Early one crisp November evening, just around moonrise, we were driving home. I (passenger!) caught a movement out of the corner of my eye, and looking around, I saw some horses running along in their field, almost as if they were racing the car. They were headed back to a barn that I could see a ways away, and obviously, were looking forward to their dinner. It was a magical moment to see these guys thundering past, and we slowed the car to keep pace with them for the few seconds it took before their trail turned away to the barn. This moment has lived in my memory for several years, and I knew that sooner or later, I would paint it. So here is my memory painting - "RACE YA HOME" , an 8.5 x 10.5 watercolor on Arches 140 Hot Press.
Heather Anderson
http://www.heatheranderson-animalart.com/
It's one of those typical winter days that happen more often than the sparkling, bright days that turn winter into magic. The clouds hang heavy and grey, and the world seems to be painted in shades of black and white. I think of it as Winter distilled - the very essence of winter. And it has a beauty all it's own, so I wanted to celebrate it in a painting. When I saw this group of horses that were so completely in harmony with their surroundings, I knew I had my painting. Actually, there were two groups of two black horses and one group of two black and white horses, but this painting needed to be simple, so I was selective in what I put in.
The whole painting is deceptively simple. It's more about knowing what to leave out as it is about what to put in, and that takes experience and skill. I've been painting long enough to have achieved those things. I love detail, but sometimes, the advice of Thoreau must be followed: 'Simplify, simplify'.
This recently completed painting, "WINTER DISTILLED", is an 11 by 14 watercolor on Arches 140 hot press, and it is available. $625. Also available are notecards and small prints.
http://www.heatheranderson-animalart.com/
anderson.animalart@sympatico.ca
In a way, I've been working on RETURN FROM AVALON for years - and years. It's been in my mind that long, but I've only just put it down on paper. I love the stories of King Arthur, and in Tennyson's "Idylls of the King", just as Arthur is being placed in the barge that has been sent from Avalon, the magical island where he will be taken, he promises to come back when the world most needs him. I've been counting on that.
In my painting, I see him returning from Avalon as promised. With him are his wonderful white horse, his pale wolfhound, and his best friends, Merlin the Wizard, who is far too smart to stay locked in his crystal cave forever, and Sir Bedivere who was with him at the end and helped him into the magical barge. Together, they are bringing light back to the world and pushing back the darkness. But the dark forces will try to oppose them. Dark faeries and elves peer from the shadows and malevolent eyes glare from the dark.
Arthur is saddened by what the world has become, but Sir Bedivere merely sneers at the efforts to stop them and keeps his hand ready to draw his sword, and Merlyn is serene, knowing that light will always overcome the dark. Even now, the good faeries and elves are gathering to welcome them back as the dark fades away. In the background, you can see magical Avalon wrapping itself in mist, and in a few moments, it will vanish until next time.
I am very pleased with this painting - it is a huge step forward for me. I learned a lot with this one. I learned that if there is a mass of tiny things in the painting, it is better to keep the idividual details simple. And I learned how hard it is, but how very satisfying, to work almost entirely without reference. I didn't want the three riders to ressemble anyone at all except the way I saw them in my mind, so they were extremely hard to do. It was also a challenge to fade dark as the light advanced, but I'm satisfied with the result. And it was difficult to pull a painting of this complexity together. Although (as always) I see things I would like to improve, I love the way this turned out.
RETURN FROM AVALON is a 14 x 18 watercolor on Arches 300 hot press paper. It is available, but at this time, I have not settled on a price.
It's been a while since I've done a blog post, although I've composed a number of them in my mind. But somehow, they just didn't get written. Since the last time, we've lost one of our fur-family and even though he was an older dog and not in good health, it is never easy to say goodbye to a loved one. In the wake of that, I've found myself with a decided lack of energy and a tendency to feel not quite up to par, although that's improving steadily.
Maybe that's why I've been thinking in very gentle images these past few weeks. With Halloween coming up, that can be difficult, because everywhere you look, you see goth and gore and horror movies/costumes. I started to think back to when I was a kid. Halloween was fun, spooky, and silly, and a that's where the emphasis lay. People decorated with pumpkins, jolly or fierce, with maybe a ghost or two blowing from a tree. Dry leaves skittering down the street, a cold, sneaky wind blowing down your neck, and pumpkin-light were the main spooky effects. Costumes ran the gamut from little witches, princesses, pirates, and cowboys/girls to polite vampires, skeletons and ghosts. Boys and girls had wonderful costumes (mostly Mom-made) to match interests or fantasies that did not include chain-saw murders. Makes me wish we could bring back more of the fun of the occasion instead of focusing so much on the darker side of things.
With these things in mind, my new painting is based on a memory of going Trick-Or-Treating with my dog. It is an 11 x 14 watercolor on Arches Hot Press. I love the porch-light and pumpkin-light shining out of this one, and the body language of the Sheltie. "The things I do for my kid!" EXPECTATIONS is an original watercolor and is available at $400.
There's nothing hard about these darling Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. They were posted on my old blog, and deserve to join the other spaniels on this new one. They are wonderful, sweet natured little dogs who make fabulous companions. FOUR CAVALIERS is an 11 x 14 watercolor, and is available as the original painting, as note cards, and as small prints.
So what's the hardest thing? Getting started of course. When I am confronted with a piece of pure, snowy watercolor paper, panic sets in. What if I mess it up and ruin an expensive piece of paper? Am I truely committed to the image I'm thinking of painting? What if I get tired of it part way through? So I tidy the studio, clean the sinks, check on the dogs if they are not in the studio with me, find out where in the house the cat is hiding, have a snack (after all that cleaning and hunting up of animals, I'm peckish), have a drink (Please! I'm talking ice water!), do a couple of stretches, and look out the windows - first the front, then the back overlooking the garden. THEN I pick up my brush, take a deep breath, dip the brush in water, then in paint, and . . . .. . finally get that first blush of color on the paper. And then the image and the paint grip me and I'm off. But getting started - oh dear.
A week or so ago, my trusty little Canon digital bit the dust. Well, not dust exactly, but a battery seemed to have sprung a leak, and when I tried to take a photo, nothing happened. Because I had just put new batteries in it, I had a look, and found "stuff" all over the bottom and inside the camera. Not good. I may at some point have it repaired if possible, but I needed a camera 'now'. This was the camera I often took along just in case I saw something I wanted to photograph. So I went shopping, looking for something inexpensive this time, but able to do what I needed to do.
I was introduced to a Sony Cybershot, waay more than I wanted to spend. BUT, there was one, lonely last year's model left over, and it was offered to me at less than half price. I am now the happy owner of a great little camera that takes great photos, is slim enough to fit in any handbag, something the other one was not, so this one really can go everywhere with me, and best of all, it is a delightful shimmering crushed raspberry in color. Well YES, color is important! :-0
While we were driving along the other day, I commented how beautiful the roadsides looked, now that the municipality is no longer spraying them with weed killer. At this time of year, they are thick with Queen Anne's Lace, blowing and billowing in the breeze. So I whipped out my trusty little camera, and now I can share our beautiful country roadsides with you. Have a lovely day everyone :-)
Heather Anderson . . . . . .Sheltie Hollow
http://www.heatheranderson-animalart.com/
