Moonlight Sonata, horse painting, moonlit sky

Moonlight Sonata
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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

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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

Having the time of my life, painting horses.

Have you ever had a revelation?

Well I just had one. I felt like I just learned the most amazing things! www.youtube.com/watch?v=S092EZ0L6bY by watching the Mimi Bondi videos.  It is so wonderful to have artist's who share what they have learned over time, with the rest of us.  You never know when something you see will strike a chord within you.  I feel like I've been turned out of the corral to run around the pasture!

I don't need a reference photo to create an equine painting any longer.  Just sit down and paint what comes straight from my heart.  It feels so good.

I hope you enjoy these paintings too. The originals can be purchased by inquiring at donnaridgway1@hotmail.com or as prints, laptop skins, phone skins, tote bags, shirts, skirts, leggings, etc on my Red Bubble site.

Donna

Journal pages

Do you sometimes wonder if anyone really sees who you are?  The person you are deep down in your heart?  What would it be like if you could be totally understood for your intentions, not for how people perceive you to be?  So many times in this life, you say or do something that is totally misconstued and there you are....you can't fix it, you can't convince them you meant no harm...and it goes on forever.  The page above was made, thinking of those things.

This page was created after a round of visit's to doctors, the ER, and medical people for my husband's health issues.  I felt like I was drowning in phone calls and frustration, trying to get him the care he needed.  I think we're finally on the right track again.  Hopefully he'll feel better but that's going to involve more surgeries and doctor visits.

And this was created because of all the medical issues also, I was feeling the call of the wild, I just wanted to run away and head for the mountains to find some peace.  I could have spent a month there easily.  But life doesn't work out the way we want it too, so we make the best of it!  Make some more journal pages!  It's great to have time in the studio for this.

We watched a show about a woman who had a husband who could not be happy and he could not allow her or their children to be happy either.  It was called something like, The Contest Winner from Defiance, Oh.  That was a super good show and it made me cry, just watching her trying to make a life from an impossible situation.  I spent 25 years that way so I guess it seemed real personal to me.

Same thing with this page, if your instincts are telling you to run, Do it!  

I met Robert in 2003.  We fought fire, worked for a dynamite crew, drove semi across country, worked on a car crushing crew that toured the state, drove log trucks.  In a few short years we hopped around to so many jobs and adventures.  In 2005 he got hurt and our lives changed totally.  Now we stay home and go to doctors and work on our place.  Everything is still good, it's just different than we had it planned.  You never know what's in store!

This page came about from thinking of all the pets I've lost in my life.  I was looking at their photos, and missing them.

This page is purely an art experiment.  I liked how it turned out, it was fun to create and I'll probably do more similar paintings.  Sometimes journal pages are just for creating new ways to make art.  Sometimes they are for helping you to get things off your mind.

Working in a junk journal.

If you are like me, I saw artist's working in junk journals, and wondered the big question-WHY?  Nothing about the junk journals are archival, who knows how long they will last?  You can't sell each individual painting if you create one you really like.

I started creating junk journals anyway!  I gesso over any kind of junk mail we get.  I paint on the pages of books I create from junk mail envelopes and card stock type materials.  

And here's what I've learned...

When you are not worrying about the expense of good art materials, you gain a freedom in expression.  It does not matter what you paint!  You begin to paint for the pure joy of painting.

You do not care how it "turns out".  You do not worry if it "works" or not.  Because there's always another batch of junk mail coming in.  You can make another book and fill it up with ideas!

As you practice over and over you gain experience and knowledge about yourself and what you really like to paint.  You get very comfortable inside your artist "skin".

I've also got completely away from using reference photos, I was always a slave to those photos.  I think artwork created directly from your heart is so much more "artsy".  I love being able to sit at my art table and do nothing more than react to each color or brushstroke.  Just sit there working and let one idea flow from another.  It frees your mind in a way that creates a type of euphoria and let's the world float away.

In my journals, I make my own gesso, I use house paint if I feel like it, I try out the cheaper brands of gel mediums, I experiment making my own texture pastes.  I glue paper to pages, I paint over it, I try anything I feel like doing.  Because it just doesn't matter!  I'm not trying to create a work of art, in which I use archival, expensive materials trying to have something a collector would buy that would last a lifetime and more.

I'm having so much fun, my archival materials are collecting dust!  When I decide now to dig out my watercolor paper and archival paints, I create something totally different than what I used to create, but I feel like it's something that is really "me" and I love it!

Donna Ridgway

Veils of Time, horse art, watercolor painting by Donna Ridgway

This painting was a great learning experience.  I've done what I call my dribble paintings before I created this one, but the others were much brighter.  I kind of liked the earth tones in this one, it gave the painting an ancient feel.

I'll try some with brighter colors, and probably do more like this, with the earth toned back ground.  It seems there's always something to learn and something to experiment with!

Donna

Turning into a Witch's Knot, horse painting.

I kept painting away and this seemed to turn into a witch's knot in Murphy's mane.  I never know when I start painting, what will happen next.  It seems every painting has a mind of it's own and you might as well follow along with the plan and let that happen.

I'm still working on this one, kind of feeling my way into it.  Not sure what the background wants to be at this point.

And I also hope I don't do something that wrecks the entire painting ...there's always the chance of that.  That's why it's sometimes difficult to post your progress as you are painting.  It's much more a sure thing if you take your photos as you go along and only post after the entire painting is finished.

Once again, wishing you a lot to be thankful for in the coming year!
Donna Ridgway