Cinnamon Sky Longhorn

Does she look familiar?
This little longhorn loves to have her picture taken, is such a pretty little cow, and is really fun to paint.
She's Cookie Dough, and she's always interested in whoever is spending the weekend crafting and relaxing at Welcome Home Retreat in Weatherford, Texas.


THREE MONTHS AGO:
CHERI: I think I'm going to call our June painting weekend "The Longhorn Workshop." What if we all paint a longhorn?
ME:: I love it! I'm in!
CHERI:We'll do a couple of small projects, kind of warm ups.  Then we'll each do different longhorns.
ME: You know I love that! I can't wait.
CHERI: I've got an idea for this project.
ME: Great.  Should we come with one already drawn up.
CHERI: No, I want the canvases to be blank.  I'm going to teach you to draw them.  You'll love it.
ME: Ummm... no... I don't think so.
CHERI: You'll have to trust me.  You can do this.  It will be so freeing.  I've got some strategies that will make it easy.
ME: Yeahhhhhh... nooo... I can't draw.  
CHERI: Wait 'til you see this technique.  You'll love it.  It's kind of mathematical. 
ME: Ugh... This my pretend happy voice... 

THE MORNING OF THE PROJECT:
CHERI: Gather 'round, you'll see how quickly this can come together.
ME: I trust you, but... ugh...

It's all about thirds... horn tip to head, across the head, head to horn tip... then same distance from eyes to nose... then that distance plus half from top knot to nose tip...

Just block in some lines and rectangles... Measure from the center cross... Half way from top to bottom put in the eyes, lower than you think... Look for darks and lights...

 Go try it on your canvas... Thirds... Use a ruler if you need to... just get it on the canvas... 

She doesn't like it when she gets attention or bragged on... but my goodness... what a master... master painter... master teacher... 

... believes in her students when they certainly don't believe in themselves... until they do... believe in themselves...

Eventually, we had to leave watching her and move to our own blank... very... very blank... canvases...

Unbelievable... It actually looked like... well... a cow... but...

Deep breath... what was next... darks and lights??

Then frustration...
Every one was working hard...
I got quiet...
No one was looking... 

I don't know if...
... if I needed inspiration...
... if I wanted to relieve tension...
...if I was feeling rebellious...
...if I lost my mind...

But, when Cheri walked around and got to my canvas, she said, "My, that's bold!"

I knew when I started it would be worthy of either a spanking or a gold star... 

Once the background made its way from ridiculous to fabulous (in my humble opinion), I was still so frustrated with the cow, and I've painted many cows!

Cheri said, "Close your computer, and free yourself from the reference photo. Just change the angle of that cow and make her look at you straight on.  Don't panic.  It will be simple. She must have been standing on a hill. Just lower the back by bringing down that background an inch or two. Let's un-twist her by bringing her stomach out on the other side. Just wipe off some background and add some cow."
... so... so... simple... 

Thank you, my dear teacher, mentor, friend!

Original Oil Painting on 14" x 18" Wrapped Canvas.
[SOLD]

Steer's Lookin' at You, Kid

I know! Another longhorn painting! But, I had to! They just posed so well for me the day I was taking pictures!

These guys along with their siblings and cousins live in the field beside Welcome Home Retreat in Weatherford, Texas.

There's something very comforting about a cow... and painting a cow.  
After I've painted something stressful (like a person) or something not of my choosing (like a commission), I find that my next painting is a cow.  
If I'm stuck and don't know what else to paint, my go-to subject is a cow. I think I like the flow of their structure - although that sounds ridiculous now that I read it.  
Maybe I like how they stare out of the canvas at me and say, "What!?"
Maybe it's my upbringing.  We always had cows on our farm... Hmmm... but I didn't like them then.  They were super annoying to me as a kid and teenager.  The pooped in the field where we liked to have cookouts. They got out of the fence and had to be rounded up and put back at the most inopportune times, like Sunday morning or Christmas Day or the afternoon of Homecoming or Prom. 
I remember how my dad would "talk" to them with a soothing kind of monotone voice "Sooo.... Suk... Suk... Suk... Sooo... Suk... Suk... and they would be interested, come closer.  They weren't particularly friendly like pets. But... they were always there... a part of my life.

I'm pretty sure that these guys came to me because they were used to their farmer who I'm guessing stops by each afternoon to count them, talk in a soothing voice to them, and probably (most importantly to their demeanor) toss out some grain or hay.
Cows know their farmers; farmers know their cows. I hope he gets to see his longhorns on the canvas one day.  I wonder if he'd recognize them! :)

The best way for you to meet these cows is to book a weekend with their neighbors.  Welcome Home Retreat is an amazing haven for relaxation, comfort, and creativity.   

I wonder if these little longhorns will get to be on a canvas one of these days... We'll see... But, I'm committed to do a sunflower next. :)

In case you aren't a bovine fan... there's also a pool... and there are crafting rooms... and really great food... 

And there's Sheila, who might want to scrapbook or quilt right along side you. :)

Original Oil Painting - 24" x 36"
Contact me if you'd like to purchase this painting.

Welcome Home Retreat Neighbors

We wanted some photos of Welcome Home Retreat with the evening sky behind it, but the longhorns who live in the field across fence were stealing the show for me. I may have taken a few... dozen... photos of them. 
But if you can take your eyes off these five gorgeous lady longhorns for a minute, look in the background.  There it is!  There's Welcome Home Retreat! It officially opens October 1st, but my sisters and I got to spend a weekend there working (and playing) to get it ready.

 ~~~A women's retreat to inspire creativity in an environment of beauty.~~~

It was absolutely breathtaking... I kept asking my sister, "What if I want to book a weekend, but not craft or paint or scrapbook or quilt... Could I just come and "be" here?"   Ha ha ha.  I guess the answer is yes, but I'd miss out on the opportunity for creativity.

Click and have a look for yourself.

Or look see what's happening there on their Facebook.

If you're wondering about the painting... It's a big one!  The hard part about painting on such a big canvas is that is stays in that "ugly" stage for a really really long time.  Also, it was so far from one end to the other, I worried that one end wouldn't match the other end.  
But... LOVE it!  I loved working on it.
And... I may have secretly named those five cows after myself and my 4 sisters... matching each personality with a certain cow attitude... Hmmm... :)

Original Oil Painting - 24"x 48"
Giclees or Prints can be purchased from my Etsy Shop.
Giclees, prints, phone cases, pillows, shower curtains, etc... can be purchased through my Fine Art America Site.

Longhorns in Bluebonnets

Moooo!!!

These lady longhorns are going to hang in a very special place.

Welcome Home Retreat is a unique place in Weatherford, Texas for women to come together for weekends of creativity and fellowship. Its mission is to provide an environment of beauty that inspires creativity.

But if that's not special enough... The owner of this fabulous place is my very own sister!!!   Her specialty is scrapbooking where families' memories are captured for future generations. Sheila's dream to have a venue to encourage and observe guests as projects are begun, continued, and completed is becoming a reality.

She wants Welcome Home Retreat to have a "Texas feel with a feminine twist."  So... how about a painting of longhorns walking through bluebonnets!!!  

Click to visit the site of Welcome Home Retreat!  Book a weekend!!  Maybe I'll see you there!

Original Oil Painting - 16" x 20" 
[GIFT]