New Opening Page

My cool friend Julie is working on redesigning my website. It's gone live but still has a way to go. My site is huge. For those of you who create and maintain your own websites, you know it's sooo time consuming.

Technology has run away from me. When a techie like my friend Lynn, who designs complex websites and creates animations for a living, says she always feels 20 paces behind, well, there's no hope for a dabbler such as moi.

Julie has created a sort of slide show - every time you open the site or refresh, a new image appears. Way cool.

It's coming along. Hang in there - she's busy, I'm busy, we're all so busy busy. Even Babush is busy.

Sharon Crute, Racing's Most Dynamic Painter

Completed Painting & OBS Races

The foxhunting painting that I started last week is finished.

I created it to sell at Little Everglades next month as steeplechase and foxhunting appear to be symbiotic. However, my schedule is thickening like old paint and I won't make the show this year. I've already had some serious interest so I can say tally ho to the piece probably this week.

It was a great day at the OBS/Darley Championship Day at the Races. I've never enjoyed it so much - the weather was picture perfect and I caught up with lots of friends and business acquaintenances. Just general networking and fun. The races were run on the new Safetrack synthetic surface and all seemed well. The times seemed consistently average - not too fast or slow as predicted.

It's sticky and difficult to brush off your hand and clothing. Wonder what happens if a horse breaths it into it's respiratory system...

Jockey Jorge Chavez in the first aboard Freedom Afleet who didn't like the surface.

Chavez aboard third-place finisher Star Worship in the fourth.

The awaited dramatic thunder of hooves seem muffled on the new surface. It even sounds softer.

The big race for three year old colts and geldings won by Zayat Stable's Halo Najib with Desormeaux aboard.

OBS evaded my offer to do a FREE painting for the winner of the big race. I'd be working on a portrait of the good looking chestnut Halo Najib for Ahmed Zayat right now. The irony is that I'm hounded for freebies all year long from various fund raisers and when I actually offer one - it gets turned down. Ha! Go figure...

A Shout Out

My gallery in Hot Springs, Arkansas sent me this monthly art and entertainment magazine, "The Springs". It's one of those trendy newsprint publications like you see all over in L.A., Boston and Asheville. I was delighted to see an ad featuring moi at Gallery Central.

My exhibit at Gallery Central coincides with the race meet at Oaklawn Park (remember that horse named Curlin who ran there last year and won the Arkansas Derby?). In "The Springs" magazine, there's also a feature titled "In the Art Galleries", a list of what's happening gallery-wise. The column shows another one of my pieces, "Through the Inside". This is way cool. And here's what the writer says: "...she's able to express the supreme power of nature through her artwork." and "A fresh, inventive approach convincingly conveys the weight and solidity of Crute's paintings." and "Her forceful, descriptive sparkle with skillful brushwork, rich colors and imagery."

Impressive review, I'd say.

"Through the Inside"

Did you know that Hot Springs is rated #4 in the list of top 100 small art towns of the U.S.?

Many thanks to my most excellent dealer, Gallery Central and "The Springs Magazine".

Development Workshop

I attended the 2008 Professional Development Workshop in St. Petersburg yesterday. My fourth similar workshop in the last two years which begs the question, why are all these opportunities proliferating now? Where was this information 25+ years ago? Like minded older artists share my angst. Business wasn't taught in art school back in the day and only an elite few were savvy enough to figure out the necessary needed attributes. I wasn't one of them. As the saying goes, better late than never. I suppose.

One takes what they need from all this information overload. It's eerily apropos and timely. Strengths and weaknesses become glaringly evident. My weakness is follow-up. Am I too lazy, distracted, forgetful? A bit of all I suspect. My strength is in my determination to succeed, and yes, it's happening (though not as quickly as I'd like).

Support and resources are now readily available to artists, thanks in part to the internet. Take a gander at a few blogs listed on the right under "Blogs I Actually Read". There's Alyson Stanfield, Barney Davey and Seth Godin as excellent examples. They all have produced books of interest.

Attitudes have changed between artists over the years. Rather than casting a leery eye towards one another, we now seek each other out for support. This is why my salon group "Out of Hand Artists", is so essential to all the members.

Foxhunting Painting Update

Nope, I didn't work in the studio today. It stunk of Frogjuice and I had more aggravating amphibians to attend to. I spent the day preparing for the Professional Development Workshop in St. Pete tomorrow. They requested a package/portfolio to be viewed by an organization not set up to view digital media...

The new painting is coming along however:

I've established the contrasts, values and general color scheme. I love the way the shadows meander on a slight diagonal across the picture plane. I infused them with lots of cool blues and violets to be painted over, still allowing the blue-violet to peek through and add some vibrant color to the shadows. I love this composition of the forward hounds jogging up to the viewer, right off the picture's edge.

The artist late on a Friday afternoon in the studio.

Bored husband/partner/agent hanging out in studio on a Friday afternoon embarking on a venture into "art" photography creating his own composition...Lynn, save us!

Back to Me

After several months of non-stop commissions, I dutifully went into the studio today and (!) started a painting of my own creation. What a feeling: this freedom to experiment, push the paint around and manipulate the colors and brushstrokes into movement. A subject of my choosing and composition. I felt light as air.

I've received several requests for foxhunting scenes. There's nothing here that's cutting edge nor particularly innovative, but it's my own hand. These paintings pay the bills when the commissions let up. I'd like to do an ongoing series of foxhunting scenes as I love painting the hounds. They're such happy, friendly dogs that get along great with everyone, including the horses.

The two hounds in the foreground are reminiscent of "Sneaking Off", a complex piece I painted several years ago.

Gross Simplification

WARNING: I'm about to go off on a rant. It's your choice to read on or click on.

The internet has recently been buzzing about the latest work of controversial sculptor Daniel Edwards. Censorship in any form is un-American. However, there is that annoying asterisk of artistic responsibility. Edwards has garnered lots of notoriety from his previous works defensible by their inherent lofty meaning and "purpose". Britney Spears naked on a bearskin rug giving birth becomes an ideal model for Pro-Life. Although this seems like further exploitation for a sadly troubled famous young woman, apparently there's a moral to this artwork. Whatever.

Ah, but now Edwards has ventured into my backyard:

"The Barbaro Memorial"

A press release from the Leo Kesting Gallery who reps Edwards, states that the sculpture represents the "Right To Die and Death With Dignity movement". Oh. The sculpture will be unveiled at the spot where a carriage horse met it's demise in Central Park after being spooked and running into a tree. And the connection is...?

Just a few statements from the press release to take issue: "...fueling speculation his life was prolonged for stud fee earnings". Speculation was the horse would never be sound enough for the breeding shed even if he had survived. Could it be that some of us just love our animals - be they heroic race horses or smile inducing fur balls? Barbaro owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson poured millions into New Bolton Center. Of course there was no pressure from the daily media blitz of updates concerning Barbaro's prognosis. And there's the self-described egotistical Dr. Dean Richardson, chief surgeon at the center. FACTOID: the early signs of founder (laminitus) likely occurred shortly after the first surgery. But as Dr. Richardson passed the wall of cards, flowers, treats and other tokens of well-wishes from thousands of school children on his way to work every morning, he may have been inclined to attempt the impossible. Or could it have been a collective consciousness of affirmative well wishes on an unprecedented scale that prolonged the inevitable?

Another: "It was reported that in the end, Barbaro was biting at people before he was finally allowed to die with dignity". FACTOID: three year old colts bite. The healthier and fitter they get, the more they bite. It's what they do. Something to do with those darn male hormones.

Supposedly, the sculpture is helping to launch "the Barbaro Law" requiring racetracks to disclose race-related injury and fatality statistics. FACTOID: all practicing race track veterinarians are required to fill out a daily report submitted to the on site, highly regulated State Veterinarians Office. All horses entered in races absolutely MUST be examined by a state appointed vet on the morning of the scheduled race. Have I ever mentioned the "Absolute Insurer Rule"?

Daniel Edwards was hitherto unknown to moi. There is a cartoon stating: "if you want to be a successful artist you must create some controversy" on my studio wall, where I should be now.

Butterfly Garden

I'm completely caught up with all my commissions! Now what? I think today I'll actually clean the sacred ground of my studio that is never touched. Dust, you know. There's no telling what I'll find. Afterwards, I believe a quick, small painting of my own choosing is in order to put me back in touch with my original creativity.

Last weekend was moi's birthday. My best friend Lynn took me to the Butterfly Garden in Coconut Creek just north of Ft. Lauderdale. As usual, she took some lovely photos. Enjoy.

I've been urging Lynn to enter one of those photo contests. This photo is more than worthy.

Horse of the Year

"We need heroes. And since we need them so badly, we've decided to race Curlin this year. We want to give the fans and the industry what we need." - Jess Jackson at the Eclipse Awards last night.

Hmm, thanks Mr. Jackson but I wonder if Curlin wouldn't be headed to the breeding shed were it not for that pesky legal fiasco involving Curlin's hundreds of owners.

I'm resigning myself to the economically driven changes. I don't like it but it's become a fact of life.

For all you spec painters out there - good luck finding the "big horse" subject.

Curlin at Oklahoma Training Track last summer.

Street Sense in the paddock at last summer's Travers Stakes with Calvin Borel.

Hard Spun with entourage entering paddock at Travers Stakes.

For all you equine art fans, prepare for a glut of Curlin paintings.

Off and Running

So far it's been a great start to 2008. Here's what happening and it's only January 15th.

I applied to the Art Business News "Emerging Artist" competition. Didn't win - poop. Here's the winner, in the ABN artistic style: Kristy Goggio. I have to question if she's "emerging", seems she's already arrived.

I also applied to the Florida Division of Cultural Affair's "2008 Professional Development Workshop". I was accepted! So I'm off to St. Pete on February 2nd. It's funded by National Endowment for the Arts.

Sold an original oil! "Oklahoma", my piece depicting the backside of Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Crossing the t's and dotting the i's on two new galleries! One is in Red Bank, New Jersey close to Monmouth Park and the other in West Palm Beach, Florida. More details when it's all finalized.