A Journey to My Horse

In my first posting, I talked about my journey from hating to loving acrylics. Exploring this medium has changed my life because I can do commissions that were once not possible for me. It is amazing how one simple ripple in our lives can lead to dramatic differences.

Today was the first day of Ogden's Farmer's Market. I was working all day and took a break to go to Grounds for Coffee. On my way there I ran into the father and sister of a guy I was involved with last year.

Because I was so upset over this person last summer, I felt like life was retreating from me. It seemed as if I was being left behind by something. But rather than succumb to the emotion, I decided I had to make some changes in order to invoke my own life force and let happiness flow back to me. Any thought that I wasn't good enough was pushed away and reconstructed to ask how I could make myself happier. This is one of the main reasons I grew to understand acrylics. I had a motivation to push myself, and found the challenge of a new medium one way towards feeling good about myself again.

This is a picture of the rose I drew which I decided I wasn't going to donate. I didn't want to part with something which worked out so unexpectedly.

Because I found a path which enabled growth rather than stumbling down the downward albeit familiar spiral, I was able to create a stronger self. This morning, rather than feel sad or overwhelmed by seeing people who are strongly connected to an emotional past, it actually felt good to see them. It gave me more energy than my coffee did. While I walked back to my work passing my painted horse, it only drove in the point that had I allowed myself to drown in the hurt of last year, I never would have been able to create "Ben Lomond Blue."

I had only sixteen days to actually paint the horse. Total painting time was 51 hours. Plus I spent a few days prior putting primer over and trying to sand the horse, which was another 10 hours, but the first to last stroke of paint occurred entirely over a period of two weeks and two days (finishing gleefully at two in the morning). I will tell you on behalf of all the artists who have painted one or more horses for Pioneer Days, it is not easy. You are standing for hours and often in odd positions, such as when painting under the head or stomach or sides of the legs.

For anyone here in Utah who hasn't seen these horses, I strongly recommend walking up and down downtown Ogden for some fun. There seem to be most of them up and down 25th Street. This is also a great time because of all the talented artists and vendors participating in the Farmer's Market. You really don't want to just sit at home all day on a beautiful Saturday morning anyway do you? We all need culture in our lives. You know you can always take a belly dancing class while you're at it (see my other blog) . . .

Overall painting this horse has been a great experience for me. I am so happy with the way it turned out and all the cheer leading I received from friends and family. There is so much work put into this celebration of Ogden; it is wonderful to be a part of it.