on a kind of a hill to do something different. He's also turned looking back instead of straight at you or turned sideways to you.
donna

Quarter Horse Foal, ACEO, DAW

I tried a greyed blue/green background behind this foal instead of using a dark value to make him stand out from his environment. I think it shows off the lights on the foal better to have a cool background behind him. The dark trees are cool also, but somehow this seemed to work better.
Sold
donna

Buckskin grazing, Oil Painting, ACEO DAW

If you like bright, singing, color, you'll like this card. The pasture is lush, filled with summer flowers. The light colors of the buckskin shine against the bright green grass. There are some dark trees in the background.

When I first mixed the color for these trees, I was using my limited palette of French Ultramarine Blue, permanent rose, and yellow ochre. Things were to blah for me. I added cad yellow medium and thalo green. This is what gave me the warmer yellow tone to the grass and the neater blues in the trees behind the horse. For some reason, it made this painting come alive.

I was reading something about Cezanne's use of a limited palette. It was an article in the Artist's Magazine. The article stated it was good to use a limited palette, but after a while of using one, everything will seem really bland to you. That is what's happening to me. In this article, it stated when this happens to you, add some off the wall color to the mix and add it sparingly.

I'd kind of forgotten about that article, until I accidentally reached into the palette and got thalo green instead of the greens I'd mixed. That tiny little change made all the difference in this painting.
donna

Horsepower-1920-30 antique car

You could say this is related to horses, it's got horsepower..... I was painting reflections from this old car. We took pictures of it when we were at the Great Falls Fair. That's the fun of a fair, there's something for everyone!
donna

Fjord getting a bath, aceo, oil painting.

"Did I Ask for This?"
I'm not sure this Fjord wanted a bath, even though it was hot. She acted totally disgusted about the whole process! She was probably tired of the fair and wished she was home in her pasture.
donna

Fjord at the Fair, ACEO horse oil painting.

When we were at the fair, we saw this little Fjord standing at the wash rack with his mom and her teammate. They were all getting a bath. He didn't seem very impressed with everything but he stood there like a man. He was really cute. I've wanted a Fjord for a long time. Maybe someday! I think they're great little horses. I've put a link to the Fjord registry at the top of this page in case you want to learn more about them. donna

Smoke Flowers, ACEO, oil painting.

This certainly isn't very realistic, I just couldn't wrap my brain around the real thing today for some reason. I call this Smoke Flowers because it has the look of what I call smoke flowers. I don't even know where they grow or what they're really called, but in Montana, you sometimes see these flowers growing that resemble smoke. The fire season is upon us full blast and that makes me think of smoke also. Maybe my next horse will be better....but for now, this is what came out.

We went camping this weekend and had a lot of fun. I guess my mind is still back at the campground. This morning I was watching deer cross the river. A buck came down to the water and crossed. I was taking photos of him. When he got across the river, I carefully walked toward him through the brush. I got to a point where I was just on the other side of a tree from him, before he dove back into the water and got away from me. It was fun to see how close I could get to him, before I knew he was there.

I'll have to download those pictures and post him on here.
donna

Ranch horses, "The Good Old Boys". ACEO oil Painting.

I started this card with a definite look I wanted it to have. 30 hours later, it looks like I wanted it to look! I thought I'd never get it right.

Here's the scenario, you live on a working ranch. There aren't a lot of days when you need to use the horses. But all of a sudden, today, of all days, when you're really busy, the cows get out in the neighbor's hay field.

You know you need the horses so you grab some oats in a bucket and a couple halters and off you go to catch them.

You go out to the west 80 and there they are, all fat and sassy from eating their heads off. Of course they see you coming from a long way off.

Now comes the big question, are they going to co-operate and let you get your hands on them, or are they going to run off and make you run some laps before they give in?

This is what this painting is about and you can see the indecision on their faces, they don't know yet themselves how badly they want those oats you're carrying. Donna

ACEO horse original oil painting. Buckskin Foal

"Headin' for Mom"
This buckskin baby thought he was so independent, he wandered away from his mom. It didn't take him long to get hungry, he's headed back home!

After not doing a horse for a while, I had to have my horse fix.

Yesterday, I bought some new brushes thinking it would make me paint better. I don't think it helped any. :( but it was fun to play with something new. I needed smaller brushes for working on these tiny paintings.
donna

Long Eared Cow,

This was a really nice cow but it looks like she's saying, "Shut up! I heard you the first time!
donna

Goat, ACEO card, really silly goat.

Another goat that made me laugh. This one was just crazy. I guess I have more fun at the fair than the kids do!
donna

Siberian Tiger

Siberian Tiger
These tigers are so incredibly beautiful. I think the ones they had at the fair, you could go in and pet. I didn't do it because I'd be the lucky person, the one in 10,000 the tiger decided to eat. But I would have loved to be able to have the experience of petting this girl. She was really something. Her handlers loved her to death. They were so proud of her. She's an expectant mother. I hope she and her kittens are at the fair next year!

Robert keeps telling me I need to paint something besides horses, some of the time. I've never seen the need or had much desire to paint anything but horses, but I've been following his advice nevertheless. He is a very smart man. That's why you see me doing other animals and subjects these days.

He's probably right as I sold 22 paintings this last month. That is some kind of record for me in sales. Every night when I went to sleep this month, I thanked God for those sales. At some point in your artistic career, if you never sell anything, you begin to doubt your sanity!

At any given point in time, when I'd pray about this, the answer that came back to me was so simple, God would say, "Keep Painting". No more, no less, just, Keep Painting. So that is why you see me paint and paint and paint like a crazy woman.

This painting I just did of the tiger was very complicated. My reference photo was taken at such a crazy angle, it made her head seem very large and out of shape, and her body seemed very small and distant. I had to look at that photo, and make all kinds of corrections as I drew this tiger on the aceo card. I think it turned out in spite of all the beginning problems. I worked on this card most of yesterday along with the other three I finished. This was the one that took the most time.

I also wanted her coat to seem very soft and plush, she did not have long fur like I imagined she would. The handler said these cats shed four times a year and they never do grow the long fur. I thought that was interesting.
donna

Tail Swish
I loved the way this horses tail was flying through the air. It created so many graceful lines.

On another subject, I posted a whole lot of aceo cards in my ebay store with make me an offer buttons on them. So if you've seen something you like here, go to the store and see what you might want to pay for them. I can only turn you down if I don't like it. Jokes. I've sold two larger paintings today by accepting people's offers on them. I want to sell this stuff, not keep it around forever..... At the same time, I want a fair price for it.... but I don't mind bargaining....
donna

The Flirty Camel
We saw this camel at the fair. She was giving people rides. After someone would get off her back, she'd stick her head under a tent, looking for shade. She was so cute. I keep saying that about animals, she/he was so cute. I can't help it, I love animals.
donna

Sicilian Donkey ACEO
We found this guy in the petting zoo at the fair. We'd like to have a real one of these someday. We like them. I'll be putting him for sale on ebay along with the goat, duck and others.
donna

Percheron after his bath.
ACEO Oil Painting.
I attempted to paint this horse, right after he'd had a bath. He was soaking wet and the sun was shining down hot on his black hide. He had a soft, shining look. I'm not sure I caught it, but I tried.
donna

ACEO oil painting of a duck.
This duck came to our pasture to stay. I don't know why, I suspect she's been hurt as she doesn't fly. We came home from the fair around midnight and she was parked under the sprinkler.

Today, Class saw this duck walk across her pasture. You know how it sounds when a horse sucks their lungs full of air and then let's it out all in one big whoosh? Well, that's what Classy did. Then she did it a couple more times and she pranced around this place like a crazy horse on her tip toes or sometimes not touching the ground at all. Class doesn't like the duck at all. I hope she gets used to her before she takes out a row of fence!
donna

Things are looking up around here!
An aceo oil painting of a goat. You have access to all kinds of animals at the fair! I especially like the goats. I had a miniature goat named Frosty one time. She was so much fun, mostly because she had an irrepressible spirit. She was constantly in mischief. But she was also extremely friendly and fun.

I'm going to put this image on a thank you card that will be for sale in my zazzle gift shop.
donna

ACEO oil painting of a mule in harness.

You talk about cute, this mule, at the state fair in Great Falls, was the cutest mule I about ever saw. I included a lot of detail in this painting, but it doesn't have everything. If you know about harness you might see something missing. There were some things I had to leave out if they totally overlapped something several times over. There's not that much room on an aceo card. I think I got the important stuff though.
donna

Oil painting of buckskin horse, ACEO

"Howdy Boss!"

When I approach my horse Class, with a bridle, she looks at me just like this. A kind of interested, ok, what are we gonna do today? look. I think it's so cute she's happy to go on a ride, move to a new pasture or do "anything" with me. It's like having another friend to communicate with. Donna

Horse oil painting, Dapple Grey, ACEO card.

I sure love practising on these dapples. I don't even know how many times I've painted this horse or one of his friends. I think they're pretty. You can see more of my art posted on my website.
Donna

Oil painting horse ACEO of Buckskin Mare and foal.
"She's Passin' it On"
A buckskin mare with this year's buckskin foal. They're enjoying the white hot light of noon and a light Montana breeze.
donna

Bolthar's Steed in Montana

ACEO oil painting.

I'm playing with images of Mary's horse. He's a black Percheron. He's so tall! His name is Bolthar so I'm doing plays on his name. Bolthar is the Norse God of Frost. I wouldn't have known that if Mary hadn't told me. I'm glad I know it now. You'd think I would have known that as I'm Norwegian. Donna

Horse oil painting, ACEO card.
"Bolthar the Black"
He's a real horse, a percheron. An ebay friend sent me pictures of him to create paintings of. He must be awesome to ride! His legs go up to the sky. Wouldn't it be fun to take him on a trail ride?
donna