She wants to be a star! Equine art acrylic painting.

"She wants to be a star"

9X12 inch

Acrylic on heavy paper

After working so hard to create my painting "Thinking of Cecil" yesterday, I wanted something fun and relaxing to work on today.  So I began to paint, and in my mind I'm asking this horse what do you want to be?  How do you want me to paint you?

She did not reply so I began painting blind, adding some colors, Creating some textures with my homemade stamp, adding some more layers of color....and all the time asking what this horse wanted to be!  

Finally I heard this little whisper, "I want to be green.  Bright green, I'm Irish you know."

Well that was a start!  "A bright green horse you will become," I told my painting.

Then I began to ask more questions, like ok bright green horse, "What are your hopes and dreams?"

Finally I heard a shout! "I want to be a star!"

What a funny horse this is...she takes forever to answer my questions, and when she finally answers I'm so surprised.  I thought maybe she'd want to become an Indian war pony, or a race horse...

No way, she wants to be a green Irish star!  So I made her a star, she's the star in this painting.

You see it never hurts to tell someone your hopes and dreams.  Speaking up and telling someone your dreams helps them come true!

Doesn't matter if you're a green Irish star of a funny painting, or a wild Indian pony running over the plains, it's your dream.

I hope all your dreams come true!

Donna

Thinking of Cecil, lion painting, watercolor, on Yupo paper.

"Thinking of Cecil"

9X12 inches on Yupo paper

Watercolor painting of lion

I'm in a group on Facebook called Paw Prints for Animals and in that group, there's a challenge to paint something depicting the sanctity of African wildlife.

I decided to paint a lion, using a photograph, which Heather Ward graciously provided. I was thinking of Cecil the lion the entire time I painted this and how his life was snuffed out for no apparent good reason.

It was a project that required all my concentration!  I slept like a log after I created this painting!

I hope you enjoy seeing it here today.

Donna

LIttle yard bunny, watches me in the garden each day.

Cottontails are interesting little creatures, those who live with us, will sit maybe six feet away from us and watch us carefully as we work around the yard.  They seem to love it when we talk to them.  They're very good listeners!

In the wild, average age for a cottontail is about three years, I'd like to think maybe ours live a bit longer than that. We do help them in winter when the snow is deep and they can't get to the grass.  We have rabbit feeders we put out under our camper.

Hawks and coyotes hunt here, so we do see bits of fur in the yard at times.  It's sad to see but it's also nature's way.  Hawks need to eat too.

Our garden boxes are about 3 feet high, so the rabbits don't get into my produce. :)  Otherwise, I'd be limited on what I harvest!

Hope you enjoyed seeing this little guy.

Donna

Ledger art, new to me, been around for centuries!

Ledger art, I've always loved it, but didn't know it had an actual name and was an art form. It has a fascinating history. One of my friends told me my latest paintings reminded her of this form of art, so I had to look it up and learn about it.

I thought you might enjoy seeing it also.
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Taken directly from Wikipedia, description of Ledger art:

• "Historical precedents[edit]

  
  

  The Sand Creek massacre as drawn by eyewitness Howling Wolf(1874–1875).
  Ledger art evolved from Plains hide painting.^[1] Among Plains tribes, women traditionally paint abstract, geometrical designs, whereas men paint representational designs. The men's designs were often heraldic devices or visions painted on shields, tipis, shirts, leggings, or robes. Before the Plains tribes were forced to live on reservations in the 1870s, men generally painted personal feats in battle or hunting.^[2] Plains ledger art depicted communally acknowledged events of valor and tribal importance in order to gain status for the individuals who participated in them, and their band and kin. Plains pictorial art emphasizes narrative action and eliminates unnecessary detail or backgrounds.^[3] Figures tended to be drawn in hard outlines and filled with solid fields of color.^[4]
  These were all traditionally painted on animal hides – particularly buffalo hides. When buffalo became scarce after eradication programs encouraged by the US federal government, Plains artists began painting and drawing on paper, canvas, and muslin.^[1]

  New materials[edit]

  An increasing supply of ledger books and other paper came from traders, government agents, missionaries, and military officers.^[5] With these came pencils, ink fountain pens, crayons, and watercolor paints.^[6] These new tools allowed for greater detail and experimentation than the earlier tools, such as bone or wood styli dipped in mineral pigments, had. The compact ledger books and pencils were highly portable, making them ideal for nomadic lifestyles.^[7]

  Fort Marion[edit]

  
  

  Drawing by Black Hawk (Sans Arc Lakota), c. 1880 depicting a horned Thunder Being (Haokah) on a horse-like creature with eagle talons and buffalo horns. The creature's tail forms a rainbow that represents the entrance to the Spirit World, and the dots represent hail. Accompanying the picture on the page were the words: "Dream or vision of himself changed to a destroyer and riding a buffalo eagle."
  The most celebrated ledger artists were prisoners of war at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1874, in what became known as the Red River War or Buffalo War, a group of Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche, Arapaho, and Caddowarriors fought the US Army to protect the last free herd of buffalo and to assert their autonomy.^[8] In the harsh winter of 1874 to 1875, many tribal camps were forced to surrender to various Indian agencies, and the supposed leaders of the Red River War were rounded up and sent to Fort Marion.^[9] From 1875 to 1878, the 71 men and one woman were under the command of Richard Henry Pratt, who used the opportunity to give the Indians a Western education.^[10] He provided the prisoners with basic art supplies such as pencils, ink, crayons, watercolor paint, and paper.
  Twenty-six of the Fort Marion prisoners engaged in drawing. They were younger Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa men.^[11] Some of the most prolific and well-known artists include Paul Caryl Zotom (Kiowa); David Pendleton Oakerhater or Making Medicine (Cheyenne); Tichkematse or Squint Eyes (Cheyenne); Wohaw (Kiowa); Howling Wolf (Cheyenne);Etahdleuh Doanmoe (Kiowa); White Bear (Arapaho); Koba (Kiowa); and Bear’s Heart (Cheyenne). Tichtematse, Howling Wolf, White Bear, and Koba all continued drawing after their release from prison.^[12]

  Subject matter[edit]

  Battle exploits dominated ledger art. Other traditional themes such as hunting, courtship,^[13] and religious practices were common subjects. Ledger artists also documented their rapidly changing environment by portraying encroaching European Americans and new technologies such as trains and cameras. Many ledger artists worked with ethnologists, by documenting shield and tipi designs, ethnobotanical information, winter counts, dance customs and regalia, and other cultural information. Dreams and visions inspired ledger art just as they had inspired earlier hide paintings.^[14]
  The artists creating ledger art today often reference pre-reservation lifeways, historical transitions, and social commentary. They use this style to illustrate cultural continuity between historical and contemporary Native life.^[13]

  As fine art[edit]

  
  

  The warrior "Low Dog" by Red Dog, 1884 ledger art
  Missionaries, anthropologists, and tourists eagerly collected ledger books in the late 19th century. Carl Sweezy (1881–1953) (Arapaho) and Haungooah (Silver Horn) (1860–1940) (Kiowa) both established professional careers as ledger artists.
  They inspired the Kiowa Five or, as they are increasingly known, the Kiowa Six. These artists painted with more sophisticated materials and met with international success when they exhibited their work in the 1928 International Art Congress in Prague,Czechoslovakia.

  Today[edit]

  Numerous modern Plains artists create ledger paintings. Many seek out 19th-century documents on which to paint, creating ironic juxtapositions between the printed text and the paintings. Dwayne Wilcox (Oglala Lakota) uses the style of 19th-century Lakota painters to express humorous views of modern realities for Lakota people. Arthur Amiotte (Oglala Lakota) builds upon the collage aspect of ledger art and combines text, photography, naturalistic painting and stylized Plains pictorial art in his work.Dolores Purdy Corcoran (Caddo/Winnebago) is a female ledger artist who uses bright colors and female figures frequently in her work.^[15]"

End wikipedia text

Buffalo Hunter, horse painting.

Buffalo Hunter

8X10 inch

Acrylic and ink

'

Close up detail of Buffalo Hunter

I really liked the colors in this painting, nice soft earth tones appeal to something within me. And this painting came together very naturally, without struggle.  It's kind of fun when that happens with a painting.

It is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Moonlight Sonata, horse painting, moonlit sky

Moonlight Sonata
Sold

7X10 inch acrylic painting with inks on mixed media paper, an original painting.

Here's a horse singing in the moonlight.  Happy doodles and flourishes adorn the night sky.  He's very happy and content.

I recently joined the http://dailypaintworks.com, come by and see all the paintings there for sale! There's something for everyone.

Donna

Calling for Peace, small painting of a white horse.

Calling for peace, in a world where signs of battle are all around...

The thunderbirds are rising, the spirits are dancing...

5X7 inch acrylic on watercolor paper

Sold

I took the plunge and joined the dailypainters on dailypaintworks.com.  I've thought about doing this for years so you could say I didn't do this lightly! Lol.

This was the first painting I posted on their site. I do realize it might not always be this way, but this painting sold the first time it was presented on the site.  So it was reaffirming to join and have this happen.

Check out their site and see what you like there!  There's a painting there for everyone.

Donna