Ruidoso Downs Deluge

My dear friend and web designer Julie K. sent me these photos of the flooding that took place last weekend at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. Due to the remnants of Hurricane Dolly, the track was almost washed away and there was significant damage to the jock's room. Everything else was spared, thankfully, including the barn area.

We were looking forward to watching Peppers Pride break the modern day record of 17 consecutive wins. What an awesome filly.

Mess, huh? However, the maintenance crew have evidently performed an amazing restoration of the surface, even bringing in track consultant Dennis Moore from California. The track is scheduled to re-open for training Friday morning and racing resumes this Saturday. The connections of Peppers Pride have opted to wait until mid-August for her next bid stating that she's missed too much training. I'd adopt a wait and see approach if she were my filly, that's for sure.

Michael and I visited Ruidoso in the mid-eighties when it was mainly quarters running. I recall the low desert which was searing hot, then driving a couple of hours up to the mountains of cool Alpine-like pine forests. What a contrast of climatic zones.

Here's a forest quote I couldn't resist:
“If a tree falls in a forest and lands on a politician, even if you can't hear the tree or the screams, I'll bet you'd at least hear the applause” - Paul Tindale

Great Art and Frame Reception

This past Friday night, Great Art and Frame in Tampa, Florida hosted a fabulous reception for their current exhibit, The Divine Equine - Art for the Horse Lover. It was well attended as gallery owner Joose Hadley took the event over the top with catered noshes, libations and careful attention to detail that created a lovely experience. A portion of the sales of artwork will benefit the Bakas Equestrian Center, a therapeutic riding organization providing FREE recreational riding opportunities to young people with physical and mental challenges.

I must say, I was amazed at the huge amount of gifts and services generously donated for raffle.

Joose Hadley and moi. Take note of the plentiful equestrian themed adornments outside and throughout a large area of the sidewalk also providing beautifully decorated tables.

Shoulder to shoulder. The crowd spilled out onto the sidewalk. Neighbor Edward Jones Investments provided their offices for exhibiting artwork and playing host to horse and art lovers.

Joose hung my artwork in the front entrance. I'm honored. The table with the boxes provided people's choice voting.

Spectacular equine sculpture by well-known artist Mindy Z. Colton. The teal-toned patina on her horses is just gorgeous. We engaged in great conversation together and discovered that we travel in like circles. Mindy shared her impressive portfolio with me.


Artist D.K. Ramirezde Arellano applies traditional miniature techniques to her sumptuous canvases. She took to the time to explain the process to me. In addition to the beautifully rendered horses, the background is treated with equal attention creating a jewel-toned wallpaper-like texture.

"I love the gallery, the arena of representation. It's a commercial world, and morality is based generally around economics, and that's taking place in the art gallery". - Jeff Koons

Two for the Vision Board

I would like to live at the end of a very long driveway like this...

In peaceful seclusion I will listen in present tense to the sweet calls of birds, crickets, frogs and...silence. Bucolic. Pastoral. Idyllic. Adjectives for a symphony of origin with features of comfort and familiarity. My eyes will glaze over from starlight. On my way out to grocery shop I will pass by lazy scenery with languid characters like these...


-on Jackson Pollock
"With Jackson there was quiet solitude. Just to sit and look at the landscape. An inner quietness. After dinner, to sit on the back porch and look at the light. No need for talking. For any kind of communication". - Lee Krasner

New Gift Item

Always on the lookout for the next widget to facilitate marketing my artwork and getting it "out there" to more and better venues, we were referred to this company that produces lampshades from fine art.

Michael ordered an image of "Amateur Trials" on a small lampshade to test-market. He also ordered a larger floor lampshade, however we must shop for an appropriate fixture to display. The company provided this lamp base which is a simple, clean-lined design. It enhances the artwork rather than competing and size proportion works well.


I used a low-wattage CFL bulb which fit the bill perfectly. I'm quite please with the product. We presented it to several venues here in Ocala today and received rave responses with one retailer wanting to order a dozen immediately.

"Advertising moves people toward goods; merchandising moves goods toward people". - Morris Hite

Chow Update

Recently I received a comment on an old blog post about my Siamese cats' ordeal with mast cell tumors. His surgery was performed at the beginning of December. To all who have inquired with caring concern, I'm please to say Chow is doing fantastic. Not too shabby for a fifteen year old.

The hair has completely grown back and there's no sign of scarring. He's back to his usual princely self and still hates to be photographed. And he's milking the ordeal for all it's worth, ordering whatever he'd like to eat...raw chicken liver at 1:00pm if you please.

She, on the other hand, loves to be photographed.

"The sun rose slowly, like a fiery furball coughed up uneasily onto a sky-blue carpet by a giant unseen cat". - Michael McGarel

Done!

"First Turn" oil on canvas, 24"x48"

I painted like a mad woman all last week to finish this Saratoga painting. It was a complicated bear of a piece.

The subject has been a frequent request for the past several years. If an artist intends to make a living with their artwork, they must acquiesce to such appeals every now and then. It's trite, been done over and over, and certainly not creative, innovative or edgy in any way. However, I'm getting it scanned on Monday and will probably turn it into a t-shirt or some such money-generating thing.

Here's the initial oil wash I posted a week ago or so.

So now the question is: should I cram a Curlin painting to deliver to Saratoga? The current undisputed world champ finished second in the Man 'O War this afternoon. I proclaimed that I'd paint him on the turf in winning fashion but now, well, I'm not sure what to do. My partner is no help (...I don't know...do what you want...). I'm sure there'll be a glut of Curlin paintings proliferating everywhere in upstate New York - do I want to add to the herd?

"I think one of the reasons I'm popular again is because I'm wearing a tie. You have to be different". - Tony Bennett

Airplane Graveyard

Michael had enough work for one week. We both toiled all day on the 4th of July, therefore, he suggested that we go play tourists in St. Augustine on Saturday. Touristy the town is, but in a campy, enjoyable way.

We missed the turnoff from Rt. 207. As we looked for a turnaround, we passed this extraordinary sight of old airplanes in an overgrown lot fenced in with six foot high chain link. I don't know a thing about planes, but I was overwhelmed.

Peeling paint, missing parts, wings folded back over the body - the scene was eerie, compelling and ghostly. I felt incredible compassion for these neglected behemoths.

There are lots of horse-drawn carriages pulling tourists around St. Augustine. My reaction to the planes was akin to recognizing a thoroughbred in harness, dutifully performing a day's work. There's no mistaking the fine featured head and long slender legs.

“Yet call not this long life; but think that I Am, by being dead, immortal; can ghosts die?” - John Donne

Plan B

An e-mail from Equidae Gallery in Saratoga Springs confirmed that the ceilings are only 12 feet high. Poop.

As disappointment set in, my good friend - artist Nancy Moskovitz - forwarded a note from the Universe. I, too, had received the e-mail but I was too busy racking my brain for an alternative venue to read it. In perfect timing, the personalized note reminded me that I don't always have to try so darn hard.

"Think not of how, Sharon, whether in terms of logistics, people, or inspiration, but of the end results you dream of. The end, in thought, combined with action, in its general direction, will always create the necessary circumstances, serendipities, epiphanies, ideas, and discoveries necessary to bring about the desired manifestation. The hard part is done for you. Your part is the easy part: Think and let go. Knock on every door and turn over every stone. Do not insist upon the path, but upon the overall change you wish to experience, and never take no for an answer.

You can do this. You've been doing it all your life."

You take after me -
The Universe