Margaret Dent Fine Art

2009-03-04T19:20:00.007-05:00

Puppy Love...

Ever since we lost our dear dog Obi last May, I've felt a void in our home and in our hearts. But my husband was adamant there would be no other dog in our house. Ever...

The kids also have been begging for a puppy but he was unmoving. This past week my son, Chris, has really been focused on getting another dog, to the point of writing a whole list of all the things he would do with it and how he would take care of it. He also asked about the volunteering program our local SPCA has for kids so one day after school we went to get information. And stumbled on a cute little Jack Russell mix female. She was about 2 yrs old and surprisingly quiet for a JR cross surrounded by cages of large and very loud dogs.

When we came home we told my husband about her, just out of interest and not expecting anything. Without a moment's thought he turned to me and said, "Well, go get'er". The kids and I all stopped in our tracks and asked him if he was joking. Nope, he said. We didn't believe him! But he assured us multiple times that he was dead serious.

Within 10 minutes we were all in the car, driving to the SPCA.

Sadly, the JR girl was already adopted. We looked around but did not find anything that was quiet enough for our household and went home disappointed. The rest of the weekend was rather quiet.

On Monday, while at work on a break, I looked at their web site to see if any new dogs have come in and stumbled on a cute little Black Lab cross puppy. Now, we were NOT getting a puppy!!! Oh, but he was so cute, I just had to show my husband. He told me to go check him out.

Right after work I rushed to SPCA again (I'm getting to be on 1st name basis with all the people there ;-)) and asked for Alpine. He was still available. Someone came with a bundle of black fur and put it in my arms. I must admit, I was not prepared and fumbled with my keys and wallet so as not to drop the pup. I looked down at the "bundle" and he looked me straight in the eye, put his nose on my chin and just stayed that way for a good 10 seconds. Then he licked my chin and I felt that last link in the chain tighten around my heart. I was done.

To make the long story short Alpine went home with us that same night. We renamed him Hunter, after our favorite town in Muskoka, Huntsville, but will keep his official name as Alpine Hunter.

Hunter is 8 weeks old and is supposed to be a Black Lab/German Shepherd cross, but he looks about 95% BL, except for his little white patch on the chest.

He's been with us for two and a half days and it's such a joy to have a dog at home again. Hunter came to us a little malnourished, as evidenced by his huge tummy, protruding ribs and scrawny limbs, but this morning when I took him for his pee break I realized he has already changed. His tummy is trimmer, legs straighter and there is a lot more meat on him. He has been very good at not having (too many) accidents at home, as long as we keep to a tight schedule of taking him outside at the right times. At night he sleeps right through with no accidents. He is also a very smart pup. On Tuesday (not even 24 hrs after bringing him home), I came to visit him at lunch time and took him for a walk. He already knew where home was and turned into our driveway even though I planned on going right past.

He's also been meeting new people, neighbors and local pets with confidence and a wagging tail. We've been taking him places and going on rides and he is quiet and interested. I am so proud of him! I'm sure he's going to keep us very busy for the next year or so but I am so looking forward to teaching and training him and just having him around for a long, long time!

Spring is in the air...

2009-02-18T19:38:00.002-05:00

Or at least, it was over the last weekend. Lucky for us Canadians, it was a long weekend - Family Day on Monday - and the weather could not have been nicer after a month long deep freeze. It was mostly sunny and pretty warm. And it sure made me think of Spring.

To celebrate the feeling I decided to try something new - a Landscape! It's a first for me but i know that to continue in Equine Art, I have to perfect that skill as well. Can't get stuck in head studies forever.

So, without farther ado, here is my first landscape:

It's not the most perfect landscape I've ever seen, but for my first, I'm pretty happy with it. 5" x 7" in pastels on pastel board.

2008-10-28T22:41:00.010-04:00

Bad, bad blogger... and LE CADEAU DU CHEVAL

Life has been rather quiet the last few weeks since the summer and I have been rather quiet as well. There has, however been one event, a project, worth talking about. So, why haven't I said anything? Well, to be honest, I still find it hard to believe.

The project, named Le Cadeau Du Cheval (The Horse Gift), is a stunning Mural Mosaic comprised of over 230 panels painted individually by 174 equine artists from around the globe. It's a bit overwhelming still to think my painting is a part of this incredible collaboration even though the project was officially unvailed almost two months ago on September 3, 2008.

Originally displayed at the Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Alberta, the 22 1/2 feet by 18 1/2 feet mural designed by Lewis Lavoie will be a travelling exhibit for the next two years celebrating the horse and human's special relationship with it. So far the mural has been presented at the All American Quarter Horse Congress (www.oqha.com) in Columbus, Ohio and is now on its way to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada where it will be on display December 4-13 this year. I'm not sure where it will go next but I do hope it will make its way to Ontario. The only thing better than participating in this huge project would be seeing it in person.

At the end of the tour the Mural will be donated to a permanent public showcase.

What can I say... I am simply humbled by the fact I was chosen to participate in this project among many talented artists whom I admire greatly. And yes, very proud, that my little painting is included with the other beautiful works to make up the Mural. It has been probably the most special project I have done to date.

But, I'm blabbing too much. Here is my painting, "Let Me Share the Weight" (panel 219):

and the entire Mural, with my panel circled in white:

I still can't believe I am part of this project...

Saying good bye to a faithful friend.

2008-05-27T12:10:00.003-04:00

The trip to Vancouver and back was simply AWESOME but the return home was shadowed by some bad news. Our beloved Mini Schnauzer, Obi Kenobi, has been sick for the past week. The visit to the vet and some medicines had made her better and when I arrived home on Thursday we thought she was on her way to recovery. Unfortunately, she suddenly deteriorated and crashed with kidney failure on Sunday night. On Monday morning we made the only humane decision we could. Our family decided to put her to rest.

Obi was the best family dog anyone could ever ask for. While fiercely protective, she never made a wrong move or threatened to bite anyone. But she let everyone know our family was under her protection with her loud bark and anyone trying to harm any of us would have to deal with her first. With children she was always gentle and eternally patient enduring a toddler's prodding and pushing with the stoic poise of a lioness, never complaining or showing any sign of displeasure.

Two years ago Obi suddenly came down with SARDS (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome). We've never heard of the disease but quickly became fully aware of its devastating effects. In the span of four weeks Obi became totally blind and was constantly prone to bouts of colitis with diarrhea, distended stomach and heavy drinking of water. In the following months she dealt well with her disease and quickly learned the commands for "down" (stepping down the stairs), "up", and "ah ah" (change direction). She was able to go off leash in a protected park and enjoy relative freedom. We could still play her favourite game of "Snakey".

Unfortunately, it would seem the symptoms of SARDS hid an underlying problem with kidneys, to which Schnauzers of her age are predisposed to. When she crashed on Sunday, her blood levels were so high, they indicated total kidney failure and even though we could probably rehydrate her with a hospital stay, it would only mean prolonging her suffering as her kidneys could not be fixed.

Last night we said good bye to our cherished and faithful friend and send her off to the Rainbow Bridge, to play with her pal Yoda. She is free of suffering now, and I hope to see her some day when it's my time to pass.

Farewell dear friend, rest well until we meet again. We love you and miss you...

P.S. I will report on the trip in a few days.

A trip of a lifetime...

2008-02-26T09:52:00.013-05:00

Many of us have our "Life To Do" or bucket list, if I may use the title of a recently released movie. It's a list of things we'd like to achieve and do before packing it in and passing on to the next life. I am no exception. Among things like having a house in Muskoka, making a living from my art, having my own horse, entering a dressage show etc., there is one very special item. Ever since I've come to Canada, it has been my dream to travel across the country on a trans continental train. This Spring my dream will come true.

My mother and her husband, who have been living in Vancouver, BC since 1993, have finally decided to sell their house and join us back in Ontario! And, the good daughter that I am, I promptly offered to help them move back. The plan is for me to ride out on Via Rail train to BC, help them pack their whole household minus a few items, onto a truck and a car, and drive back to Ontario. What an adventure this will be!

Obviously I do not have any photos to show from the trip yet but here are a few to whet my and my readers' appetite, courtesy of Via Rail website:

Just imagine three days and three nights of traveling through the most beautiful country in the world and experiencing probably the most drastic changes in geography and terrain one could squeeze into such a short trip. From Northern Ontario and Lake Superior vistas, through the spring blooming prairies to the Rockies, also awakening to the Spring but still capped with snow, and finally arriving at the Pacific Coast. And I'll be looking at all this with an artistic heart and soul.

Ah, but we cannot forget the pleasure of solitude and peace of having single bedroom all to myself and having my meals prepared for me. Those of us who are working wives and mothers will totally understand this comment LOL.

So, early in the morning on May 8th I'll be boarding a Via Rail train in Toronto with a beating heart, a suitcase full of paper and pencils and 10 TB in memory cards for my digital camera, ready for the adventure of a lifetime!

Total eclipse of the moon.

2008-02-20T22:50:00.011-05:00

It is not something that happens often and is not as spectacular as a solar eclipse, but a lunar eclipse is nevertheless a special and beautiful astronomical event. And, being a Cancer, the Moon is particularly special to me (my ruling planet) and it is in fact my favorite celestial body.

Yesterday's weather was perfect as well. The -20 C temperature (or at least what felt like -20) provided the clear, crisp air while the clouds have obligingly migrated to other areas for a change. The view was perfect! Here are a few images of the progression of the eclipse, taken with my Canon camera, right on my front porch.

This last image is my favorite, due to the strange color shift. It was not planned nor photoshoped and the setting on the camera were exactly the same as in the picture before that one or after.

At this time I had enough. My fingers were numb and the camera batteries were freezing making it increasingly hard to focus the image.

Next eclipse? December 2010! By then I hope to have better camera equipment and night-shooting skills.

Starting to feel like a human being again.

2008-01-18T15:03:00.000-05:00

It is easy to forget how energy and enthusiasm feel when you've been sick for two weeks. The Hamilton area is under assault by some very powerful bugs causing a very bad chest cold which often transforms into tonsillitis or sinusitis. I've been lucky to get all three. Hardly been sleeping in the last couple of weeks and doing very little artwork as a result. But now that I've been taking antibiotics for three days, I'm finally beginning to feel like a human being. Just as I was getting sick, I finished a portrait of a puppy named Joey, who belongs to the owner of Bluemoon Riding Centre where I'm learning dressage. He was done in the same style and technique as the pears. He was an adorable puppy with the softest fur I have ever touched on a dog and is now a very well behaved and extremely friendly and tolerant adolescent, a credit to his owner's training abilities. Now I have two horse commissions coming up.

One is graphite and one in colored pencils, just like Joey. I just love
doing horsey commissions and can't wait to get started but, alas, I have
to wait for some paper and supplies to arrive first.

Some new artwork...

2008-01-16T12:57:00.000-05:00

In the last blog entry I have mentioned that 2007 was a very stressful and frustrating year. Hmmm, in many more ways that one (imagine me rolling my eyes), but I will not delve into details. Suffice it to say, I was not happy with the direction my art and my life in general was going. However, it was suggested to me on number of occasions that maybe it was the "waiting" time, when I was supposed to learn new lessons, gather new skills, and get ready for a new, more exciting stage in my life.

So I tried to think about that and just sit tight and wait while learning what I could. Out of that study and experimentation came two art works I am very happy with, now that they are finished.

The watercolor "Stargazing" frustrated me to no end while I was working on it. Now I realize it was an excellent learning piece and gave me great experience in watercolors. The other, a still life of two pears, was just simply fun to do! I was learning a new technique using colored pencils and water soluble crayons and the results surprised me. It looks like an oil painting! But why don't you see for yourself. Here they are:

Both originals are available for sale, so please, if you like them enough to give them home, contact me for pricing.

2008-01-01T21:07:00.000-05:00

Is it 2008 already?!

It is hard to believe it's been over nine months since I have posted. Me been a bad, bad blogger... This past year 2007 has been one of the hardest in terms of challenges and stress, but it is over now and 2008 is here with new hopes and new possibilities.

So, in that spirit, I would like to wish all my visitors a wonderful, happy New Year 2008. May you fulfill your dreams, follow your soul's path and find joy and love in every day.

To celebrate the first day of the new year, my son C. and I went on a 2 1/2 hr hike to Grindstone Creek at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. It is amazing that C., being only 7 1/2, can easily keep up with a grown up when it comes to hiking and I am glad at least one of my children shares my love and fascination for nature.

RBG is one of our favourite places to roam. If you can ignore the constant drone of the nearby roadways you can almost pretend you are out in the wild. It is the closest one can come to feeling like being in Algonquin Park without leaving the city boundaries.

If you are relatively quiet and know where to look, you can spot a lot of wildlife. It is very much a bird and squirrel paradise. On our hike we saw a tiny vole, scurrying across the snow between clumps of old grass. He moved so fast if you blinked, you missed him. And most other visitors did. Seeing him prompted me to learn more about Voles as they are so similar to our darling hamsters and I found an interesting article from Purdue University. Here is the LINK. They are quite a surprising little creature.

Other residents are all sorts of sparrows, cardinals, mourning doves, blue jays, grey jays, red winged black birds in the summer, gold finches, kingfishers, great blue herons, swans and, something new this past summer, great white egrets. Quite a number of mallard ducks and Canada geese overwinter on the creek and nest there in the spring. A couple of years ago we spotted a mink beside the creek as well as painted turtles and bull frogs. In the summer the place crawls with chipmunks. But we cannot forget little chickadees. Used to humans trekking through their territory and feeding them black sunflower seeds, these guys are virtually fearless and will readily land on your outstretched hand to inspect the goods you may be carrying. What is fascinating is that a couple of times we had downy woodpeckers, who often travel with a flock of chickadees in the winter, sit on our hands and accept a seed as well.

This past weekend C. got another treat. A brave white breasted nuthatch decided to check him out and land on his small hand. C was beaming while the nuthatch took its time to pick the best seed and flew away. Unfortunately mommy wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch the magic moment.

There have also been losses and sad moments in the last few months. On April 25th we lost our pussy cat Yoda. He was my baby and my feline soul mate. His crossing hit me very hard and he left a huge hole in my heart. At almost 15, he was very sick with heart problems and chronic kidney disease, barely weighed 7 lbs and suffered a blocked leg artery in the weeks before his end. He fought bravely so we could have last few days to cuddle and just be together but at last he let me know he was ready. Here is a photo of Yoda in his last months, when he still felt relatively well:

A few weeks after his death, even though I missed him very much and still mourned, I found that I also missed having "cat energy" around me. As it often happens in life, when I was ready, an opportunity arrived. C's friend's mother told me about Animal Welfare Association where her mother adopted a lovely female cat recently. I decided to go and just "see". I should have known...

The first kitty cat they showed me was a tiny brown tabby female with a big name of Viola. She run straight for me with a little "mur mur", rubbed on my legs and hands and proceeded to play. Well, she had me. I looked at all the other cats they had but Viola and her sweet face, soft fur and gentle eyes really stuck with me. I went home to tell my kids and husband about her and they all said, "well, go GET her before somebody else does!"

So we went to see her again the next morning and had all the papers signed an hour later. The kids loved her! She is about 1 1/2 yrs old and already had a batch of kittens who were all adopted out. Because she has some rust-coloured, brownish-red spots on her we also renamed her Rusty. Viola just didn't suit her.

Rusty is a lady in every aspect and a very gentle and loving cat. Even my husband, who is by no means a cat person, likes her. She did not replace Yoda but she has certainly made losing him bearable and has created her own little special spot in my heart.

In the morning she wakes me up gently by standing on my chest and softly
touching her cold nose to mine. Then she backs down, lies down and waits for me to wake up. After breakfast her usual routine involves a good grooming session and then a morning nap on the window in the living room where we put up a special box lined with towels for her so she could watch the birds at the feeder. She certainly seems very happy and I do hope she has a long and blissful life with us.

We also lost a couple of hamsters in the summer and fall. Little Georgie and Squishy both passed away peacefully yet prematurely in their sleep. They just never woke up and we have no idea why. Misty, our Houdini hamster, is still going strong at 1 1/2 yrs old and my daughter D. now has a beautiful, sleek, black hamster named Mittens. C. also got another hamster (we couldn't just leave Squishy's cage unoccupied!) and his (hers?) name is Honey Toast. We're still not sure what gender this hammie is LOL. He is a teddy bear (read: very fluffy and soft with long fur) very light yellowish-beige in colour, hence the "Honey" in the name. Still a big baby, he is very shy but also very smart.
Here is little Georgie, RIP; Mittens, fast asleep in D's hands and good old Misty, getting silly all over her peanut:

Our doggie Obi is also doing well in spite her blindness and is getting better at picking my queues when we go on walks. I can now take her off the leash in a more open area and when she heads for a collision all I have to say is "Ah, ah" and she turns towards me thus avoiding it. Smart Dog! Now, if I could only keep D. from feeding her inappropriate snacks so we could keep her colitis under control. She is ok as long as she eats regular amounts of her regular food, but anything out of the ordinary and there is a big, smelly problem for me to clean up, not to mention a lot of pain and discomfort for Obi!

Animals, what would we ever do without them!

2007-03-12T17:00:00.000-04:00

Juwel

Just finished this portrait of a wonderful dressage horse named Juwel. The particular challenge with this commission was a photo with very little detail. Luckily I have met this gentleman in person a couple of years ago and had some other photos of him I could use. He was a pleasure do draw and I have learned a lot from him.

2007-01-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

January 19th, 2007:

For a long while I thought Winter was never going to show up this year. Christmas came and went with barely a sprinkle of a couple of flakes three weeks before the holidays. The new year greeted us with rains, almost daily, for two weeks. And then, just a couple of days ago, the temperatures finally dropped. But the rain kept coming! Our first Winter storm was an ice storm.

As dangerous as it is for motorists and pedestrians, for an artist an ice storm is a delicious playground of light, colours, shapes and textures.

Just look at these. In the Fall they look brown and ugly but wrap them in a thin sheet of frozen water and they magically become little spiky jewels, encased in a glittering prison. Nature truly is magical. Even in Winter, when most of her children sleep, there is beauty and life!

I took my camera for a lunch break and had lots of fun photographing pretty much anything I could focus my lens on. Of course, there is always a price to pay - frozen fingers! It's hard to operate the shutter with mittens on. But I did get some wonderful shots though. Here are a couple more from that day. You can click on them to view larger images:

The night brings its own bag of surprises. While taking the dog out I was transfixed by an ice-covered tree beneath a street lamp. I decided to play with my camera again and see if I could get some nice photos. Tripod in hand and, again, freezing my buns and fingers off, I walked around our neighbourhood attracting many strange stares from passers by. My neighbours watched me from behind tightly pulled curtins. You'd think by now they'd be used to my "photoshoots". This first image is of a tree just a little down the street from our house. I feel I captured the magical look of it pretty well.

And then the light post and hydro cables, with tiny icycles hanging from them, attracted my attention:

Boy, I'm going to miss this in July when temperatures reach 30s (C) and humidity is 100%!

2006-12-07T13:02:00.000-05:00

Beassell or Rugle?
On the scale of cuteness, this one is about 12.

A Jack Russell Terrier / Beagle cross, Cody had enough energy for two puppies when I met him. He provided ample entertainment for a group of parents "watching" the longest t-ball game of the season last August (over two hours) and he was a lot more fun than the game! The photo for this coloured pencil drawing was taken in one of the rare moments when he took a short break to look at his admirers and drink some water.

This was one of the fastest portraits I have ever drawn and I enjoyed it tremendously. Coloured pencils definitely are a very versatile medium and I'm loving them more and more.

If anyone would like to have their puppy, dog or cat immortalized in a portrait such as this, please visit my website for information.

2006-11-29T14:18:00.000-05:00

More Misty!

Our whole family is becoming enchanted with our little furball! She is a joy to watch and interact with and gets used to new situations very quickly. We played with her again last night but it was late so we made it short. Wouldn't you know it, she refused to go back to her cage. I guess she wanted to stay out longer. So we obliged her by putting her in her ball and letting her explore the bedroom while my son was getting ready for bed. We also took a few more pictures (though it's hard because she moves so fast!) and a little movie of her washing herself.

I am on a mission to get a picture of her stretching. She looks absolutely adorable when she does that. One hind leg outstretched behind, one fore leg stretched up and out in front, and those scary looking teeth! Here are a few more pictures.
The one-eyed hamster! AKA, Misty washing herself. She's got her ear pulled right down with her "hand".
And here she is, cuddled in her "dad's" hand...
...and doing the "let's walk the hands" routine.

For a video of Misty washing herself, click here: http://tinyurl.com/yap6yt

2006-11-27T20:48:00.000-05:00

Newest fur baby.

Ok, maybe not baby but grandchild. She isn't "mine", she belongs to my 6 yr old son. Her name is Misty and she is a grey and white Teddy Bear hamster. We just got her three weeks ago and we've already had so much fun. My son picked her out of a litter of 6 or 7 hamsters, sleeping in a corner, barely visible. He made a great choice!

She is the cutest hamster I have ever seen, very gentle, personable, inquisitive... Well, she's just a little sweetheart and we all love to play with her. Here she is:

2006-11-15T13:34:00.000-05:00

Black Ice
Friesian Painting Finished.

Here is the finished painting.

2006-11-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

Hair, hair, beautiful hair...
A Friesian painting.

Three years ago I took a photograph of a classic Friesian stallion who has completely captivated me and his image has hounded me ever since. This summer I finally decided to paint him even though he has an extremely long, flowing, wavy mane. Challenging to say the least. So, without farther ado, here is the work in progress (WIP):

Image 1:
I have started with outlining the horse with liquid frisket so I can do the background without splashing colour on him.

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Image 2:
Starting with a background first. Here is what I did: I wet the paper and then applied a very thin wash of light blue to the whole background. As the paper lost some shine, I dropped concentrated paint in Burnt Umber (BU) and Payne's Grey (PG) with a bit of Ultramarine Blue (UB) added I believe. Both of these steps have been done with the help of my kids so it has been a group effort ! I then gave the paint some time to "mingle" and sprinkled with ordinary table salt. Then left it to do it's thing. I was quite surprised by the effect I got but also learned, in playing before doing the actual painting, that different papers will give different effects with the salt. This should be fun to explore...

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Image 3:
Starting to work on the body. The black I'm using is not truly black straight from the tube but instead a mixture of Burnt Umber (BU), Payne's Grey (PG) and a bit of Ultramarine Blue (UB). I wet the paper with clear water, wait for the shine to start disappearing and then add the colour. It often involves a lot of "pushing" the pigment around the paper, adding more in some places, taking away in others.

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Image 4 & 5:
More work done on the bum. There are probably good five or six layers on the hindquarters. Also starting to work on the trunk and the leg.

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Image 6:
The body of the horse is almost finished and I guess it's time to start working on the mane. First of all I wet the whole neck and dropped some colour, BU and UB, separately, into areas on the mane. The reference photo shows me lovely changes of colour and I want to include that in the painting. Whether I'll be successful or not, we'll have to see.

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Image 7 (a & b):
I took a script brush and, with the same mixture I used for the body but diluted a bit with water, started putting in what I call directional hairs. I try to do them random here and after a while, they seem to develop patterns of their own which then helps me to paint the rest using the pattern as a sort of a grid. Most of these "hairs" will not really show up in the final painting, they are just guidelines.

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Image 8:
Here I turned the painting upside down and started painting from the tip to the root, one section at a time. Once I complete this part I will be putting washes of colour to darken the whole mane. I'm not totally happy with it at this point. It looks too even and "arranged", but I think the final washes will help with that as I will be able to sculpt it more.

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Image 9 (a & b):
I have finished painting the base hairs and included a closeup of the brushwork.

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Image 10:
In this image I started adding washes of the same mixture I used on the body starting to sculpt the mane a bit more so it doesn't look so flat and "artificial". I will be probably cheating in the end by adding some highlights to the mane with opaque white mixed in. I'm really bad at saving them as I go at this point and I also think i will have a better idea of where they should go for maximum effect once the whole mane is done. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it .

There are at least 3 layers of colour on this already.

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Image 11:
It may not look like I've done much but there are three or four layers added since last update. I have added some BU and UB to the mane again as it disappeared under all the dark layers and kept adding more colour in appropriate places to make the mane a bit more 3D. I've also put two more washes on the head and started modeling it a bit. There is still a lot more to do but I also feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I love this stage. Just have to be careful not to rush now to see it done. One thing that still frustrates me is that it seems no matter how many layers I put on, it never seems to be dark enough. I was even tempted to pull out the tube of Velvet Black last night and touch up the shadows in the mane, but stopped myself.

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Image 12:
I think I can almost call the mane done. Couple more layers in the darkest parts plus a few discrete highlights added with Chinese White seem to have done the trick. Another wash put on face. It's almost there!

2006-10-20T21:44:00.000-04:00

Our Ying-Yang tree.

During the 10 years I have lived at our house our front yard tree has failed to impress me. My husband ensured me it's a "red maple" and *should* have lovely, bright red foliage in the fall. It never delivered. Most of the seasons we may get a few yellowish or brownish leaves stained with a bit of red. Some years we even had a definite reddish hue over the front of it, but it was always somehow flat and mediocre.

I've searched books and internet resources to confirm that it was in fact a red maple and found I could not identify it. I assumed it must be a hybrid and gave up on my expectations of having a striking, flaming-red tree in the front yard.

It was teasing me all these years. In early September first a tiny branch turned brilliant red. Soon many more followed. I dared not hope so I didn't look at it. Didn't want it to know my expectations were growing again. When all other trees in our area were solidly green, our tree was planning a show.

The leaves didn't turn brown and fall as they often did in the past. They remained and in turn infected more of their brothers and sisters with the crimson fever. One day I finally decided it was safe to take a picture of it. Only then did I realize our tree has turned into a Ying Yang symbol.

2006-09-12T12:35:00.000-04:00

"He wasn't there this morning..."

Roadtrips are one of my family's favourite pasttimes and even with the high prices of gasoline, we still indulge every few weeks. My camera is always handy because I KNOW there are real gems to be seen along the road. Last weekend was no different.

On the way back from Wings of Paradise Monarch tagging we drove by a farm tucked away between copses of woods. Had I not looked over and, by habit, checked for equines in the field, I would have missed this little guy. As I busily snapped photos, the farmer came out to look at the little foal hiding behind his mom. I commented on the cuteness factor and he smiled and answered, "He wasn't here this morning..." So, it was a double surprise.

I have very few opportunities to see donkeys not to mention their newborn offspring so it was a wonderful opportunity to gather lots of reference photos as well as just simply enjoy looking at his cute face, long ears and soft body with zebra stripes on his legs, just above the tiny hooves. He will definitely end up as a subject!

Speaking of butterfly tagging - what an interesting concept. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico in the fall arriving around November. It is only their second or third generation offspring that comes back to Ontario in the spring. And how exactly would you "tag" a tiny, delicate butterfly?

We went to see this done to answer that question. it is done with a tiny sticker! The information on the sticker contains a serial number, telephone number, website and e-mail address to contact should someone find the butterfly.

After tagging the butterflies are put into tiny triangular boxes in the shape of half a sandwich made of hard paper and kept there until release time. Most of the visitors (all of the kids) got one "butterfly sandwich" and got to release them all at once. It was quite a sight! I did take a picture but it didn't turn out very well. The dark specks you see are the butterflies but there were many more.

There was one more thing we found on that road trip: signs of Fall. It was a chilly day making me think of November but cool days are not unusual in early September. Here and there a tree in full autum splendor popped out and the fields and pastures were full of goldenrod and wild asters. Time to pull heavy sweaters and coats out of storage and stock up on hot chocolate!

2006-07-26T11:19:00.000-04:00

Margaret Dent Fine Art

2006-07-25T22:13:00.000-04:00

Humbled again!

There are times in every rider's life when we think our knowledge is extensive and simply become overconfident. There is nothing like a horse to humble us and return us to reality. For me today was that day.

I have not ridden since June but had a make-up lesson scheduled tonight. Driving to the barn I was not nervous (which is a good thing as I am not a confident rider yet) and even though I wasn't sure how it was going to feel riding again after a month's break, I hopped in the saddle and felt like I've never left. Until I actually started riding...

Yeap, I got humbled all right. Couldn't find my balance in the saddle, kept leaning too far forward, flopped all over in rising trot, could not for the life of me SIT the trot and my toes, when my feet weren't bouncing all over the place, were pointing west and east!... I didn't even attempt canter. And, to add insult to injury (or injury to insult), I badly rubbed... well, let's just say female dressage riders will know exactly what I mean...

I felt like a complete fool and to think that I was actually considering part-boarding a horse. Ha, the likes of me shouldn't be allowed within a mile of non-school horses! I thank God for my coach Allison who patiently guided me to relax, lean back and just LET GO! It must have been painful for her as well.

I know we all have bad rides and they should be appreciated so that we can really see the difference when we have a great one. But really! Days like this make me think I should just stick to drawing horses...

P.S. In the photo is Clyde, my teacher today, with my daughter on board.

2006-07-13T12:56:00.000-04:00

Back to Graphite...

My newest portrait commission is of this lovely, gentle golden lab named Loki. I had the priviledge of meeting Loki in person. I prefer to do it this way if it's possible. I can "read" animal's character quite well from photographs, but nothing really compares to meeting them and being able to touch and interact with them.

Loki is a sweet, gentle guy but don't let his relaxed attitude fool you. He is also very protective of his family and friends. Drawing him was a lot of fun. It would seem that white and black hair is the hardest to render in any media so I spent a lot of time making sure he looked just right! But all the work was worth it. I am very proud of this one!

2006-06-23T14:55:00.001-04:00

All done!

And here he is: Cratic, a Dutch Warmblood gelding, my old bud. It's always fun to draw your friends, be they human or animal, but there is always that fear that we won't get that special look and character. We are so acustomed to looking at them we often don't truly see the features that are there and instead let our brain take over and "tell" us what it *thinks* is there.

It looks like I didn't need to worry about it this time. Cratic looks very much like his old self - a sweet, gentle soul with a touch of timidity in his eyes. He is 22 years old this year and I do hope he is enjoying a great retirement.

2006-04-11T13:08:00.000-04:00

Things are going pretty well inspite of paper problems. This Canson MiTientes may be a great paper, but I'm using the wrong side. Or the right one... In other words, the side you are supposed to use (textured) is too darn textured for my liking and creates a lattice-like effect in the drawing that I definitely do NOT like! It's impossible to fill in all the little holes unless I want to sit and fill each one at a time while sharpening the pencil every 5 seconds. Nope. Luckily this is only a practice piece so it doesn't really matter, but I have definitely learned my lesson. Next time I'll use the smooth side!

Here is Cratic as he looks now.

2006-04-11T12:45:00.000-04:00

IT'S TIME TO ADD SOME COLOUR!

Once the underpainting is done it's time to start adding real colour. This is the scary stage. The monochromatic drawing looks so good, I'm worried it will get screwed up. But here goes.

Most of the time I use Terra Cotta with some Dark Brown and Cream for hightlights occassionally adding some white to the brightest highlights. Once I put down a good layer, I blend it with a colorless blender and add more layers.

2006-03-30T12:49:00.000-05:00

Colour my world!

New Projects!: I am currenlty working on a graphite portrait of a golden lab and in the middle of this portrait I realized I needed some colour in my life. So I started working on another piece simultaneously. It's a little practice portrait in colored pencils of an old friend Cratic - a very talented and beautiful Dutch Warmblood gelding, retired from competetive Dressage now, whom I used to work with many years ago. This will be a WIP (Work in Progress) type of post, so check back and see how Cratic goes.

Here is the reference photo of Cratic and two updates to the drawing. Prismacolor pencils on Canson MiTientes paper, textured side.

~ * ~

Starting the underpainting layer with only two pencils: Indigo Blue and White.

~ * ~

Most of the face has been blocked in, but, as you can see in the photo, he has a halter on and it is throwing strange shadows on his face so I had to stop and look for some "naked" pictures of Cratic to figure out how the side of his face is structured. Come back for an update!

2005-11-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

Sunday, December 4, 2005
Last day of racing at Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, Ontario.

Some exciting news! Following the last race of the season, myself and three other artists (Linda Shantz, Dorothy Wintle and Debbie Goldring) will hold a small Art Exhibition at the Woodbine Club during the members' reception.
What can I say other than I am very much excited about this opportunity. What better location for equine art than one of the biggest race tracks in Canada?

There will be some beautiful art available for sale from all the ladies and I will feel very honoured to meet Dorothy and Debbie (I already know Linda and she is a super gal as well as an exceptional artist!). There will also be an opportunity to take photos of the last races, weather permitting. I will post some of them here and relay my experiences, so come back next week!

Margaret.

2005-11-30T14:35:00.001-05:00

Welcome!

Many a time I find creating art also has other creative side-effects and often sparks interesting insights on human nature and psychology of creativity, procrastination and mental (or artistic) blocks. I often feel compelled to share these thoughts in hopes of helping other artists but lately I've realized these "musings" may also be helpful and interesting to the general public. Thus this blog was born.

It will not only contain my ideas on creativity but also up to date happenings and news in my artistic neck of the woods. I hope you enjoy reading this blog and I hope it will innitiate some interesting thoughts.

Thank you for visiting,

Margaret.