Painting Horses and Fun on the Farm

"Portrait of Zoe," oil on linen, 14"h x 11"w, copyright Jill Banks 2011

Today was the best day! The pictures tell part of the story...

My class was cordially invited for lunch and painting at Francie Johnson's -- to enjoy her beautiful home and farm with ... about a billion gorgeous, interesting things and horses and chickens and barns that called out to be painted. I spent most of the day following around Zoe, Francie's horse.

Zoe was challenging. She reminded me of some of my moving 100 Faces in 100 Days targets. I tried painting her in her stall where she was intent on a salt lick (vs. me). It was there I decided on this view ... because that's all I had ... and to get it I was holding my canvas while painting to get a better angle. So much for the easel.

"Zoe and Reuben in Hiding," oil on linen, 9"h x 12"w, copyright Jill Banks 2011

We had the most amazing lunch. Fantastic food seems to go hand in hand with art and artists. Here you find people enjoying all life has to offer. We had a smorgasbord with wonderful olives with garlic powder in olive oil (yea!), an amazing sandwich by Carol, and some very good marinated Southwestern cheese by me (Southern Living Best of Barbecue recipe). The food was great, as was the company. I feel lucky a lot. Today was one of those days.

After lunch, I painted "Zoe and Reuben" -- although no one can tell that Reuben exists but me. It could be called horses on the move. I think that I'll paint this again from this study plus photos and see what I come up with. I took very few photos -- and like my experience during my 100 Faces project, when I looked at my subject and then a photo of it, the two bore no resemblance. A good reason to spend more days like today.

"My House," oil on gesso board, 10"h x 8"w, ©Jill Banks 2011

My last painting at Francie's isn't being shown here, but it's intriguing. I painted farm equipment in their ancient barn. I love the start, and idea, ... just needed to pack up and get across the bridge to home before traffic got impossible. So maybe you'll see it tomorrow ... or soon.

When I got home, I decided to do what I'd been wanting to do for awhile. Do a painting of my house. It's so welcoming now with my dad's plantings and Randy's renovations. I set up my easel in the driveway and went to work.

I'm going to keep doing this. Maybe the gnats will pick on someone else. I really want to get out there. Today was a great first step.

I may work on these more ... especially "My House" since I can look at it again... easily. There's much to learn. Fun lessons ahead.

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Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435