Headin' Westward (ho!)

To my delight and surprise, my Indian Relay paintings have been accepted into the Phippen Museum's Western Art Show and Sale. I say "surprise" because the other participating artists are so impressive. As I drool over their artwork, I embrace a personal challenge. Whenever I encounter artists of accomplishment and considerable skill, it spurs me on (pun intended) to become a better painter.

Located in Prescott, Arizona, it's a journey of many miles taking place on Memorial Day weekend. We've booked lodging via AirBnB for a very reasonable rate and will be driving all my paintings cross-country to the show. No doubt the price of gasoline will increase due to the holiday as well as the expense of the booth fee, insurance, a required business license from the City of Pescott, meals, and not to mention the deepest expense - framing.

Also on the schedule: a reference gathering trip to one of the season's first Indian Relay races in Pine Ridge, South Dakota taking place the weekend following the show. Might as well go for it, we'll have traveled so far at this point.

So how to afford all this? I consider the expense an investment in my career revival and mental well-being. And that esoteric statement doesn't pay the bills.

Michael and I are working on a crowdfunding project to help out. You may recall a Kickstarter campaign I launched in 2013 in which I painted historical scenes of Saratoga to coincide with their 150th Anniversary at the track. It was meant to be a prelude to a bigger project and it's success effectively got my feet wet and gave me a feel for the mechanics.

This time around I have a clearer understanding of the "rewards" and can offer more effective incentives. And then there's those cool innovative techie things like going "live" on Facebook, enabling backers to travel vicariously along with us in real time.

So stay tuned for the "launch" of the funding campaign, certain to be more interactive and offering something for everyone. It's an exciting time for me and I hope you enjoy following along with my always daring exploits.

Triad, 16"x20", oil on panel

On the move,
Sharon

The Remaining Drawings

My Kickstarter project "Renderings of Historic Saratoga Race Course" for the 150th Anniversary is nearing completion. Four of the eight original drawings are available. They're 11"x14" and created with pen and ink followed with a wash of watercolor on paper. They can be purchased framed or unframed.

Sanford Stud Farm

The history of this farm and Saratoga Race Course are closely woven together. Located just north of Amsterdam, New York, three generations of the Sanford family bred and raced some of the country's best horses beginning in the 1870's. On the Oklahoma side of the barn area is a section named “Sanford Court” in honor of the farm. The Sanford Stakes is still run today (the only loss for the great Man O' War by a horse aptly named Upset). I visited the few remaining buildings and took this reference photo of what were once the mare and foal barns, adding my own horses and grooms in period dress from my imagination. It's said that the horses were walked from the farm to the race track...about twenty-six miles...and people would line the streets to watch them go by.

The Paddock

Circa 1910's, notice the paddock is comprised of gentlemen only, all wearing straw-type hats (very in-style) as they observe the horses entering for saddling. African-American grooms walk their charges through thick grass with no gravel paths such as those that exist today. The trees in front of the stalls are mostly gone now, and the few that remain are fairly large. The red and white striped awnings were added much later.

                                                              Harrowing the Track
Before it was mechanized with tractors, the harrows that comb the surface of the track between races were pulled by draft horses. The starting gate was also moved around the track with teams of horses. Many years ago when I was a young teenager, my dad would take me to Narragansett Park in Rhode Island and I remember being awe-struck by the massive size of these reliable horses. Take note of the trees in the infield. Most are gone now but there are a few left that have grown huge and momentarily block out the field of horses from the cameras as they race down the backstretch.  

The Loose Horse 

This is my take on a drawing that appeared in the Daily Graphic newspaper in 1877. Long before photography became a staple tool in news reporting, illustrators had to quickly sketch out the day's events. Note how all the horses are all in the same extended stride and the two horses with riders behind the loose horse were drawn much smaller, a means of creating spacial perspective. I think these artists did a great job back then, drawing quickly and effectively to capture the essence of a story. 

If you are interested in acquiring any of these, please email me: sharon@sharoncrute.com

Relocating (again)

Across the street from my studio on Beekman Street in the Saratoga Arts District, a live/work space became available. We grabbed it - enabling us to combine the gallery/studio and living quarters in this good size house. Apart from the obvious fact that we'll save money, I'm excited to be so physically close to my work. Just think of what this insomniac can accomplish into the wee hours!

Moving is such a chore, even if it's just across the street. As a former race tracker, packing and shipping is a routine part of the biz. Let's say I've grown weary of it...really, really weary. And where did all this stuff come from? Amazing what material things we accumulate. A mere year and a half ago we moved into the old studio with my paintings, art supplies and a few computers and printers.

"A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff." -George Carlin
 I swear I had no stuff-collecting intentions. I despise clutter. But there it is, all sprawled out and spilling into three rooms in the new place, requiring lots of effort to organize and find a place to put it.

In other news...

My Kickstarter campaign will end on Friday, March 22nd. I'm overwhelmed and humbled that I not only surpassed my goal, but that so many are willing to support my artistic efforts. What a blessing to have believers in me and my artwork. FYI...there are still four of the eight originals available: Click here: Kickstarter if you're interested.

With deepest appreciation,
Sharon

Studio News

My monster of a canvas is finished.

Phew!

There were effects that I wanted to play with after acquiring interesting new skills with my landscape experiments. However, because this piece is commissioned by a great client who loves my racing work and has certain expectations, I thought it best to be reliable in that respect. The entire background was applied with a palette knife providing some interesting texture that I further rubbed with thinned pigment. A very difficult angle to portray, I couldn't find any reference photos except for one very dark and blurry pic. That said, I enlisted Michael to model and did lots of preliminary drawings.

Oil on canvas, 7'x5'

In other studio news, my Kickstarter project is almost completely funded. I have only $125. more to go to reach my goal. If there are any art angels out there who would like to help me get there, please click here. Did I mention there are rewards?

More studio news: We'll be moving the entire kit and caboodle across the street on Beekman and will be in an authentic live/work environment combining the studio/gallery with living quarters. This workaholic is thrilled! Stay tuned for a more detailed update.

Mwah!
Sharon

Kickstarter Newsletter

My Kickstarter project is now live and I'm off to a great start (thanks to all my art angels)! I explain my project and why I chose to create it in my newsletter (it's pretty). If you'd like to sign up to have it delivered to your inbox, there's a link in tabs to the right. For now, here's a direct link to the online version here.

And here's a link that will take you directly to my Kickstarter page. You'll also see a video of myself in my studio as I explain the project. If any of you would like to make a pledge toward my project, there are rewards. And mountains of gratitude!

Hugs,
Sharon

Kickstarter

I have some big ideas in mind for the future. I mean BIG which also means expensive to produce. These would be projects on the level of my experimental piece Diagonal. Accomplishing these ambitious efforts requires some creativity in the logistics of funding which led me to explore Kickstarter. My first attempt to familiarize myself with this platform will be with a much smaller project.

One of the requirements of Kickstarter is to create a short video presentation describing the project and why I'm seeking funding. Perusing other artistic project videos I'm confronted with some that are very, very professional. Cool music, integrated graphics, well-scripted and slick -  I'm intimidated. My video? Michael shoots with our modest camera perched on a walking stick for stability while his other hand holds a cue card taped to a stretcher bar. We tried to have background music but I  struggled with this so much that I thought it was a distraction.

Okay, so it took 11 tries and it's still crude. But it makes a case for myself and my artwork and not for an app to send someone a flaming bag of poop (yes, really).

Take three...

Seriously,
Sharon