Megan

It is Friday and painting this little study was a fun way to finish the week. The painting is, Megan, my friend and neighbor's horse, just down the road. I enjoyed moving the paint around and hope to paint a larger work from this study. Megan is a special mare and painting her portrait, made for, "A Painting Day".

"Megan", 6x6-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre

Dario

I have been posting a lot of horse paintings and thought I would post a favorite painting of a Golden Lab dog, Dario. I will be adding to my canine collection as time goes by. Dario was one of my first dog portrait paintings. I fell in love with his warm color and his caring eyes. The painting went to Santa Fe for a show at Galerie Esteban, in Santa Fe. He found a home opening night. Painting Dario made for, "A Painting Day".

"Dario", 10x10-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre sold

LAS HERMANAS #1

Here is the final painting for the Las Hermanas triptych. It has been an adventure working on the three works, Las Hermanas #1, #2 and #3, all lined up on my easel, so all stops and starts meet and greet one another. I am happy to say the piece is finished, framed and on it way for a showing in Montana. Let us hope it finds a happy home in the wilds of the "Big Sky" state. I am happy that "Las Hermanas" made for "A Painting Day".

"Las Hermanas #1", 9x9-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre
www.ruthandre.com
andre@ruthandre.com

Ranch Woman

I am totally baring my soul with this painting. I really would like to do a series of "Ranch Women" paintings. Ranch woman have a certain spirit that comes from owning land, tending children and family and working the ranch. To paint these women, would be an amazing painting challenge. I am not a figurative painter but have decided to start thinking about what goes on with a figure and start studying how to paint a figure. The painting today is one of a ranch woman I found in Missouri. She was testing a new horse and she knew that it was not the right horse for her but it was a sweet thing and it was so hard to say, no, to the sale. There are soft hearts involved in the picking of the right horse but you know you have to find the "one", because it will be with you for a long time. Yes, the painting is an attempt to paint a self portrait. I guess we can say this is the baseline and hopefully each new Ranch Woman painting will get better as the paint goes down. Thinking about the Ranch Woman challenge made for, "A Painting Day".

"Ranch Woman, 6x6-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre
www.ruthandre.com
andre@ruthandre.com

Bay View

My "Eye of the Horse" project continues with today's painting, "Bay View". Every horse owner has a favorite horse breed and in most cases they have a color of a horse that is a favorite. The dark brown of a Bay horse is a favorite of mine. I enjoyed painting "Bay View" and it was, "A Painting Day".

"Bay View", 6x8-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre

Roseta

Las Hermanas #1 is still in progress so I thought I would post a painting sketch I did of Roseta. This little one is a sweetie. She also reminded me of another story about Baja California, Mexico, while I lived there some years ago. We did not have an alarm clock in Baja, because we really did not need one. Every morning, like it or not, the roaming hobbled donkeys would serenade the locals out of their peaceful sleep. I really never got used to it but did enjoy seeing the herd of donkeys as they went from ranch to ranch. Hearing the donkeys, just outside my window, made for, "A Painting Day".

"Roseta", 6x6-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre

Las Hermanas #2

This is painting, "Las Hermanas #2" of the triptych in progress. When painting, you have time to reflect and memories come flooding in at times. As I said yesterday, my time in Baja California, Mexico came to my mind. With no running water and no electricity on our ranch we had a small reservoir and a generator. Many of our neighbors did not have these luxuries and would go to the river each day for water. The horses on the surrounding ranches would be herded down the dirt road to the river twice a day for water. It was quite a sight to see the horses as they past our ranch and the dust they stirred was enormous. There was a rhythm of the day to day life in Baja. The memories came back to me to make, "A Painting Day".

"Las Hermanas #2", 9x9-inches, o/c

Las Hermanas #3

The painting today is one of a triptych in progress It is called "Las Hermanas", The Sisters. I am starting with #3, a big grey-roan mare. While painting this mare, it reminded me of times my husband and I had on our ranch in Baja California, Mexico. We grew flowers for the wholesale flower market, on our ranch in Baja and would go down to the ranch and spend several days at a time outside the village like town. The only language spoken was, Spanish and there was only one phone in town, that everyone paid to use. A very enterprising indivdual had a good business in the phone business. I will tell you more of the story when I post Las Hermanas #2 and #1. Living in Baja made for, "A Painting Day".

"Las Hermanas #3",9x9-inches, o/c

Bison

If you love Montana, you will love Ivan Doig's writings about life in Montana. I have read several of Mr. Doig's books and plan to read all that he has written. He writes of the settling of Montana and the buffalo that roamed the range during that time. The more I have read, the more I have wanted to paint the American icon, The Buffalo. The painting today is the first of my buffalo paintings. Look for more to follow. Reading books by Ivan Doig made for , "A Painting Day" file:///Users/Ruth/Desktop/www.ivandoig.com:.webloc

"Bison" 9x12-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre

Pasture Mates

A few posts back, I introduced Prince & Isabelle. Here they are once again. They are pasture mates and obviously good friends. Prince appears to be taking a quiet moment, while Isabelle keeps a watchful eye. The kinship of Prince & Isabelle made for, "A Painting Day".

"Pasture Mates" 12x12-inches, o/c by Ruth Andre

Reference Photo by Anne Louise MacDonald file:///Users/Ruth/Desktop/www.hugahorsefarm.com.webloc