Wendover Place Open House

For my students and friends:

If you couldn't make it to the horse barn open house in April 2016, I thought I'd share some pictures, a link to a video and some words.

Wendy Trocano, the owner of Wendover Place, hosted the open house. It was the first one. There's no date set yet for the next one.

Wendy is one of my trainers at Wendover Place. She teaches anyone who is 6-years-old and above.

The open house was designed for children and adults. There was a face painter and an exercise trainer, Sean, who brought a fun exercise. I got to try it out. You had to balance on a board that was round on the bottom. I managed not to fall. The kids were having fun leaping onto it. I didn't get a chance to try that but I wanted to!

There were several groups of barn tours where some of the horses got treats from the visitors. Pictured above is Gaston gently taking a treat from the hand of a visitor.

Leslie, Gaston's owner, is also a trainer along with her sister Wendy. She's in the picture on the right leading a tour group. Leslie is my other trainer. She is also the coach for the UCF Hunter/Jumper IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) team.

The IHSA team trains at Wendover Place. In addition, Wendy is the coach for the IEA (Interscholastic Equestrian Association) team for students in grades 6-12. You don't need a horse to be on either team! I wish I was in school again.

There was food and popcorn. I was supposed to be in charge of the popcorn, but once old "Blue" arrived I was completely distracted.

She arrived in a horse trailer. I can't imagine what other drivers were thinking when they saw this on the road.

Daryl, the farrier, brought the life-size real horse skeleton that she built. She said it is the second one she has ever made from real horse bones. She takes Blue out for demonstrations and lectures.

I did some sketches and one of my students also took the rare opportunity to do a sketch. She did an excellent job on her first sketch-from-life of a horse skeleton. You can see a picture of her working on her drawing below.

Then later, her husband Mark brought out his video and sound equipment. He wanted to do some recording while at the open house. I helped as much as I could and learned a lot just by watching him work.

The result is a wonderful video where he interviewed Wendy and one of her students. He also got a chance to record Alicia, the newest addition to the Trainer team at Wendover with one of her ponies named Archer. The video is called "Horse Show".

By the end of the day Donnegal (aka Donnie) was giving pony rides while the event wound down.

I hope you can all come to the next open house. Bring a chair and just enjoy the time to sit and relax. Make plans to spend some time in the fresh, clean air and make some new four-legged friends.

Keep in touch and I'll post information about the next open house as soon as there is a date set.

Karen

St. Augustine Suggestions

"Chief"

I was recently asked for suggestions on where to go and what to do in St. Augustine, Florida. Following is the result. As you can see I like to write!

On King Street, The Brilliance in Color gallery is a must. When we were there they had works by Dali, Miro, Picasso and Degas on display (and for sale haha like I could ever afford one!) It’s sad to say it’s a  better collection by sheer numbers than anything ever seen in Orlando.  And a walk through the Grand Bohemian off the lobby of the Casa Monica  Hotel is always nice.

Other galleries to make sure you visit are on Aviles Street. It’s off the main path but much more charming. There are many restaurants there, too. I had time to visit the Georgia Nick Gallery in particular. She is very nice and if you are there at the  right time, that’s when Chief or one of the other carriage horses stop  by for a treat.

Aviles Street

A street away on Charlotte is the P.A.ST.A.  (Professional Artists of St. Augustine) gallery. It’s another with work  by local artists. The St. Augustine Art Assoc. also has a gallery another street over on Marine.

Gaufres

We ate at several restaurants, but  of particular note we’d recommend Pizza Time on St. George. They also  have ice cream and gelato right next door! Of course, the Columbia  restaurant is always good. But if you’d like to visit some others I  recommend the Athena restaurant where they serve breakfast, lunch and  dinner. They serve Greek dishes but there are regular breakfast offerings as well.

In addition, there’s another nice restaurant called Gaufre's on the corner of Artillery Ln. and Charlotte St. (picture right) that serves both Greek  and Polish dishes. Plus, they sell imported chocolate!

And if you  have a refrigerator in your hotel room and need some milk, you don’t have to go  all the way down King St. to the gas station. We found a mini-store inside the place where you can buy tickets to the Black Raven Pirate  Ship! On our next visit, we are going to purchase tickets to this  attraction and ride on the ship while they carry on and fire their cannons.

"Otto" at the Lightner Museum

Take the Flagler College tour, visit the Castillo de San  Marcos (fort), tour the Pena-Peck house and when you purchase entry to  the Colonial Spanish Quarter they put a wrist band on you. This band  means you can go inside at any time while you have the band on! And the  Lightner Museum is fantastic but is only open 11-3 p.m. so schedule accordingly.

Pictured is "Otto" (a semi-resident of the Lightner Museum). He sometimes poses in wedding photos taken in the central garden. (picture left)

Another great museum is the Villa Zorayda. It's a house built in the fashion of a 12th century moorish alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. We didn't get a chance to visit this museum on our last visit but I've been there several times.

There’s also the oldest school house and  drugstore with a wax museum inside. And if you get a Trolley pass make  sure to stop at the Old Jail and go through the History Museum.

There’s lots more to do in St. Augustine than in this small list. Have fun!

Oldest Store and Wax Museum

Matanzas River

Figures Are Not Scary

Well, math figures are scary – to me. But figures in a painting are not. I’m not talking about detailed portraits of people. Just a few brushstrokes and voila you’ve got a person.

In a recent workshop with professional artist Tom Jones, the first day and the first thing we did was practice painting figures to put in our paintings.

One of Tom’s other students showed us how he does his figures. He practices at home while relaxed in front of his TV.

In addition, we had fun painting little chickens and roosters. We used our new-found skills in our next project: a wooden chicken coop.

Here’s a comparison of my finished painting to the one Tom Jones did.

Tom told us there has to be a WOW in your painting. Look for the WOW when someone looks at it. I had trouble in our next project even getting an, “Oh, that’s nice” from myself!

The project was a desert scene with two adorable donkeys. I did so poorly on my first try that Tom made me start over. I think we both agreed that a lack of quality paper wasn’t helping me on this one.

I haven’t finished my re-do of this project yet, but here’s Tom’s so you can see an example of the WOW we were going for.

In my version (not pictured) my first mistake was I started making too many symmetrical details in my far-off mountains. So many, in fact, that Tom made me use his toothbrush (not one he brushes his teeth with!) and scrub out most of those lines.

The next project went much better as I began to relax into the flow of the class. It was a picture of a little building in Mexico.

Then we painted a simple potted plant. Here's Tom's. It's simple yet elegant.

And then we began our final project. Unfortunately, we were only able to finish half of it because all of a sudden it was Friday afternoon and the workshop was over.

If you’ve never taken a 1 to 5 day workshop I highly recommend you try at least one time. Start by looking for a local artist that you admire and find out if they do any workshops.

When you take the workshop make plenty of mistakes and learn from them. You’ll always do a better job the next time around.

For example, here’s a painting I did before the Tom Jones workshop.The horses are nice but that landscape! OMG!

And here’s a better version I did after his workshop. I think this one has a little more WOW to it.

Thanks for reading!

Keep painting.
Karen

Horse Barn Open House April 30

April 30, 2016, there's going to be an Open House at Wendover Place! Admission is free. There'll be food, fun and horses.

Don't ride? Bring your camera or sketchbook. Watch veterinary and horse grooming demonstrations and more.

I'll post more info as it becomes available.

Day: Saturday, April 30, 2016
Times: 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Place: Wendover Place (https://goo.gl/maps/jvV2pBbZcow)

Mennello Museum Watercolor Demonstration

The Central Florida Watercolor Society is doing some demonstrations at the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, Florida. 

One Saturday, I decided to use some tracings I've had ready to transfer to watercolor paper for several years. I finally found the perfect opportunity to paint one of them. The reference photo I used was taken by a good friend, Cheryl West and used with her kind permission.

Watercolor on Paper, 9 x 12 inches

I completed this painting from start to finish for the demonstration. First, I started by drawing the flower on a piece of tracing paper. I then transferred that drawing to a sheet of watercolor paper and painted the flower. You can see me transferring the drawing in this picture.

By drawing on the tracing paper first I can erase and make as many corrections as necessary. This also allows me to use the same drawing multiple times for other demonstrations.

I was scheduled to do a second demonstration on November 28, but got sick so I had to cancel. However, I am scheduled to do another on December 26. I think I'll do some pink and white flowers this time.

More information:
Mennello Museum of American Art
Central Florida Watercolor Society

Portrait of Chester - A Work In Progress

Paintings that require more time and detail are called a WIP or "Work In Progress". I am sharing one with you that I have been working on as a demonstration for the classes I teach at Michaels Arts & Crafts.

His name is Chester. I am doing this painting for a friend as a surprise gift. (Unless she finds this post.)

Cross-Country Clearprint Journal Project

As part of a Chartpak project called "Cross-Country Clearprint", I received a blank journal in the mail
the other day.  I am to sketch, draw and/or paint whatever I wish on one page.  I chose to fill that page with sketches of Peptalk, a horse I rode in my riding lessons for almost three years.  He has since passed over the rainbow bridge.  But I will always remember him.

I did the sketches from photos I took of him at liberty and in his stall.  Some of the photos were blurry due to low light and I did not want to use the flash.  (The flash can wash-out colors and flatten details plus create odd shadows.)  However, I was able to "un-blur" the pictures in the sketches due to my knowledge of horse anatomy and close familiarity with the subject.

The sketchbook is 6 x 8 and is called a Clearprint Vellum Book.

Images from all of the Cross-Country Clearprint project participants will be available online at www.clearprintpaperco.com.

Sketching Idea: By the Square Foot

I got my first chance to put a fun sketching exercise into practice this past weekend that I suggest in my Field Sketching classes.

I spent a few hours plein air painting with the Central Florida Watercolor Society.  We were at Lake Lily Park in Maitland, Florida.

As usual I got to the park and was immediately overwhelmed with all the choices of where to set up and draw or paint.  So, I practiced what I preach!  I found one 10 x 10 square foot area and sketched everything I could see.

I did not know what some things were, but I sketched them anyway.  With some notes written on the side I can research these items to find out more about them.

You can practice this at home, too!  Find a 3 x 3 or 10 x 10 square foot area in your yard, neighborhood or even inside your own home and sketch the things you find in just that area.

The Fate of Cursive Writing

A friend and I were discussing the fate of cursive (script) writing recently.  I lamented on how I had to teach my son how to sign his own name in cursive because he was never taught to do so in school.

Here is an interesting article about what one North Carolina school district is doing about this and the comments from some parents and teachers.

Learning Cursive Writing: Is it worthwhile or a waste of time?
by Jacoba Urist

How many people today can read the Declaration of Independence?  When only a few to no one can read it because it is written in cursive they will have to depend on others to translate it for them.

Personally, writing in cursive saves me a lot of time when I have to write quickly and legibly.  I enjoy having the option to print or write in a more beautiful, cursive style.  If nothing else, learning to write in cursive gives one more options.  One day cursive writers may stand out in a crowd of thousands that can only write and read printed, disconnected letters.

Sketching Is Not Just For Artists

In Laura Busche's blog post "Hand-Sketching: The Things You Didn't Know Your Doodles Could Accomplish" she explains how sketching on *paper* takes her designs to the next level.

I met with another artist Saturday morning (10/13/13) who worked as a line illustrator.  She learned most of her skills while on the job.  Today she is retired but continues to draw and paint.

We spoke about how sad it is that today there are many graphic arts students who cannot fathom why on earth they need to learn how to draw on anything other than a computer screen.

I found Laura's blog article through Dave Kelley's blog post where he is collecting resources before, during and after the upcoming DevLearn2013 event.

Field Sketching and Gesture Drawing - Birds

Draw enough to recognize the subject.

Do a gesture drawing.

Gesture drawings are done mostly in life drawing classes.  Little did I know they come in extremely handy when you are trying to draw a flitting bird or a flighty squirrel.

Try it on your own!  You can go just about anywhere and find lots of birds and squirrels.  If you can’t get outside, try watching a nature documentary.  You can practice gesture drawing all types of animals while they are on your TV screen.  If you feel like adding more details, wait for the commercials and add them then.

If you need more information about gesture drawing and how to do it see the following links:

What is Gesture Drawing?  By Helen South, About.com Guide

Examples of Gesture Drawing curated by aed303 (class board for pre-service elementary teachers taking art) on Pinterest.

Tools for Self-Educating Artists at Figure and Gesture Drawing
This a cool website where they provide timed photos (you choose the timing) to practice a gesture drawing!  Start with the standard session and be brave!  Work down from 10 minutes to the 30 seconds time interval!

This post was modified on 9/28/2015.

Newest Completed Works

This past summer and fall, I completed one oil painting and one pencil drawing.  The pencil drawing was a commission of one of the horses at Freedom Ride named Ivan.  (When I took a snapshot of the drawing I didn't realize I'd caught some glare on his shiny nose!)

The poem says:

Ride upon the white
horse and a sense of
peace will come; for
the white horse is an
angel with wings
disguised and soon you
will ride as one.  Anon

Pencil is my favorite medium for drawing horses.

The oil painting was done via a reference photo as a starting point.  I originally thought the background was going to be very dark.  However, as happens so many times while painting, it decided it wanted to be a lighter picture.

If you happen to be interested in buying this painting it is available unframed.