Happy mother's day!

horse simile from Homer's Iliad

'As when some stalled horse who has been corn-fed at the manger breaking free of his rope gallops over the plain in thunder to his accustomed bathing place in a sweet-running river and in the pride of his strength holds high his head and the mane floats over his shoulders; sure of his glorious strength, the quick knees carry him to the loved places and the pasture of horses...'
Iliad 15.263 (trans Lattimore)

artworks for sale

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be making my way into the 21st century and getting my very own Paypal account. Which means that my artworks and limited addition prints will soon be available from this very site. There's still nothing quite like an exhibition in the flesh, but I have a whole stable of imaginary horses looking for a home and I feel a little bad for keeping them locked up so long. We all know how horses HATE to be locked up (sound of repeated hoof banging on stable door). I will offer a few at a time, but enquiries are always welcome about any of the work on this site as originals or limited edition prints.
It's also well past time for my next breed in the Australian Horse series. Stay posted!

Arabian Mare - to good home only!

google art - the unicorn in captivity

The Google Art Project brings together a number of very fine museums to showcase some of their paintings in beautiful close-up reproductions.
I thought I'd link to this unicorn - given the horsey nature of this blog - not that the traditional unicorn was all that horsey - having more in common with a goat (not to mention a lion's tail).
To marvel at the amazing vegetation and the elegance of the unicorn - just zooooom in ...
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/met/the-unicorn-in-captivity-94001
For my thoughts on the symbolism of unicorns in general: http://opheliakeys.blogspot.com.au/2009/01/inspiration-unicorn.html

Dressage Junkie: Erik Herbermann Clinic August 2008

A great post describing an Erik Herbermann clinic. He wrote a really wonderful book called Dressage Formula - highly recommend it:

Dressage Junkie: Erik Herbermann Clinic August 2008

stuff riders say

This is an ad by SmartPak, but it did make me laugh out loud. Or maybe snort is a better word. As you can see - there is not much art being produced right now. Soon, I promise...

horses bring us down to earth

They say that princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom. Ben Jonson

Prince Harry

children and those sad sad horse stories

I put up a post on my other site and realised it was maybe more appropriate for this one:
http://opheliasfiction.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/children-and-those-sad-sad-horse-stories/

cafe exhibit

Have taken some horses out for a breath of fresh air. They're hanging at Piccolo Meccanico, Diamond Creek. I think they're much happier there. Only one of them was out at home (the chestnut). And I think it was lucky I took him off our wall when I did - the nail had been steadily working free and would no doubt have fallen in the early hours and woken the baby. Nothing like a horse falling off the wall to wake a baby...

cat drawing

My little one is sleeping next to me, so I grabbed the opportunity for a drawing. Just need to keep the Blue Lake watercolour paper within arms reach at all times!