Tryptophan, Vanilla Rum & Cuddly Dogs Complete

I know that the turkey coma is a myth (yep, turkey contains about as much tryptophan as a similar piece of chicken or beef) but every year on Thanksgiving afternoon I slip into what can only be described as a catatonic state of holiday over-indulgence.

I never learn.

Between the turkey, pumpkin pie and about a gazillion other insulin-busting carbs that will make their evil way straight to my thighs, Thanksgiving didn't disappoint this year. Nope. Not a bit. And next to the food, the weather was perfectly festive if you like ice and snow (and I do).

The only thing missing was a snow boy to shovel my driveway and sidewalks. I'm not kidding. Where are the snow boys when you need them? Do a girl a favor and please send one, thanks!

In between the food coma and the hilarity of watching my three dogs try and fit their hick selves in with my family's two very well behaved (although not nearly as cute!) pooches, we watched a lot of movies.

Schmaltzy, corny, goofy rom-com holiday movies like Serendipity, Bridget Jones and Love Actually. And then Friday we dragged ourselves out of the house to go and see a proper movie (The King's Speech). The thing is, The King's Speech didn't open at our art house theater as advertised (great job Boise flicks Theater!) and so we ended up at Love and Other Drugs.

Just going to say...a lot of holiday nudity ensued.

Love and Other Drugs was actually better than I expected and frankly, I'm not going to kick naked Jake Gyllenhall and Anne Hatheway off my movie screen just because. You add in Oliver Platt, George Segal and Jill Clayburgh (R.I.P) and I'm quite glad I ended up seeing it.

Friday night was the big Idaho/Nevada game which we lost. Boo hiss. I watched the game with some nice friends where vanilla rum was running rampant. And that's all I'm saying about that...

Enough about my Thanksgiving. Just wanted to post a finished shot of the Mastiff sign commission I completed. When it's clear coated the colors will become more intense but it's always harder to get a good photograph once the signs have a sheen so I'm posting this one beforehand.

Cute, cuddly and huge doggies done.

Meanwhile, Back At the Farm...

Just started work on a new sign commission that includes painting some very cute (and VERY big!) Mastiffs. This one is fun and a nice little change from all of the horses lately. I've only gotten to the basic shapes, shadows and highlights so there's a lot more work to go but I think it's already coming along.

Next up, I just got two more sign commissions; one for another horse and one for another big dog -- this time a Great Dane.

Yesterday I got a commission for a farm sign with seven horses and a barn and I'm still working on the layout so I'll blog about it when I get a little further with it.

Other than that, real life (and real work!) is still crazy. I have such a long to do list that my head is spinning all over the place ala Linda Blair. Nothing unusual though. Pressure is normal for me and it hasn't broken me YET.

The thing I'm looking forward to the most this week? It's Harry Potter weekend and I have plans on Saturday with a friend for Harry P., dinner and a lot of fun. Work will have to wait.

The End

Well, almost! The trunk is all done. The painting complete, the ball feet on, the base all finished. I was actually at the finish line and ready to drop it off to the cabinet company I use for the clear coating this past week.

Funny story about the cabinet company, though. Since I moved to Boise, they've been the ones to clear coat the larger projects I've completed while here. The people there have been wonderful to me, but I only see them every few weeks so imagine my surprise when I call my contact to set up a drop off and find out they have decided to close down for the winter season.

WHAT?? Shock! The horror. Ruh roh...

Apparently they used to do this up until three years ago (before my time here) so it's not completely unheard of (except if you're me).

So this threw me into a tail spin because I don't trust just anyone to clear coat my trunks. These pieces take hours and hours of my life and the last thing I need is some greasy flunky holding a Big Mac touching my trunk and leaving their fat little finger marks on it before it's clear coated.

Or worse? Dropping it and breaking it or just rough-housing around with it at all.

Yes, I'm a bit bitchy when it comes to the final part of the process. I admit it. But when you get used to working a certain way, it's hard to stop. Moreover, when you have a company you can trust, it's difficult to switch mid-stream without a little mental breakdown of sorts.

So, tail spin ensued, but turns out, the wonderful people at my cabinet company know a lot of good woodworkers here in Boise and they immediately put out feelers for me trying to set me up with a new (very trustworthy) shop to finish this trunk and finally get it home to my poor client who is probably losing patience at this point.

The happy ending is that I have an appointment to drop it off at a very high-end sign company on Friday where they have facilities even more impressive than the company I've worked with up until now. So the drop off is set and it will cure there for 4-5 days before I can pick it up and ship it off to its' new home and I can move onto other projects waiting for me.

Relief is an understatement. :-)

Horses Take to the Stage in Britain for the First Time in 40 Years...

Tickets go on sale for this Sadler's Wells performance
beginning November 15.

Horses will take to a London stage for the first time in almost 40 years in a specially commissioned performance for Sadler's Wells. The Centaur and the Animal is being choreographed by world-renowned rider, director and stage designer Bartabas. Over the last 25 years, he and his company Zingaro Equestrian Theatre, based in France, have toured the world from New York to Tokyo but until now have never performed in Britain.

The show will combine classic dressage with circus tricks in which the horses will pirouette, spin and trot on the spot mid-turn. For the Sadler's Wells performance, Bartabas has been training his horses in the art of butoh, an avant-garde dance form which originated in Japan and involves precise, minutely controlled movements. He choreographed the show with Ko Murobushi, a leading Japanese butoh master who brought the form to Europe.

Read the entire article here...

Equine Art Mural Unveiled at Spruce Meadows - Created by Artists from All Over The World

The Home Stretch

Another Halloween down and I think I'm finally coming off of my sugar high, thankfully. Snack size candy is the devil I tell you. I'm a serious sugar addict and this time of year is always a challenge for me because I think if I could, I'd probably find a way to mainline Smarties and teeny tiny Twix. Good times.

Thankfully, the kids that come and ring my doorbell incessantly on October 31 take most of my stash away and save me from my sugar-loving self.

I love Halloween, though, don't get me wrong. Candy and all! I used to co-own a tour company in New Orleans and if you've never spent Halloween in New Orleans? Do it before you die. Best. Halloweens. Ever.

Anyway, I know...You're probably getting tired of hearing about this trunk I've been working on but with these things they kind of become all-consuming. I know many people who can work on 10 different painting projects and multitask but that's not me. Nope. Not at all. Not one bit!

Plus, with this particular trunk, I had the added complication of trying to get the bay horse as close as possible to an earlier project I painted him on for the same client. Not so easy I am finding out. But these things never are, of course.

I'm in the home stretch now...Just a few more things to do on the horses and the windows with the saddle and bits. I also have to work on the base priming and painting the bare areas I haven't yet. And the feet! Can't forget the ball feet. Then the trunk will be professionally sprayed with a non-yellowing, UV resistant sealer which will really bring out all of the colors and make the horses shine. After curing for about a week, the hardest part happens which is wrapping this trunk up and making sure it gets to its' new owner safely and securely.

I never relax until it gets to the final destination so I guess I have another two weeks or so to worry.

Until next time! Cheers!
K.

Another Day, Another Few Steps...

Trunk WIP The Sequel

The trunk is coming along. I feel like I'm getting somewhere with it finally. Inspiration has been a little tough the past week or so because I've been fighting off a cold that keeps showing up for little visits. With the rain and overcast skies I really feel like I just want to wrap myself up in a tacky little snuggie, drink a lot of pumpkin latte's and watch movies 24/7. I wish. As that's not happening anytime soon, I keep plugging away.

My colors still need a lot of work and I need to tweak some musculature but the basic bones look good at this point so I feel like progress has been made.

The white horse is quite hard to photograph and so he actually looks better in person which is a good thing I guess.

All in all, I think a few more days and I'll be near finished with the main part of this project. Up next will be the niche windows with a dressage saddle and bits and that (compared to the horsies) should be a piece O' cake.

At least I hope! Because if there's one thing I have learned from painting is that you can never be certain you won't run into issues.

A Little More Progress on My Trunk WIP

Well, kind of... Two steps forward, several steps back with the white horse. But the bay is coming along. Several hours in and I need a lot of coffee. An IV drip sounds about right. :-)

Can we start this week over please?

The days are going too fast lately. It's probably due to the fact that it's getting dark earlier again and the holidays are approaching, but I just feel like I never have enough time to get everything done. Maybe it's just old age...hmmmmmm. This week I ran around like crazy for my main client working on tons of new collateral material, writing press releases, putting finishing touches on some new ads and reading fine print on contracts that needed signing. I was also busy trying to figure out what to bake for a block party in my neighborhood in addition to continuing work on the custom trunk order below.

Phew. I'm tired just thinking about it.

And hey! It's Sunday night and it starts all over again tomorrow. Good times. Mondays are not my favorite but in preparation for this Monday, I made a trek to Starbucks today to pick up a lovely, non-fat pumpkin latte which should help tremendously when my alarm goes off tomorrow. Yum.

So, what else did I do this week? Halloween is coming up so it's that time of year to be an embarrassing dog owner (at least I own it) and I picked up a new costume for Twinkie. Twinkie will be handing out candy and keeping me company while dealing with the brats who come here every year. Last year she was a bumble bee. This year? A pea pod. Very cute right? Last Halloween our trick-or-treater from hell (and we always have one!) was dressed up like Sarah Palin -- red suit, spectacles, bun and all. That kid had attitude and wanted BIG candy bars. As if. This year I have a feeling we'll probably get a Christine O'Donnell dressed up like a witch or would that be a witch dressed up like Christine O'Donnell? Yeah, I'm not sure either. But it never fails to amuse me the costumes we get in Boise, ID. I just tell myself the good outweighs the insane...the good outweighs the insane.

Did I mention the good outweighs the insane?

And really, it does. I live in a very friendly neighborhood about two minutes from the Boise river with a 30-mile greenbelt. We have great restaurants here, museums, galleries, a ballet, the opera, a super art-house theater and enough trees to make you forget you're in the high desert. We also have what I would call kick-ass weather if you like four seasons and I truly do. I was born in Washington State but grew up in California and I didn't even realize how much I missed knowing when it was Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter till I moved here.

Ah, and winter here? When I tell old friends I live in Boise I generally get "Oh noez! It's like Alaska cold there!"

I don't argue with them, frankly. Let them think that...I know the truth.

Boise is like a sweet little secret and we already have too many Californians and Arizonians clogging up the roads with their type-A personality rages. No offense to my friends, of course. It's been named the #1 place to live for safety (both crime and natural disaster) for quite a few years now, actually. Of course I would pick this place! You're dealing with Ms. I'm afraid of my own shadow and Boise fit quite a few of my requirements. So sue me; I don't like tornadoes, earthquakes or serial killers.

The only issue besides the fact it's a red state (oh lawd...I could go on about that) would be if Yellowstone blows and I figure if that happens? We're all little dust bits anyway.

Yeah, I'm positive like that.

Anyway, as I mentioned above, I've been working on a custom trunk order. It's a nice, big blanket chest for a lovely lady who owns two large dressage horses (one a little larger than the other, mind you). When all is said and done, it will have ball feet, an antique look and window niches on the front, but here it is in raw form at the moment.

The top lid base color is on, the two horses have been positioned and I've gotten about two layers of acrylic on each of them at this point. Acrylics are extremely versatile and fast-drying and these horses will be built-up in very thin layers to help create more depth if I do my job right. This technique is commonly used to create more realistic images. I prefer oils on canvas but when I'm painting on furniture pieces or even wood signs, acrylics are my weapon of choice.

And my studio right now? It's a mess. I've managed to make it look smaller than it is, in fact. Seeing as it also doubles as my office, this is probably not a bad thing. I mean, I have computers and TV's and printers and faxes right along side easels and paint storage and a drafting table, etc. You get the picture. And from this angle you can't even see my closet which is presently not a closet at all but a temporary book case stuffed with the books I can fit in it.


I'm a mess. What can I say? Or perhaps I should just leave it there and quit while I'm ahead, yes?

Unbridled Collection - Digital Equine Art

Lexington, KY - Pictures and paintings of horses are hardly out of place in the Saddlebred Foyer on the lower level of Spindletop Hall, but on Saturday the lobby played host to an art exhibit that wouldn't have been possible a few years ago.

The unveiling of the Unbridled Collection, by equine enthusiast Elizabeth Shatner, showcased a new form that combines photography and computers to create digital art.

Read the entire article here...

Way Behind As Usual

Well, I'm way behind in updating this blog, of course. It wouldn't be me if I wasn't procrastinating (or just too damn busy). Just wanted to make a short post about my new little Etsy shop I finally got around to opening this week. I registered for it months ago but between real work and real life, it's just been sitting there empty until now. And don't even get me started on tying to define real life for you because I haven't had any coffee yet today.

But I digress. I've just uploaded a few things there for now so we'll see how it goes. I know it takes a bit for artists on Etsy to actually sell things or even get found in the search results so I'm not a great believer in this avenue yet but it beats piling everything up in my Explorer and driving to a horse show.

For someone like me who appreciates a nice warm studio and a great cup of caffeine to feel inspired at all, it may just work. We'll see.

First up, just some little signs I had lying around from old shows that never found homes. I also listed one "custom" sign to see how a listing like that might work. In my old age I kind of prefer painting things I want to paint so I'm not really sold on doing too many custom things at the moment. I still have a few custom orders to finish before I can say "No more," however, so time will tell.

Shamelessplug ahead...

Please visit and buy something you don't probably need because heck, you're keeping me in paints and giving me a respite from my real work for a couple of glorious hours a week. You should be Sainted for that alone.

My Shop on Etsy

Exhibit to show history of horses : The Kentucky Kernel

In 11 days, Kentucky will absorb a giant surge of horse fans from across the globe, becoming the first state in the country to host the World Equestrian Games.

Read More here... http://kykernel.com/2010/09/13/exhibit-to-show-history-of-horses/

Eventing Sign Commission