Monday, March 31, 2008

Montana photos, near Augusta.

When we began yesterday's photo shoot, we started off on this road, the sign said it was West Simms Creek Road. We had no idea where it would take us, but figured we'd eventually end up on the highway that goes from Simms to Augusta. As it happens, we were correct.




This is a neat road, it takes you through miles of prairie. I love the patterns you can find in the grass and the clouds.


You can see, we started out in sunshine, but this is where it began to snow. By this time, we were on the road to Sawmill Flats and had turned around and headed down the mountain.

In this photo, I liked the way the warm colors on the rocks showed through the grey of the snow.
Donna Ridgway

Montana nature photo, storm on the mountain.

In some of my photos below this post, you'll see horses covered in snow. This was the storm that snowed on them. We were high on the mountain watching the beginnings of the storm move in when I took this photo.

I've spent hours alone in the mountains, watching storms come across the earth. I put on some Carhardts and my outback duster and sit under a big tree, watching the first of the snowflakes falling. There is no other quiet in the world like you own when you're in a place like this.

Most people avoid being here at a time like this, so you aren't bothered by chatter. The animals have gone to shelter so you don't see much wildlife...you have the most wonderful alone there is.

As a word of caution, I don't go unprepared into the mountains. Now that I have Robert to share these adventures with, I'm glad he believes the same as I do about carrying food and gear. We take plenty and try to plan for emergencies that could arise.

He spent so much time in the mountains, logging, he knows when to use caution, and when to go on. Yesterday, we were in the Yukon, which doesn't plow through deep snow very well. We had a hard time deciding, when we hit the first big snow drifts, if we should go on or turn around and go home. Sometimes we dare each other to go on, other times, we listen to a strong instinct and turn around. Yesterday was one one of those "instinct" times.

We turned around and left the high country. Before we got down to the first cattle guard, the snow was falling thick and fast...if we'd gone on, we'd have had to use all our food and equipment before we got back down the mountain! We might have been there a long time....

I guess that's part of why we go, when you're in a position of making decisions of grave importance, it adds spice to live that isn't there in day to day living.

If you click this photo, you'll see a larger version, if you order the photo, the copyright notice doesn't appear on your photo.
Donna Ridgway

Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Montana Nature photos, deer jumping.


Imagine these little jumpers, one on either side of the large mirror in your living room!

These fawns were 2007 babies, still following their mom, who had jumped the creek, then jumped the fence. As I was clicking away with my camera to capture the action, I caught one of them preparing to jump the creek and one preparing to jump the fence.

I flipped the photo of the one jumping the fence so they faced each other. If you click on the photos, you'll see a larger version. I had posted the fawn jumping the creek with my post yesterday, but decided these guys were so cute, they needed their very own post! So I edited yesterday's post, took the fawn out of the line up, and put him here.

Here's mom, trying to coax her children across the creek...

It's such a high to get out in the country to find wildlife, and watch them doing the things they do. I loved the way this doe coaxed her babies not only over the creek, but also over the fence, to join her in the next field. She didn't make many noises, as the deer sometimes do, she just used body language and they understood!

Part of the joy Robert and I find in chasing down photos like these, is the fun of sharing them. We hope you're enjoying what we found for you yesterday...
Donna and Robert Ridgway

Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Montana photo, west of Augusta. "Storm Coming In"

This is one of the photos from yesterday that I especially liked. When you look at it, you can feel the cold, harsh, climate we sometimes have. I liked the stark, simple, beauty in this scene.

I believe if you click on this photo, you'll see a larger image. My copyright notice won't appear on your photo.

This photo can be ordered on canvas, gallery wrap, or on paper as a print. Email me if you'd like to have it in your home.
Donna Ridgway
Email Me if you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Montana nature photos. Wildlife, scenery.


This pair of geese nest on this haystack each year. We look for them every spring.




It was snowing hard and fast when we saw these horses. I can't wait to do some paintings of them. I liked the groupings of horses that occurred as they moved around the field. The wind was blowing and my hands were frozen by the time I decided I had enough photos!




We drove as far up Willow Creek as we could go. When the drifts got deep, we had to turn around and come back. As it began to snow really hard, we decided we'd better come back down off the mountain, but it certainly felt good to be there again, even if it was for a little while.




Hope you enjoyed today's photo shoot as much as we did!

Photos are for sale, with double mats and in a clear bag, for $40.
Donna Ridgway

I want to be there....even if there isn't a horse in the picture.

I am so restless today, I have itchy feet. I need to feel the mountains. I have not been in the trees since last spring, before the forest fires ruined our summer.

This photo sums up how I'm feeling, you can see the mountain beckoning....

I'm even thinking of Turkey Bob, living there near Willow Creek in his little house that's a work of art. He put the house together from "found items". These items are used in the most unusual and creative ways. We stumbled upon Turkey Bob quite by accident the day we were charged by an antelope and that was the very same day we pulled a baby antelope off a barbed wire fence and hopefully saved his life. He was so new, his umbilical cord was attached to his tummy.



It was quite a thrill to be charged by the antelope mom, rescue the baby, meet Turkey Bob and see his house, all in one day. You can see why I like our photo shoot adventures, we never know what Montana treasures we'll discover next.

I took the above photo of the antelope mom, as she was charging us. I would have kept taking pictures if she had bowled me over. We were close to her baby, but we didn't know it at this moment. You can see her intent in her eyes....She was going to do whatever it took to move us!


You can see here how dangerous the bottom wire on a barbed wire fence is to a baby antelope. They try to jump the fence, and can't make it over. This baby had one front leg over the wire, his other front leg was not over the wire. The wire ran beneath his little breast bone, holding him there. He couldn't go backward or forward and he was exhausted from the struggle.

You should have heard him calling his mom when Robert picked him off the wire and turned him loose! It took no time at all for her to come running by, collect him up and take off with him. He had a rough start in life, but I like to think he was ok, after we got him off the fence.

We didn't see the baby at first, they're so tiny, and he was in such an unnatural position on the fence, he didn't look like a baby antelope, just a strange object. When his mom charged us, it was a dead giveaway there was a baby near.

Well...........as I'm writing this post, I've talked myself into it, in spite of the cost of gas, I plugged in the camera batteries and as soon as they're charged, we're off! We're going to leave home today and go take some photos.....

Hope we find something good to take pictures of so I can show you tomorrow! One of the many good things about my Robert, he's always ready for a photo shoot adventure.....
Donna Ridgway

Happy Horses


11 years ago, I was painting what I called "Happy Horses". I'm revisiting these horses in my mind, I keep coming back to them lately, wondering what else I can do with them. I had so much fun working with them.

Part of what was fun, was designing the horses so they "interacted" like a herd of horses in real life. Then I put designs on the horses to lead your eye around through the herd. Similar to how you would feel if you were in the middle of this herd, trying to choose which horse you wanted to ride for the day.

It was always a dream of mine, to have so many horses, I had to choose between them to decide who to ride each day! So when I'm in the midst of creating these horses, I think, "Which one would I choose today?"

Another element of this design is the aspect of color. I think and plan and create a pattern of color that moves your eye around inside the horse herd.

Then there are places where I kind of interlock the pattern of horses to bring one or the other to the fore or background.

Another fun part of these, was choosing where to make a horse going right, and where to place a horse going left. There are two opposing rivers of horses, moving through each other.

My main interest in designing these horses at the time, was that children liked them. My daughter's friends really loved them. So it was fun to see what they would think of each new design. They're so cheerful...it feels fun to look at them.

So I think I'll revisit this theme and see what comes of it....
Donna Ridgway

Friday, March 28, 2008

More Carousel horse art.

Here's a round eyed carousel horse for you! He's pretty much finished but I might do a couple more touch ups on him. Carousel horses make me happy. I've always wanted one in my living room. I figured in my previous house, I'd have one in the living room, and put it on a gold pipe that lead to gears down in the basement. Then I'd ride the horse and my kids could sit on a seat downstairs and pedal so I could go up and down...just like on the carousel. I know my kids would have loved it. ha. Now I don't have a basement so I guess I won't try this idea any time soon. We spent a portion of this day removing the plumbing from my studio. We won't have running water to that house, because of Flood Control regulations. There isn't much room under it even though we still have the axles on the trailer house. And the wind was blowing. There's something about me, you might as well know, I don't stop, until I hear the word "Whoa!" One of the ties we had under the house had slid and I needed to throw some gravel out of the way to get it back where it belonged. Poor Robert. He was down wind of me, laying on his back, under the house! He hollered, "Hey!" then I heard some choking and spitting and then he hollered, "Donna!" and tried to say a few more things, then finally he remembered who he was talking to and he yelled, "Whoa!" I was so busy digging, I didn't realize all the dust from my efforts were choking him! His face was black from dirt and his teeth looked really white. This story about whoa, also reminded me of a horse I once rode behind Split Mountain. His name was Murphy and I've done many paintings of him. My uncle was dying of cancer and I went to see him. Many years before, he'd promised to take me riding behind Split Mountain. So when I got to his house, he told the hired man to saddle up the horses, and take me up behind Split. My aunt, my cousins, my daughter, the hired man, and I went on this venture. My uncle's horse was named Barney. He wasn't a nice horse-my uncle always liked riding a bronc. Since my uncle was to ill to ride, he told us to put the fencing tools on Barney and use him for a pack horse. Barney hated being lead along, and he "REALLY" hated those pliers, nails, and hammers that jiggled and made noise on his back. For some reason, Barney behaved himself all the way up the mountain, all along the trail to the glacier lake at the foot of the Rocky Mountain Front and half way down to the ranch. We'd relaxed and got sloppy. All of us were riding down the trail with Barney in the rear. How stupid. When he exploded, he bucked his way through the middle of all of us. We were in the center of a quaking aspen thicket. When Barney blew by Murphy and I, Murphy came apart. I could feel tree limbs knocking against my head, and saw a blur of horses, and people spreading out through the trees. I thought Murphy, being as chubby as he was, wouldn't have so much energy! But he had no intention of stopping...I told him, "Whoa....WHOA ... WHOA and WHOA!" Finally, I remembered who's horse he was, he belonged to my Uncle Bill, a rough neck old cowboy who loved riding broncs...I figured I'd better talk to Murphy in language he understood and I hollered "Whoa you SOB!" Murphy planted his feet like a gentleman. And it was just in time, I must say, for I was beginning to come undone. I rode another horse one day who didn't Whoa when she should have. I was on a trail ride with maybe 150 people, it was the annual Steak Ride on the National Bison Range at Moiese, Mt. I was riding a paint mare named Peep, that belonged to my neighbor, Jim. She was a great horse, but herd bound to her mate. At one point in the ride, we came upon a grove of pine trees and all the men began to head for those trees. Most of the women kind of tied up their horses and politely turned their backs. I was about to do the same, when my friend Jim, owner of Peep, headed his horse in the direction of the other men. Peep decided she wanted to go with her pasture mate. I fought her off for a while, and learned she didn't know the meaning of Whoa, then she took off bucking down through the draw and up the other side. As she came down through the draw, I decided I didn't want to burst into that grove of trees without warning those men, so I yelled, "Wait for me, Jim, I'm coming too!" You can imagine they never forgot me. It was one of my most embarrassing moments! Donna Ridgway More carousel horse art here

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Horse Gift Mural

I received my official welcome from the Horse Gift mural project today so I'm considering myself a member of the team. This is a very exciting project to be on, I love these mural mosaics.

A few days ago, I had news my ACEO cards will be featured in the spring ACEO Magazine. I'm also very excited about that as I love those little aceo cards. I've had so much fun creating and selling those cards.

My five chosen paintings are also at the Grand National Celebration of Western Art, and I'm a member of the Grand National Artist's Society.

I'm also trying a new auction site called onlineauctions.com Funny thing, they even have reps who call you and help you determine the best way to sell on their auction site. If I can create a market there for my work, I'll be pleased as I'm not selling on ebay any more. I've decided to stop posting auctions there.

I've also had to totally revamp my website as Microsoft, in their great wisdom labeled it as a "phishing site". It's pretty difficult to allow your customers to see your work, when they get this huge message and a warped view of things. Nice of Microsoft to determine I'm scamming the public. I do appreciate their "wisdom" in the design of their new Explorer 7 browser.

I do think I have the problem solved, but I had to remove my css style sheet, and I had to take the pay pal buttons off my front page. If any of you go to my horse art website now and can't see it, please let me know, if it works, drop me a line from the email link and tell me that too. :)

A few steps forward, a few steps back, that is the art world...
Donna Ridgway

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Gun Show Saga

We attended a gun show this weekend to sell our original art, prints and poems. I have never laughed so hard or had so much fun in ages.

Now bear with me, while I tell parts of this story...it will all come together in the end....

I'll start out with the story of the "black box".

Robert and I love to "recycle". A nice way of saying we're died in the wool dumpster divers. We find the most amazing things in the dumps. Whenever we find one of these truly, incredibly, amazing, cast off items, we always comment, "Isn't this something? Now why would anyone throw that away!???"

The "black box" was one of those finds. It's about one foot square. Pure black, made of wood and decorated with silver pieces that round out it's corners. It has a beautiful leather handle on the front with more silver decorations holding the handle to the box. The lid opens on hinges. We use it for our cash box. It's a little large for this purpose, but at every show, you seem to need a place to keep business cards of new acquaintances, information about the next shows, your cash, receipt books, etc. The black box works perfectly for us. It has room for everything we need at our sales table.

A few months ago, we set up out at the Air Force Base BX to see if we could sell anything there. We were members of a guild then, and we all set up together. By the time we had the set up complete, we were all tired and crabby. One of our friends, took a most extreme objection to our "black box". A complete brawl ensued among our members over that black box. Robert and I were the show committee, so it finally came down to a matter of authority, we said the black box would stay and that was it. By this time, we had made quite a spectacle in the entrance doorway to the BX, it's a wonder they didn't call security!

After the show at the base, we didn't pay our dues and rejoin the guild, although we've remained good friends and look forward to times when we know we'll be showing beside each other again. The guild shows at the gun show also, so when we set up there, we were all so glad to see each other once again.

The lady who didn't like our black box at the BX show, came to see our set up. I pointed out the black box, and told her Robert was going to have me paint her name on it for this show. She looked at the box, and she said, "That's a beautiful box, I would have never have had such a fit over a box that looked this nice!" When I convinced her this box was "the black box" we had such a laugh, she said, "I don't know why I objected to that box, I like it now." So it is good to know, you can have a fight with a friend and come out on the good side of it....with both of you laughing about how silly it all was.

Another of our great, amazing, wonderful, dumpster finds was this little rectangular cart. It's a flat base of wood, with hard rubber wheels underneath it. You can hook a rope to the wooden base, and pull the cart. In the beginning of it's life, it was made to carry quite heavy loads.

At the end of this particular gun show, Robert decided we could use that cart, and take "everything out in one load". (What can I say, he's an old truck driver!) He also thinks a bungee is magic and can hold anything together, and he also thinks you have to "make a load pay".

So when we're taking down after the show, he has this plan to put everything on that little cart we found in the dump, it was going to be the "magic carpet" that hauled everything out easily, and "all at once".

So we took all the paintings down, and put them into their totes. We took down all the lights and fabric and hangers and put that hardware into it's special tote. We took all the large paintings and put them in the big tote.

We took the panels apart, they're about 7 feet tall, so when laid flat on that little magic cart, they made a trailer that was seven foot long, and 2 and a half foot wide. On top of those panels, we put the wooden poem stands. They're about three feet tall. So now our cart is about 7 foot long and four foot high. We loaded the totes underneath the poem stands. We took the print rack base and "bungeed" it onto the side of all this. We took the print rack top, and bungeed it on top of this conglomeration of stuff that sat on our amazingly wonderful dumpster find, the little cart. Next we took our bar stools and bungeed them tight to the top of the entire mess! The cart is now 5 foot high. It holds one hundred paintings, prints and poems, all the racks, hardware, and lights of our set up and it looks like this:
You can see the wonderful black box to the front of this load, and the base stand for the print rack on the back.
Here are the totes and chairs, the step ladder, the large display board and the big paintings' tote, which absolutely would not fit on the cart. You can see why.

When the cart was still inside the building, and it was finally loaded...Robert left me sitting beside it while he went to get the car and the trailer. So here I am, sitting beside this stuff, like a bag lady with my cart. Everyone is hauling their stuff out on their nice little carts they bought from Home Depot or Ace Hardware, right? As they walk by me, they're all shaking their heads in disbelief. I have to tell them, "What can I say, he's an old truck driver!?" By the time the 10th person went by, I'm laughing so hard from all the comments, I have tears streaming down my face, because all these fellow gun show exhibitors have watched us load this cart and they all have something to say about it's appearance now.

Robert finally arrived to pick up me and the cart. We begin to drag and push this thing toward the door. Other people see the struggle we're having and they join in and we're all pushing away when the darn things stops right outside the door and refuses to go any further. We were all so involved with getting it "OUT" of the building, we didn't notice the big black marks we left where a wheel got stuck and drug into two pieces!

Without four good wheels, that thing was going nowhere! So now, I'm once again sitting beside the cart waiting for my Robert to back up to it with the trailer. I'm listening to more comments, and laughing my head off because there's no way you can't see the humor in all of this-the wonderful dumpster finds, our high hopes for their performance, and the resulting disaster!

It's to funny for words. To top it all off, we sold nothing at this show, while people all around us had customers lined up at their booths! Our friends in the guild sold over a thousand dollars worth of paintings, and we sold nothing. Not only did we have no sales, a bum cart, a hated black box, but we also had a lady shoplift one of Robert's poem books!

Luckily a friend of ours in the next booth saw her take the book. She motioned for me, and we ran after the lady and chased her down. Made her give the book back to me. I wish I'd turned her over to security... I was so shocked my mind was kind of numb, or I would have. The next time I have a shoplifter, they won't get off so easily, she was wearing a $200 outback duster, $200 boots, a hundred dollar hat, and she said she had no money to pay for the book!

You hear of shoplifters all the time, but the reality of it is still a mind blower. That's probably why they get away with it most of the time...because we can't believe anyone would actually do it to us!

So now I also know, a show like this is not all about sales and lost entry money. I saw friends I hadn't seen in years, met new friends who will share the show experience with us for the next few years, enjoyed friends and guild members who we've shown with at previous shows.... and had more laughs and experiences than you can usually cram into one weekend!

And even though no one liked any of my paintings good enough to buy one, I'm all fired up with new ideas and can't wait to paint some more! At least I got some good feedback and encouragement to keep on doing what I do...

And there's one more thing I have to say, and it's the most important of all. My Robert is the most amazing man. He works so hard to try to make the set up and take down easy. He's there selling his poems, but he's also there 150% for me. I know I can count on him for ideas, cheerful companionship, and fun. No matter what we end up doing, we see the humor in it and can laugh. It's so amazing....Life is good.
Donna

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Bull Elk, painting, plasma cut steel.


Never know what you might paint on next! My nephew had someone use a plasma cutter to cut this elk out of steel. Steven didn't want the elk to remain metal color, he wanted it painted to go on the front of his new Dodge one ton. So if you see this elk going down the road around Helena, Mt, you'll know who painted it!
Donna Ridgway


Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Carousel horse watercolor painting on canvas.

The Carousel Horse
On the outside, of a beautiful carousel horse, you see shiny paint, a wooden shell, glossy colors....but look deeply into their eyes and you will see the soul of a trapped horse, who longs to be free. He doesn't want to go round and round any longer. He wants to leap from the slick, circling platform onto green meadows and feel clean air sucking through his lungs.

You don't know it, but at night, when the carousel shuts down, the hooves are freed from their pedestals, wood becomes living flesh, and the horse's wish is granted.

When I was a child, and I visited the carousel with my grandparents, the horses knew I was "one of those who understood". They'd came to my house in the dead of night and I'd hear their impatient hooves outside my window. I could open the window and make the leap onto one of their backs and spend the rest of the magical night flying across the ground on the wildest of wild horses....the carousel!
Donna Ridgway
This painting is 8X10" on gallery wrapped canvas.
See more carousel horses here.
Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Cow painting, watercolor, work in progress.


Every time we go to get wood, I have to stop by the heifer pen at the feedlot. And this heifer is the reason why. She comes to greet us every single time. She entertains us by tilting her head, sticking her tongue up her nose, bucking and playing....always something to set her apart from the other cows! I think she wants to come home with us.

I'm not finished with this painting yet, you can see it has a few bugs...but maybe by the end of today, it will look better.

Who knows if there will be any more painting time though, for the gravel trucks will be rolling in here before very long. After that, we have to place railroad ties and create a level pad for the studio to sit upon.

You'll never know how much I'm looking forward to having that studio finished up! No more moving from the house to the studio each spring and fall. I can set up my many projects and work away to my hearts content. No more clearing off the table of framing supplies when company comes... We'll be able to heat the studio, once it's skirted and insulated from underneath. A year round home for my paints and canvases!

You know where I'll be once it's finished up! Unless I'm off in the mountains camping or fishing...
Donna

Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Studio move.


You might wonder what's happening here, but we have to move my studio back 100 feet so we can put a foot of fill gravel under it. Where we live, we're subject to flood control regulations. We had a year to get this project done, and the time is almost up.

We thought we could hire a local contractor to do the job for us, but we've waited 11 months for him to show up, and we haven't seen hide nor hair of him, around here. We go to his house, and ask if he still wants this job, and he says, "Yes, I'll get right on it." But he doesn't show up!

When we went to get a load of wood yesterday, we saw a gravel pit along the road, near our house. Drove into the pit, and talked to some of the people who were working there, and asked them which construction company owned the pit. Called them when we got home, and they said they could come to do the job in two days! So we hurried to get ready for them.

So the hardest part of the job, we thought, would be to move the studio off the spot. As it turns out, the bobcat did the job! We were a little amazed ourselves.

The photo above shows where the studio was, the photo below shows where the bobcat shoved the trailer!






I had Robert stand by the bobcat, so you can see what a small machine it really is!

You see these little holes in the ground? That's the tire tracks where the trailer sat for so long. (Waiting for the contractor to bring the gravel!) The bobcat had a hard time getting the trailer backed off those holes, so we hooked the pickup on the back of the trailer and I helped pull it out of those holes. After that, the bobcat took off pushing the trailer. All I could do was to get the pickup out of the way, and run up to tell Robert to stop as the house was where we needed it to be!

You can see from the angle of the pickup, the bobcat put the trailer there by itself. I wasn't even pulling, just trying to get out of the way!


Talk about a rush, I jumped out of the truck and ran to the bobcat, just in time to stop Robert before the studio hit that big power pole at the back of the trailer.

That bobcat is like the little engine that could...it doesn't know it isn't big enough to do things like this!



Here's Pedro and Daisy, wondering what happened to the house that used to be in this spot! And I can see I need to paint the utility shed next summer...Always something to paint!

Tomorrow the semi's will come with the gravel, two side dump loads, and one normal dump truck. When that is smoothed out, we can pull the trailer back into place. Once it's there , we have to block it level, put skirting on it, insulate underneath it, make flower beds around it, fix the broken window, patch the holes in it's sides, and do a little fixing up inside. It's a real project to make a studio! But so worth it. Just the few art projects I've been doing lately have taken over the entire house.

We're getting ready for the gun show in one living room, framing paintings on the dining room table, creating more paintings in the spare bedroom, and trying to live in the middle of it all! It's fun, I wouldn't trade it for anything.



And neither would Daisy!
Donna Ridgway

Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

All Round Athlete, paint rope horse in action.

This is my entry for the American Paint Horse Association World Poster Contest. The entry form stated, they wanted an equine that looked as if he was coming right off the page.

I hope mine looks like that!

I worked from a photo, sent to me by a friend, Equine Sculptor, Yvonne Kitchen. Her work is wonderful, check it out on the link to her name. She had some exciting ranch rodeo photos she graciously shared with me.

We won't hear until March 17, who the winner is.

Even when I don't win, I love the anticipation of entering a contest. You have so many "what ifs" running through your mind, until you hear the final word. And when you don't make the cut, so what? You have this feeling, "I had the guts to enter that-I can't believe it?!!!!"

So if it's a win, you have the elation, and if you don't, you have the laugh....you're a winner either way.
Donna Ridgway

Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Cow photos





We went to get a load of wood yesterday, and I took photos of some feedlot cattle. Cows can make you laugh...and make you wonder things like how fat can a fat steer get? Why would three of them raise their tails at the same time? And how far can a cow stick her tongue up her nose?

While you're pondering those questions, I'll leave you...
Donna Ridgway
Email Meif you have questions, or want to inquire about purchasing a painting.

Remember, you can find horse art, Western art, Mule and Donkey art
wildlife art, cow art, and animal paintings, for sale on my website.

Birthday party for a one year old.

One of our great grandsons had his first birthday party on Saturday. He's such a good little guy, and he's full of action, so it was...