Marina Petro ~ Fine Art: Horse, Equine Oil Painting 'Dreamer' by Marina Petro

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Horse, Equine Oil Painting 'Dreamer' by Marina Petro

Dreamer

16 x 20

Oil painting on stretched canvas

SOLD

Following the sage advice of Theresa Brown of Art Career Experts, who I hold in the highest regard, I've decided to paint horses...or at least, add them to my creative repertoire. After learning that I lived in Saratoga Springs, NY, home of one of the oldest and beautiful racetracks in the country with a very exciting and bustling summer racing season, she strongly suggested I paint horses.

I responded with a surprising level of enthusiasm and simultaneously, a surprising level of intimidation and resistance. It was a very difficult painting. I missed my late teacher terribly during the entire process. I had to figure everything out by myself...just like I used to do before this once in a lifetime mentor appeared in my life to guide me.

In any case, I am delighted with the finished painting. I have another on the easel. I've gotten through the more difficult passages and am now painting the background. It is slow going...and I am still resisting, but I suppose that's part of the deal and I continue to move beyond my resistance.

Once I paint a few equine portraits, I will flex my creative muscles further, and attempt the racers...stay tuned. I'm planning to go to the track and take pictures this summer....and hopefully tag along with an equine photographer if I can persuade one of them to allow me to shadow them on occasion.

As a sidenote, in Chinese Astrology, I am the horse. In regular Astrology, I am an Aries. Saratoga Springs is an Aries city...for what all that is worth. As a child, my greatest passion was horses...so this is bringing an early love, which was squelched for lack of opportunity growing up in the city, back into my conscious awareness again...is that too cool? I've also made friends with a horse I call 'Shaggy Girl' who hangs out up the road here. I give her carrots on my way into town and on my way home. She is shaggy...really shaggy...my heart went out to her. Perhaps I'll tell that story at another time...

Today's Quotation: "The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there."

-Monica Baldwin