International Equine Art Competition -- Art Horse Magazine

A juried Equine art competition for artists working in media of painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, and digital art.
Deadline: Oct.30, 2009. Check out http://www.arthorsemagazine.com/art_competition.html for more information.

My Kingdom for a Horse

You Tube has a lot of junk on it (101 Ways to Dance the Macarena. Hello!) but it's also a really fantastic resource for almost anything you can think of. I love that you can virtually visit museums all over the world or learn how to make a sculpted dog cake (yes, dog cake) without ever leaving the house. It's probably a bad thing for me seeing as I would be a real, honest-to-goodness recluse if I could get away with it, but it does come in handy for anything you can dream up or want to learn about. This video I'm posting focuses on three famous Confederate Generals and the trusty steeds that carried them throughout the war. Artifacts highlighted include The Last Meeting painting by E.B.D. Julio and a watch chain made from the hair of Traveller.

My First Time

A blank blog page. Joy! I feel like I'm addressing an empty room or a room full of cheeky naked people laughing at me. I'm not entirely sure which would be worse but regardless, I don't like firsts very much so I'm just going to jump in and start writing as if I'm actually experienced at this blogging thing.

Wow. My very first blog post. I'm sure I'll be embarrassed later.

I'm happy to say that I'm back painting after a long hiatus due to a back surgery that left me walking around like a little 80 year old lady for a couple of years. I still walk funny but the point is, I'm semi-upright now with a brush in hand and back to taking orders -- albeit trying to take it slowly.

I've also got a gazillion ideas that have quietly been percolating while I was recuperating. Sleep has been difficult lately. The brain doesn't want to shut down. Between my real job (contract marketing director) and the fun job (painting), my life is crazy again. You throw in three dogs, two parents who are currently visiting while they're waiting for a house they're buying to close and a new town for me to explore (I moved to Boise a year ago), there is no free time on the calendar.

Who needs free time anyway? For a girl who really has no life, mine certainly seems busy. Hmmmmmm.

But I digress. This month I've been working on a new sign commission for a couple in Tennessee. They raise Friesians and Bolognese Bichon dogs and they wanted a 24 x 30 double-sided sign to hang mounted on a pole at their entrance gate. They'll be using an iron scroll hanger to mount the sign. The sign material on this project is a relatively new thing (to me) called Extira and it's the newest and coolest in outdoor-rated materials. Apparently all the cool sign makers have been using it for a while now. I'm late to the party but hey, I had an excuse.

Cue the violins.

For small signs I use wood, but for larger signs like this, I feel Extira was a good choice. I like the material -- it was very smooth and easy to work with except when it came to certain mediums I like to use when painting. Then I'd say it was a veritable pain in the derriere (that's nice ladylike word for ass, fyi). I've been told once I get used to Extira I will literally want to bear its children and never be without it so I will have to do a few more projects using it before my jury comes in with a verdict. So far I'm keeping it at arm’s length and just getting to know it. I'm hard to get that way.

To wrap this up, I'll just say that I will be updating this thingamahoukywooky in a quasi-timely manner if all goes according to plan. I'm hoping that entering the blogosphere will be a good way for me to pretend to be social butterfly person, motivate me to keep producing new pieces and give me a reason to waste a little time panning for other exciting equestrian art (and even non-equestrian) going on out in the real world that I can bring back for you to see and read about. It's also a way to keep my friends and family up-to-date on all things Kimberly so they will stop asking if I'm painting again. YES!!! I AM. Happy? I know you are.

Then there's the fact that I'm optimistic that the more I bloggity blog and talk and carelessly cruise the Interwebs, the more crazy horse people who like to spend money I'll run into (yes, that was shameless promotion).

At present I have a new line of pendants and belt buckles I'm currently working on in addition to the aforementioned gazillion other things going through my head at any one time. I'll be testing new things out here first. Even if it's still a sad little empty room. I like talking to myself. I'm an only child.

I encourage and welcome all types of responses on any of the posts I make. I love hecklers. Go ahead and bring it.

I'll leave you with some pretty pictures of my 25 yr old Hanoverian Armatur. He's retired now in Bend, Oregon and living the good life on a 40 acre farm with a witchy bay woman named Illana who he used to show with. He is currently following her around and completing whatever tasks she demands of him.

Ahem. Men are so easy.