Othello

Here's Othello, a kind, sweet danish Warmblood, and I had the honor of caring for him for many years. He was a top level, award-winnning dressage horse, (Prix St. Georges). He was stunning to watch in action as he was so light on his feet when he "danced."

He lived at the barn I worked at, and he is now retired and spending his days in a large paddock with his friend, Ginger.

The bottom photo shows us spending quality grooming time together. He loved the "rubber fingers" as it would always get the lower lip tremble going.

The barn we are in was burned to the ground by a lightining strike the very next year, and Othello and all of his friends in that barn were saved, thanks to my hero and friend, GG.

Othello is my brave guy. GG said he was so panicked to see his home engulfed in flames...

I hung out with him for a bit about a week after this happened, and he seemed so eager for comfort. He nuzzled close to me; his big, noble head resting at my side. His breathing was deep and slow, and his eyes closed as I gently stroked him. I kept telling him how brave he was...

Othello--Enjoy your retirement, dear friend. You lost your home, but you kept your life. I hope the nightmares about that horrible day have ceased. I am thinking about you, and I miss you.
Love,
Helen

Afterword

That August 2004 lightining strike had no equine or human casualities due to the quick thinking of the barn's assistant trainer, GG. I am proud to call GG my friend. She saved the lives of 10 horses in less than 15 minutes. In 20 minutes, the whole barn was one big fireball.

There was one casualty, though. Tigger, the barn cat, was not seen after that fateful day. Since Tigger enjoyed sleeping in the hay loft of that ill-fated barn--we assume he perished in the fire.

Tigger is now with his friend Misty, his blind pony friend. Before Misty died in 2001, Tigger's favorite place to nap was in her stall.

I know they are together again...

An Artist's Journey, Part Two

This is me on Tara, my mother's Thoroughbred mare. This was the first horse I ever sat on, and my dad is leading us. I love Tara's expression--"must move carefully, I have a little thing on my back."

Tara thought I was her foal. My parents would keep a watchful eye, of course--I was only about 4 years old. She would nuzzle my head and keep me in her sight as if I was her baby.

When I left her, she would pace and whinny for me at the gate. "Where's my baaaaaaaaaaaby????"

Tara was my introduction to horses, and you can see why I fell in love with all things equine. And it wasn't a stretch for me to become an Equine Artist.

My brother's books contained my earliest equine renderings. *grin*

Sigh. I am feeling a little teary eyed looking at this picture. Tara was so sweet and gentle with me.

An Artist's Journey, Part One

It all started when learned how to hold a pencil....

Once I discovered that I LOVED to draw, my parents couldn't keep up with my paper demands. Notepads, scribble books, etc all were used up in a matter of hours.

So what did I do when the Muse sang and I had no paper? Draw in my big brother's books! Yay!

Well, that really peeved my poor bro. He was 5 or 6 at the time, and when he came home from school, he would find his books in a heap on the floor with my clumsy scribbles decorating the margins.

Boy, did he get mad at me!

My brother wanted to set up an alarm system that sent a mild electric shock to his doorknob in order to keep me out of his room. My brother was a very smart and resourceful kid--he could do this.

Luckily, my mom intervened and said, "You will do no such thing." In turn, my mom bought me LOTS of paper.

So, my long suffering big brother finally got his reprieve from the paper crazed artist in residence.

My brother was then able to showcase his genius in other ways--like building a Jacob's Ladder (a real, dangerous one with real, dangerous electrical current) and a two story model barn made from popsicle sticks complete with stalls, hay loft and an assortment of animals.

Thanks, Bro, for not channeling a Jacob's Ladder to your bedroom doorknob. *ouch*

He rules.

An Early Work

I did this when I was 14; the reference photo was a cute ad in a horsey magazine. It is done on charcoal on cheap acidy paper--(notice how it has deteriorated?)

I am glad I saved it. You can see how I was developing a fondness for expressive, loose line--and you can see what time has done to the cruddy paper I used. It is actually much yellower, but my design wizard hubby was able to Photoshop away some of the nastiness.

Alas, you can now see why it is worth it to pay a little more to have good paper that withstands the test of time. And since I am a Certified Paper Snob, I use only acid-free archival papers.

So there.

:)

Isaac

Here's a picture I took of Isaac, the 18 hh champion Shire stallion of Ox Kill farm. This shot was taken with my Nikon digital camera at the 2004 Equine Affaire in Springfield, MA.

Photography was one of my first loves. I used to spend hours in my darkroom going through tons of paper and chemicals. My brother and I were photography editors of my high school yearbook, and one year, my brother gave me his precious Minolta with a zoom lens as a birthday present. (Is my brother really that sweet and nice and utterly cool? YUP!)

I still have that camera, and it takes incredible shots. It really forces you to think about light, shutter speeds and aperture settings--there is NOTHING automatic on this camera. Even the light meter is busted.

My Nikon digital camera takes great pics too, but you manipulate light in a whole new way. There are settings on this camera that can allow for low light, action or portraits. I love it--except--it is limited for action shots as the camera takes the pic a couple of seconds AFTER you actually want to take it. So, I find myself predicting when something will happen in an action shot, and hope the camera captures it. I hope they improve the latency in digital cameras soon...Maybe they have? I hope so.

Digital photography is an exciting new art form, and I love it. But, if you really want to learn photography, get an ancient Minolta with a busted light meter.

Mine's not for sale. Sorry.

*grin*

Smarty Party pics!

On June 21, 2005 Sound the Bugle Studio held a "Smarty Party" to show off my big ol' Smarty Jones painting before I shipped it off to Three Chimneys farm in Kentucky.

There were lots of cookies, horse racing information and memorabilia, a slide show (yay), a movie on the history of horse racing, and just lots of horsin' around. It was a fun equine related event, if I do say so myself.
The press was there and an article about this little horsey party was covered in the Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Top photo: Welcome to Sound the Bugle Studio! Have some cookies! Have some Smarties candy!
Middle photo: Some horse lovers/racing fanatics/Smarty partygoers with their silly hostess for the evening.
Bottom photo: A shot of me looking at the painting of that chestnut racing champion who stole my heart in 2004. Sigh...Smarty Jones...

We love ya, Smarty Jones!

Afterword

The Smarty painting arrived safely at Three Chimneys (thanks UPS) and I recieved a sweet thank you note from the farm. They are a top-notch establishment, and they are giving Smarty the life of a King!

Three Chimneys farm was also home to the legendary Seattle Slew, another of my equine heroes. It thrills me to know they have one of my paintings in their collection.

Note: As I respect photographer's copyrights, no reference photo was used to create this painting of Smarty. I studied his color, markings and facial expression from images I have seen in various media. When I created this painting, I used the knowledge from my studies to create this original pose. No photo was traced, projected or copied to create this painting.

Neighing Arabian Stallion Study

This high spirited (and somewhat amorous) guy is featured as a notecard design.

There are a few things that truly take my breath away--and an Arabian is one of them. Noble, spirited, and achingly gorgeous, Arabians are the oldest domesticated breed of horse.

Arabian blood courses through the veins of every Thoroughbred racehorse, and the breed is well-known for their stamina. They are the horse of choice for endurance riders.

But, Arabians also excel at other disciplines because of their intelligence, beauty and strength. Jumping? Yup. Dressage? Heck yes. Driving? Yessirree. Taking all of the Champion ribbons in the halter classes? Affirmative.

The dish nose. The huge, soulful eyes. The fine-boned elegance combined with unbeaten sure-footedness and durability--the Arabian is a sight to behold.

When an Arabian is feelin' the moment, such as my friend featured in this pencil study, they arch their necks, show their eye whites, and puff out their wide nostrils on their teacup muzzles to send a high pitched song whistling through the air. As they whinny and trill, they dance around with their tails held high.

These Arabian studies are leading up to a big project in the studio, a watercolor painting of the three founding Arabian sires: the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arabian. It will be called "Three Wise Men."

Watch this space!

Equine History Note of Interest:

The most famous Thoroughbred racehorse of all time, Man O War, has the Godolphin Arabian in his pedigree, ten generations back. Cool, huh? The Godolphin Arabian was featured in the award-winning children's book, "King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henry (featuring illustrations by the incredible Wesley Dennis).

Toes

Here's Toes, another Caledonia farm retiree.

He's a hotshot Hanoverian with a canter like BUTTAH. Really, it's like riding in a limo. It's a perfect three beat--undoubtedly the smoooooooooooooooothest canter I have ever ridden.

When I rode Toes, he actually made me feel like an Equestrian.

His full name is Amaretto, and he used to live at the barn I worked at. Toes taught many a budding dressage student and Toes knows his stuff--up to fourth level. To those who don't know dressage jargon it means that Toes knows how to do some fancy, gorgeous equine dance moves.

And Toes is a Big Boy--17 hh. He was such a joy to watch and ride. So balanced...so elegant...

A couple of years ago, he could also put "cow pony" on his fancy pants resume. Ask my brother and Caledonia farmer about THAT one.

Half pass, flying changes, canter pirouette-- Toes can do it. Well, he COULD do it in his heyday. Arthritis crept into his joints, so now the only thing he needs to do is graze and play all day.

What a life.

P.S. Note Cavan in the far left corner of pic. Note cows on the right doing what cows do best-- lyin' down and chewin' some cud. Yup. Life is good.