My goodness! I have been neglecting this thing for a LONG time!! Hope everyone is doing well!

I have been busy - I have a lot of commissions on my plate right now. 'Mike & Joe' got finished up and is about to be given as a gift to Mike by the gal who took the photo of them before Joe died. I am so excited to see the photos of his reaction! Makes it all worth while!

I sent out another piece for a young fellow who just wanted me to draw him a grazing clydesdale after he sw my other grazing draft and really liked it. I am also still working on the piece 'Chip' that he is going to give to his grandpa.

Then there is Saad, a gorgeous Akhal-Teke that I am doing for a lady in Norway. He is slow going - and I drew him a little too big. Now I have to try and bring him down a few nothches and I am having some trouble with that. Oh the frustration! If only I could quit my job and do this full time!

Aside from all of the commissions on my plate, when I get sick of doing the tasks at hand, I find myself "experimenting" with little drawings on scrapbook paper woth interesting prints on them. I love drawing on papers with an already existing abstract looking background. It adds so much to a drawing I think!

ALSO - I think my last post happened before I got my cat. I now have a little buddy for my studio! He is just so great and I can't get enough of the little guy! I feel like he was my missing piece. Yeah it sounds corny - but I love having a kitty!

So - I have this idea. I want to start a newsletter for equine artists. Like - a newsletter you get in the mail. I wan to do it every other month, with a "20 questions" kinda interview with a fellow artist to get to know them a little better, maybe product reviews from other artists, updates on new works done by artists, contests, perhaps classifieds... done in full colour, available as a subscription. I will research what it will cost me to make them and mail them . I do not want to make money from it - I would just like to share things with people in an old fashioned way!! I know with the Facebook and Twitter and the internet - it may be hard to get interest - but I still hope that enough people might be intrigued by the idea of getting something they can sit down and flip through with a cup of coffee. Just a little "homemade", sent out with love little newsletter done by a fellow artist - and filled with news and things about their peers. It sure as heck won't be as spectacular as the Horses in Art magazine - but I would like it to be personal and well though out and something that you all can participate in! I have been posting up on Facebook this idea I have - but I have not been getting the response that I would have liked. I hope you may take an interest in this and let me know if you do! I will research and come up with costs and ideas and let you know! Email me at islandponyartstudio@hotmail.com if you wanna be in this loop!!

Well - again - another long overdue post! Boy have I been busy with commission work as of late! Is sure is exciting for me! I feel like my dreams are starting ti come true where my art is concerned! I was even asked by a gal all the way in NORWAY to draw her absolutely STUNNING Akhal-Teke, Saad! I am looking forward to that piece very much! It is just tough to keep up right now with work and all! Such a busy place - and I am on my feet all day - I am just totally exhausted at the end of the day.Sometimes it is hard to muster up any ambition at all!! My drawing a day adventure was thwarted when I went back to work and that was really disappointing to me. So, here are two pieces from recent days. The bottom one is a commission piece for a friend of a friend of hers and his recently passed horse. It is a sort of unfamiliar territory for me - as I do not draw people that often. But I like the way it is progressing! Then, up at the top is a small piece that I did on suede mat. I hit the jackpot at the framers with mat pieces!! It is cheaper than most paper and it is way better to draw on!! I think I have a few final touches to do on him and then I am gonna put him up for sale! :) Anyways, I must be off.... to get ready to WORK on a Saturday. I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

So - I am moved in!! My studio is just about a studio again!

I have decided, after several fellow artists began doing this themselves, to embark upon a 'drawing a day' challenge. I am in desperate need of some inspiration and I think the new studio space will be the cure to my dry spell! A good way to learn, improve and discipline myself might be to force myself to do one piece of work a day. Some days, they may be small, quick and not very well thought out. But they will be one effort more than was putting in before. I hope you will all join me and follow my latest adventure!! :)

Holy smokes! Has it REALLY been over a month and a half since my last post?? Yeah - I guess I have been slacking off!! My studio is still in boxes - and will be for another week - then it's moving day! I am so excited to get my new studio set up and to get back to work! I have a few pieces to finish up and then I will start some new ones - and I am hopefully going to make an attempt at doing a piece a day - al a Linda Shantz! I did dig out a few supplies and start a piece though... the one pictured here! It is going to be a challenge! Getting the rough draft done was entertaining enough! I kept getting confused by the stripes! the photo was one that I got from the Morgue File site. They have got thousands of free reference photos available!! awesome site - check it out! So - as I will be all by myself for what looks to be the vast magority of the summer (boooo out of town work) I should be posting a little more regularily as I will have free time coming out my ears!

OK! So I have got the camera problem figured out!! AND I have got a new Canon camera on it's way to me thanks to my wonderful man.... and Air Miles! This pat week has been a whirlwind - as we have been going through the process of buying our first house!! We got the final approval from the mortgage company yesterday! The house is great! It is very unique.... and it is "artsy". I love it. i am so excited!! The master bedroom is a loft up in the house... and THAT is going to be my studio!! I will post picture when it is all set up! It is a great little space... and it is bigger than what I have now.

Now - I have started a commision. Here it is. Titled "Chip". He is a pony belonging to the cousin of a friend. I started it - and have to take a break from it - as I have to pack my studio up... and the rest of my house! We are trying to get possesion early - like three weeks from now. So I am going to be BUSY for the next few weeks!!

So - my computer crashed! I lost all my photos!! I have them all backed up on discs.... but the discs aren't labelled or in the same spot. Haha. ALSO - I can't find my Kodak program disc for my camea. Oh the frustration. I have no pictures to post right now - but I am working on a clydesdale piece that someone wanted me to do for them. It's a paying job - and that makes me happy!! I also have another commision coming up!! Right now we are house hunting. I went to look at a place yesterday and it has the PERFECT space for me to have a studio! My other half is away and he doesn't think the house feels right! He hasn't even looked at it!! I didn't think it did either.... until I saw it!! It needs some renos - that's what we want! The shop on the property is amazing! PLUS there is a hot tub and a koi pond!!! I want it. I have to take him there when he is back for 2 days next week. I want him to love the house too!!! I am gonna have to try and sell it to him. Haha - never mind the realitor!! Sudio space is soooo important to me! This place is exactly what I am looking for!