Happiness is....

...Having an ENTIRE WEEK to do nothing but write and paint!

The word continues to spread, and many have shared their stories with me. I am so grateful. It's your input that will give this book a true heart!

THANK YOU!

Oh boy, I have three gigantic blank canvases in my studio right now (five foot by six foot, to be exact), and I can't wait to take a vine charcoal to them! (Whatsie whozit?)

Let me explain. Vine charcoal is a very soft drawing medium that allows for easy erasing and re-working. You can wipe the line away with your hand--no gum eraser needed. I use vine charcoal to draw my sketch directly on the painting surface. I sketch, step back, correct, re-work, fix, etc--I don't use a projector to trace a photo or drawing onto the surface. I like working this way, using memory and imagination really gets me connected to the work. It also keeps my knowledge of horse anatomy fresh and my drawing muscles strong.

When the sketch is done, I veeeeeeeeery gently wipe away most of the vine charcoal on the canvas or gessboard so that only a faded outline appears on the surface. Then, I paint. I start with a diluted underpainting over the entire surface for the background, then I paint the outline in so it doesn't disappear.

I can't wait to get started--- I'm chomping at the bit! (pun TOTALLY intended!)

(By the way---UC Ringmaster gets one of these canvases....) (yippppeee! I love painting him! He's SO expressive)

Things are really picking up in the research department, too. So much to do! So much FUN!

Watch this space....

image is a detailed crop of My Horse, My Heart from 2009. Pressed charcoal was incorporated into this work, and varnished in. (I love charcoal! I like to give it a starring role every once in a while...)