White Horse Ranch

Trying from my phone

2011-12-10T14:19:00.001-06:00

Just trying to publish from my iPhone

Whirled Peace

2010-09-21T13:00:00.001-05:00

Imagine... whirled peace!

In today’s world, peace needs to be more than just a word.

Imagine… millions of pinwheels spinning in the wind – pinwheels in the United States, Great Britain, South America, Australia, the Middle East, Canada, Africa, Europe and Asia; pinwheels all over the world! – big pinwheels, small pinwheels; pinwheels of all shapes and sizes – colorful pinwheels, decorated with drawings, paintings, collages, photographs – pinwheels with words of peace and harmony written on them – fields of pinwheels, pinwheels along roadsides, in schoolyards, in parks, pinwheels EVERYWHERE!

This is the Pinwheels for Peace project!

Please join us on International Day of Peace, September 21st, as we create a visual public statement about peace! My high school art students and I participated. Did you?

I luv turtles because he loves turtles

2010-09-20T08:52:00.000-05:00

Time changes many things, but not the joy

friendship brings.

My nephew loves turtles so his uncle Rick picks them up whenever he sees one. We are on the catch and release plan so we only have it for a day or two and then they are returned to the wild. It is amazing how much fun one little boy can have with a turtle.

2nd Remains of the Day Journal

2010-04-22T19:42:00.005-05:00

Main Entry: ¹re·main

Pronunciation: \ri-ˈmān\

Function: intransitive verb

1 a : to be a part not destroyed, taken, or used up

I stretch my own canvas and often have pieces left over. The "Remains of the Day" journal gave me an opportunity to use the left over canvas. I simply cut two pieces the correct size, stitched them together and painted them with acrylic paint. I used paint remaining on a palette after a day of painting and simply used an old credit card to smear the paint on. The white dots were made from dipping a large marshmallow in the white and stamping it on. Wow what fun to use scraps and I have enough to make 25 journals or so! (like I have time to do that)

1st Remains of the Day Journal

2010-04-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

I know I have been missing in action. Here is what I have been doing!

Mary Ann Moss's class "Remains of the Day", http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/. I decided that it must be great on-line class because just about everyone on the art blogging planet was talking about it and I didn't want to be left out any longer . It truly is addictive. She creates wonderful journals using paper scraps, mail security envelopes and emphemera she collects from her everyday life. Then stitches them together with a sewing machine. Using her techniques I created two journals. I am going to use mine as a sketchbook/art journal. I don't keep a written journal but I am going to try to incorporate more journaling with my images. Because of this I have purposely left more blank space but love the combination of elements to construct a page in which to sketch on.

The Best Guy I Know....

2010-01-11T09:04:00.000-06:00

The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!

Here is my dad. He works harder than anyone that I know. I did this pencil drawing for my parents for Christmas.

I love the holidays but it seems sometimes it happens so fast you don't have time to enjoy the season. I wish each and everyone of you a very prosperous New Year! And thanks for your continued support of my blog.

It's a what.....................

2009-12-16T13:23:00.000-06:00

Cowgirl it's an Attitude.

This isn't what a normally do, however every now and then it fun to try something new. I drew this last weekend while I watched my son wrestle in a high school wrestling tournament. They usually last all day and with all the noise and excitement this is about as involved as it gets.

Its almost here! (Santa Claus that is)

2009-12-14T10:05:00.002-06:00

I seldom end up where I wanted to go. But almost always end up where I need to be.

Merry Christmas 2009

These are a couple of drawings from my moleskine. I posted the rat before but my pages are never really finished I often go back and add, and add, and add. The boot is the finished Christmas card printed on kraft card stock and hand colored. I have just a few to finished before they all go in the mail. I was hoping to have them finished last week but it just didn't happen.

The most comfortable shoes I own

2009-12-10T08:48:00.001-06:00

May the spirit of the season warm your heart all year long.

I finally finished the drawing for our Christmas cards this year. I decided to use kraft paper cards and envelopes for the finished design. I have them all printed just finishing the hand coloring but hopefully in the mail tonight.

We did get the snow! And so did most of the rest of the country. The last two days were snow days (a teacher's favorite holiday). I love snow days but wish I had been more productive. It has been bitterly cold and all I really wanted to do was curl up on the couch. I am hoping to finish my Christmas cards and get my tree up today.

Expecting 10"-12" of snow tonight..........

2009-12-07T16:44:00.006-06:00

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was "thank you" it would be suffice. Meister Eckhart

This is the pattern on my folks dinner-ware. It is a Currier and Ives print I believe. I really like the classic look of this blue and white pattern. Hope your holiday season is a blessed and joyful one!

With the prediction of that much snow all my students and my self are hoping for a snow day. Those unexpected holidays are the best.

Knowledge or imagination..........

2009-12-03T09:02:00.004-06:00

"Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand." Albert Einstein

Ok here is another quick sketch in the creepy category. I am not afraid of much but I am definitely afraid of mice or rats. I think it is the fact that they can move so quickly and sometimes it seems they are running towards you and not away.

It has been a rough few days...........

2009-12-02T11:19:00.001-06:00

Ok here are two images from my lesson plan book. The second drawing was for EDM "Creepy". I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and I wish you a healthy, happy holiday season.

I have a new moleskine. I really like the larger size and the thicker paper. I will have some images very soon! Keep checking back.

Dreaming of spring..........

2009-11-23T13:12:00.006-06:00

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral." Frank Lloyd Wright

Just a little something in my new moleskine. I love iris. They remind me of my grandmother's. They both had flowers but my mothers mom had the most beautiful garden. She raised both flowers and vegetables but the iris and the peonies were phenomenal. I also like that they are a surprise. They have sword like fans and up from the fans comes this beautiful delicate ruffled flower. Mine usually bloom towards the end of May. And the riot of color is something to see.

The chicken was just for fun.

I know I have seen this before..........

2009-11-16T09:05:00.005-06:00

I truly enjoy looking at work by Andrea Joseph and France Belleville. So in their honor here is my canon camera. I rarely leave home without it.

I enjoy working with ink, (even though I am not nearly as good as crosshatch as the above mentioned artists). I purchased several ink pens from across the pond after I had read a post by Andrea Joseph. They have a very fine tip. I drew this in my watercolor sketchbook. I had several doodles on these pages and I wanted them to disappear so I covered the pages with gesso. The ink sat on top of the pages and I had a little difficulty with it smearing if you touched it at all. I have trouble keeping and posting pages I don't like, so I usually cover over them with collage, gesso or whatever. I have tried to leave the ones I don't like but just cant seem to do it. I think I will revisit this subject on different paper.

Behind the Lines

2009-11-12T10:00:00.007-06:00

Textures, I love them. What can I say. This sketch is about 7" x 10". I have been thinking about creating a series of drawings all titled "Behind the Lines". It could be represented in countless different ways, both literally and figuratively. I think I may have found my inspiration for a few more pieces.

This sketch was drawn on warm drawing paper with a variety of derwent drawing pencils. Pencil is my media of choice!

I prefer chocolate! EDM #26

2009-11-04T09:38:00.005-06:00

Again I return to my favorite medium. I prefer pencil. My hands are drawn to the sensitivity you can achieve with a simple pencil. You can create darks, lights, and various shades in between. It is forgiving and the possibilities are endless.

I like peppers (to eat) but I prefer chocolate!

Beginning again

2009-11-03T17:25:00.003-06:00

When I started this blog I wanted the opportunity to share my drawings. Most of what I do is teaching. Everyday I teach art to around 90 high school students at varying levels of ability. This doesn't always allow me the time or energy to create on my own. But I do create. And with all that or because, I have done a terrible job of keeping this blog updated. I have a million excuses as to why but truthfully it doesn't matter so I am just going to begin again. And invite you to follow. My current goal is to post something, (anything art related) at least once a week. I hope someone will be interested enough to stop by and return often.

The drawings above are from my teaching lesson plan book. I often see an image, an interesting font, or a verse that I find inspirational. Sometimes they may not be so much inspirational but thought provoking or just something that reflects my mood for the day, I put these in my lesson plan pages. And as I look back through the years, I am amazed at what I have included. Sometimes I am bewildered as to why and that in it self amazes and excites me. So I will include more of these little snippets in my blog. I have sketchbooks but I have to look at these lesson plans all day so it only makes sense to add images to the pages. It makes it much more interesting to look at. I often start with a letter in a font that I want to remember, so I sketch it and then around it I continue to add images, typography and verses. Sometimes a theme develops and sometimes not. I have been known to sketch part of other artists sketches (just like the old masters) or student ideas, photographs, advertisements..... anything I find interesting to practice my drawing skills. These are NEVER for sale just practicing. I often find interesting textures on flicker to include. And if you haven't seen http://flickriver.com/ I encourage you to visit.

I want to thank so many of you who have truly inspirational art blogs. I follow quite a few of you. If you are interested check out the blogs I follow in my complete profile.

Thanks for stopping by!

Congratulations!

2009-10-08T14:13:00.002-05:00

I know this is a drawing blog but my daughter was married a few weeks ago and I wanted to share this photo. We are so proud of her and her husband. They both serve in the US Army. We are lucky we have individuals who are willing to give so much to protect our freedom. We love you both, congratulations!

License Plate Book

2009-10-08T14:00:00.003-05:00

Hi, sorry I have been gone for so long. I will be posting more regularly.

This book was created by a former high school student of mine. The covers are made from an ordinary license plate cute in half with tin snips. She has asked me to join her booth in November at a local craft show. I decided it was a great opportunity and would be lots of fun to spend the time with her. Now I need to get busy and create!

Its ok laugh with me

2009-04-22T21:53:00.003-05:00

Ok I am posting this so everyone can see how truly horrible my watercolor attempts are. I am looking at this and you just have to laugh. I think it may be my materials or at least that is what I am telling myself. I am going to keep trying but this does nothing for my confidence. Where is the light, the beautiful glazes? Oh they must be under the mud!

Spring Easter basket

2009-04-22T15:57:00.005-05:00

I completed this sketch in my handmade watercolor journal. I am still very new to watercolor but really enjoy the possibilities it opens up for adding color. My goal is to do larger paintings but for now just the small ink and watercolor creations. I have read everything I can get my hands on about working with watercolor successfully but if anyone has some suggestions as to paint brands, paper or brushes please share what works best for you. I have tried it many times and just cant seem to get the desired results. So I give up!!! Not this time I am going to keep at it until I get something I am happy with.

I am still working on my sign in pages for the international moleskine exchange 68. I am struggling with the concept but keep checking I hope to have a preview posted soon.

Moly_x_68

2009-04-21T09:49:00.006-05:00

I visit several artist blogs frequently for inspiration and motivation. A few months ago I stumbled across the moleskine international exchanges after viewing some of Andrea Joseph's contributions. I have wanted to try it ever since. Here is the web site http://moleskinex12.blogspot.com/ I recently received an invitation to moly 68. Now the hard part begins. The theme for the exchange is "vintage pin up girls". I have researched the subject on the net and I just don"t know where I want to go with mine. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

The exchange usually begins with each artist completing a sign up page for all the artists involved and designing the first few pages so everyone gets a feel for the journal. I hope to have pictures in the next few days.

Until then follow my new adventure at http://moleskinex68.blogspot.com / I am off to get creative!

New journal

2009-04-21T09:20:00.004-05:00

This is in my handmade journal. I am always nervous starting a new journal. I know you shouldnt worry about making the pages perfect but really who wants ugly pages. So I decided to just create a color mixing chart, how could I mess that up.

The tractor was created using pitt pens and cotman watercolors. I am still very new to using watercolor I am more a pen and colored pencil girl!

Handmade Journal & Moleskines

2009-04-21T09:03:00.007-05:00

Here it is! This is my stack of moleskines and 1 handmade journal. I had mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to bind my own journal with heavy watercolor paper and here it is. I found an instruction video at http://milliande.ning.com/ which was very helpful.

Actually I made two journals. They are slightly different. In the first one I used 4 signatures with 4 pages and in the second one I used just 2 pages in 6 signatures. I used illustration board which I covered with brown kraft paper for the covers and handmade college papers for the end papers. I had to improvise as I didnt have any waxed thread in which to sew the signatures together but I found embroiders thread works quite nicely.

I was wanting to try to add watercolor to my sketches but I didnt want an entire journal of wrapped and buckled pages. So I made my own!

ATC's, Moleskine Exchange

2009-04-20T20:30:00.002-05:00

I wanted to show you what I had been up to. I finished several swaps I had signed up for on swap bot. These are all atc's completed in a variety of media, including collage, pen and ink, watercolor and charcoal. I really enjoy these but I found something new I had been yearning to try.

Several weeks ago while surfing the net instead of drawing I stumbled upon the moleskine exchange. I have been drawing in moleskines for a while now and on flickr they have a group entitled international moleskine exchange. You exchange your japanese moleskine ( it opens up to one long piece of buff colored paper)with other artists after they have completed their spread. I wanted to be invited to join a group and guess what it happened! I was asked to join moly_x_68. The group is working on a vintage pin up girl exchange. I hadnt thought much about the subject but after researching it, I am so excited! But I have to get my head all wrapped around it before I get started on my sign in pages and the 1st layout. Check us out at http://moleskinex68.blogspot.com/ Pictues to follow soon. What a great opportunity to meet other artists and make new friends.

Have a great day!

2009-04-08T08:18:00.004-05:00

Just some quick sketches. The cat was painted on acrylic canvas ATC blanks by Strathmore. They are precut and rather pricey but preform very very well. The ATC's were for a swap on swap-bot.

I am looking for artists' who would like to do a moleskine exchange. If you are interested please leave me a comment or email me. If you know how to go about this please let me know. I have looked at several moleskine exchange sites but cant find a forum for arranging new exchanges.

The top picture was a quick one in my moleskine. I am trying desperately to get this sketchbook filled. Today I am going to try binding my own sketchbook with watercolor paper. I will have pictues tomorrow. Have a great day!

2009-03-31T18:13:00.003-05:00

March, April and May are very busy months. As the end of the school year draws closer my art students are getting ready for numerous exhibits. I did this quick sketch to unwind from all the many activites we have going on here at school (including decorating for prom). This is a pencil sketch in my moleskine. I also really enjoy playing with typography hence the lettering doodles. I am trying hard to complete my first sketchbook. I have had numerous sketchbooks over the years but I dont think I have a single one that is completely finished. I have a goal to finish this moleskine!

Urban Art Gallery

2009-03-10T09:14:00.010-05:00

We live in a small western Kansas community. We don't have an art gallery within a few hundred miles but last week a mobile art gallery rolled into town, ON THE TRAIN! These are a few of the images I captured. I like the bold colors, beautiful lines and amazing images.

In His Presence

2009-03-10T08:57:00.004-05:00

I have been very busy this last week. I was asked several months ago to donate a piece for our local horse council benefit night. I finally got the piece finished and yes it is the white horse my blog is named after again. The bridle the horse is wearing is my husband's dads. His dad has alzheimer's disease and even though he doesnt always remember us, things that were special to him are now precious to us.

EDM #132

2009-03-03T00:19:00.003-06:00

Ok this is a bit of a stretch, the challenge was to draw a chain. I drew a key chain in my moleskin. I tried to convey highlights for a more three-dimensional piece.

ATC's

2009-02-27T09:36:00.002-06:00

I created theses for a swap I am involved in. I have been experimenting with mixing pen and ink with pencil. I like the strong contrast in values. The bottom right angel was created using inktense by Derwent.

Word Cloud

2009-02-24T07:51:00.004-06:00

I enjoy using type and images in my work, this site creates a word cloud with endless possibilities, visit http://www.wordle.net/create. The above cloud was created by providing the url to my blog.

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

Urban decay

2009-02-23T08:43:00.006-06:00

This past weekend we traveled to see friends and family. We also took my good barrel horse to lease to a college girl to use at a college rodeo. As we were traveling we passed a group of stationary train cars. These images are from those cars. I always look for rust. It is an appealing texture to me. I am not sure if it is the colors, both warm and complementary or textures (which by now you know I drawn to.) These images were beautiful. I am really enjoying my new Cannon Rebel XSI. These photographs were all taken with this camera.

Zentages again

2009-02-20T11:42:00.004-06:00

Ok I just have been obsessed. This has been so much fun. So now I need to get busy with other work. If you ever get a creative block or just need a release zentangels are really healing. You can experiment with textures/patterns and sometimes it can be a fine art piece in itself. I choose to do all of my zentangles with some sort of recognizable image all so .

Zentangles

2009-02-18T23:20:00.006-06:00

I recently stumbled upon this art form while looking at doodles on flicker. I thought what a wonderful way to experiment with lights, darks and textures. I doodle all the time while on the phone, in a meeting or waiting for an appointment. Now I will doodle with a purpose! The web site http://www.zentangle.com explains its conception, and has a beautiful gallery of images. Flicker also has numerous examples.

These zentangles are on envelopes for a mail art swap on Swap Bot. For those of you not familiar with the site, it is a site where you can swap things with other people both in the United States and Internationally.

"There is a rich history of creative examples sent through the post. The most familiar example is the illustrations on envelopes carrying first day issue postage stamps, which philatelists refer to as "first day covers", but mail art encompasses other decorated envelopes as well as a wide range of other procedures and media such as rubber stamps and artistamps. Mail art is traditionally, though not always, distinguished from simply "mailed art", which is art that does not truly use the postal service but is simply regular art that is sent through the mail." Courtesy of wikipedia.

I originally signed up to exchange ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) but found this doodle swap so decided to give it a try. If any of you would like to exchange artist trading cards I would love to do so. My high school students really enjoy the opportunity to look at others work!

Inspiration

2009-02-18T20:59:00.007-06:00

Marshall Arisman
Artist, Illustrator
His images are dark and animalistic. http://www.marshallarisman.com/

Dave McKean
Artist, Illustrator,
I especially like his CD covers.
http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/

I have been suffering with a migraine for the past two days. So as I sit here unable to create I thought I would share two artists whose works seem to speak to me creatively. As I have mentioned before I focus on lights, darks and texture. I work mostly in a realistic style but am gradually feeling less and less need to include every detail. The layering of images and the abstract texture it creates inspires me.

Wendy Smith

2009-02-12T08:55:00.005-06:00

This is a drawing I just finished. Wendy (the gal in the sketch) had asked me about doing her portrait two years ago. She would often see me and ask how it was coming, but in the last 9 months I think she gave up all hope that I would ever do it. I am going to present it to her at our year end horse banquet this Sunday. I am terrible at keeping secrets! Good thing I only have 3 days or I would probably just take it to her today. I enjoy giving my work to others almost as much as I do creating it.

Update: I think they really liked the drawing. The top photo isWendy and her family receiving the drawing at the year end banquet sunday, February 15th. I sure enjoyed doing it for such wonderful people.

EDM #7

2009-01-20T16:32:00.005-06:00

Here is another EDM Challenge. I really like drawing with pencil. I like the control, the value differences and textures you can achieve by laying pencil on top of pencil. If I had to choose a favorite medium I would probably choose this.

Examples for Student work:

2009-01-15T13:32:00.003-06:00

Well as most of my last posts have been in pen and ink, I decided to show you two examples I completed for my high school kids. The hand painting is tempera on mat board. This is a project I do with my Art I students. We work on color schemes and becoming familiar with mixing paint. This includes mixing values to create a more 3 dimentional looking object.

The second painting is acrylic on canvas board. This is a self portrait inspired by Roy Litchenstein. I love how you can be any age when you create a painting! However I havent found a way to reproduce the benday dots he used in his work to my satisfaction. If anyone has any suggestions has to how to do this, I would really be interested.

Vintage

2009-01-14T20:42:00.002-06:00

This sketch is a collage of old things. And once again this is drawn over a list I had in my moleskine. I am just about to cover all the lists and then I will be faced with clean, blank, cream colored pages. I received my new pens. They are Pilot G-Tech pens in black, brown and blue. This drawing wasnt completed using them but I have started several others and I really like the lines they lay down. They have a very stable, ultra thin point. I would like to know what pen and ink others of you use.

White Horse Ranch

2009-01-11T15:08:00.001-06:00

This is the horse my blog is named after. He is a 12 year old registered paint named "Don's Red Ear Ghost". We call him Ghosty. He has a way to make who ever is aboard look good. And I thank God for that and for the confidence he has given me. This was taken last fall at the Sunflower Futurity Barrel Race in Scott City, Kansas. Photo courtesy of Lone S Photography.

EDM #1

2009-01-11T12:17:00.001-06:00

Thanks to everyone who helped with suggestions about image uploading. I did try more light and a larger depth of field when taking the photographs. It has helped. This is my first EDM challenge and yes it is over a list that was in my moleskine. A little about the shoe, it is from Avon. I really like their shoes. They are very affordable and this particular design is so artistic with the leather carvings.

Just Stuff

2009-01-09T21:51:00.001-06:00

I have had this moleskine for about 2 years. Mostly I have used it to write grocery lists, shopping lists or things I just wanted to remember. So I have decided 2009 will be the year I actually finish a sketchbook. (Even if it is just this little one!) Here is another pen and ink sketch done over the top of a list. I am not pleased with the images of these last two sketches. I dont have a scanner so these are pictures taken with my sony cyber-shot. I would really like to have a cannon rebel. Maybe someday. If someone has suggestions to improve the images of my work please please I am open to all suggestions. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

About Me

2009-01-07T19:18:00.000-06:00

Just a quick sketch in my moleskine. These were all Christmas presents. I really like the pilot G2 pens for writing but prefer a finer line to sketch with. So as recommended by a fellow blogger I just ordered Pilot G-Tec-C4 Rollerball in black, brown and blue. I couldn't find them in the US so they are coming from across the water.

Do You See Me

2009-01-04T14:46:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by. I was excited to share!

This is an example of a student's work. The project is based on Chuck Close's grid work. We work in oil pastels and focus on value only, color doesn't matter. If you use a piece of red transparent plexiglass and lay it over your work it will give you a good idea of your values. You can do the same thing by squinting at your work only now you can really study it and see if the values you thought you were representing really are visible to the viewer. This is a great project to begin working with color as you are only working 1 square at a time and values are all you have to worry about. For those of you looking to be adventurous give it a try.

Hello Old Friend

2009-01-03T22:44:00.002-06:00

Hi, I would like to share my life and art with the world. As a high school art teacher I tell my students just try, I am going to take that advise in 2009. Please come back often to view the new postings. Wishing everyone the best in 2009.