Today:Equine art blog; working on why readers are unsuccessful in commenting on my blog.

I would talk about Equine art and the Working Artist exhibit in Kennebunk, but first of all, my apologies to anyone/everyone who has attempted to post a comment to my blog. I have been at a loss as to what to do, have tried changing a setting or two; that didn't work. Now to get in touch with Google. I'm sure they can resolve it. I am really sorry for the inconvenience to all!

After checking all my settings, reading info from Google Help, I don't see why your comments should not get through. Please do give it another try. If I get more of those Mail Subsystem Delays/Failure notices, I will find more resources and get this corrected.
Meanwhile, feel free to e-mail me at hckclb@gwi.net with your comments on what you have read in my blogs. I will answer all that do actually have to do with the blog subjects. (No ads or offers of work-from-home; get-rich-quite-fast; free computers,etc. In short, no mass-mail, please.)

It has got to be frustrating to send comments that never make it through. I feel for us all!
I want to answer you!

Meanwhile #Two: what an ideal day to work on the stuff I just talked about. It sure beats mowing the lawn in the rain, which is what I would be doing if I went out there now. I love trying to find a solution to our (well, MY) technical difficulty here. I will love it more when I succeed.

Yesterday, a little trip to a therapeutic riding facility in my area, for a short question/answer session with the owner and program director, also one of the occupational therapists. Their answers were very helpful. I need this information so that my novel for middle-grade readers will be credible. The lessons I watched afterward were so interesting and truly uplifting--
I love seeing the students interact with the horses, both when they are grooming and when they are riding. The whole process gives the riders so much joy!
On the way home there was time to take a few photos of barns. We are having a very late haying season here---too much rain throughout June, not enough sunny days in a row (at least 3 are needed, from the time hay is mowed to the time it's baled, to allow the hay to dry properly.If it is not completely dry when baled, once it's been in the barn awhile, spontaneous combustion can occur, destroying everything in many cases. It isn't worth it to take the chance.)

But, though I would love to see good haying conditions, I have to say the tall grasses were pretty in their range of colors from pale green to light gold, with here and there some red-topped grass
(seedheads, probably---Oh No). Sprinkled through, and sometimes in thick clumps near the road, were black-eyed Susans, daisies and purple vetch, which is a sort of vining plant with oval, elongated leaves and a graceful arc of small purple, thin petals. I love purple vetch.
All of this made for good long-shots with lots of meadow in the foreground, the barns far back, and closest of all, the random clumps of flowers in all those colors. A beautiful foreground, even if it all ought to be dry, baled, and stored by now. Got some good closeup shots of the barns, too.

The moods of the seasons affect the barns' appearance of course. Winter shows them stark, with good shadows in early morning or at about 1p.m., when shadows on snow turn purple for awhile.
In early spring they still look stark, but with the interest of new grass beginning to show green among the tan longer grasses and patches of snow.
Autumn puts them among trees with fall colors, and the skies are amazing, especially in October and November, in shades of steel blue, bright blue, with variations of grey from deep blue-grey to lighter, to cream.

Sunny Days = High Energy Level

Whether the sun is out or NOT (mostly NOT, this summer,) there has had to be a high energy level. Work is ongoing, getting ready for the Artists & Artisans Show, August 15, in Lovell, Maine (New Suncook School); also for Fryeburg Fair, October 4-11, Fryeburg, Maine.

Reference photos, sketches and nice new clean paper have taken over the place of framed original art and prints, which now are hanging in the Dyer Library, Saco, through this month.

I'll finish two commissioned pieces before starting anything else. And the last chapters of the novel for middle-grade readers are critiqued and on their way back, so then I'll revise the first half of the book, and get it sent---then work on the chapters just coming back, get them into shape, whatever that shape has to be, and out they go again. Then, out goes the whole book for a final critique. Then, one more revision, following any suggestions sent by the instructor.

It's great to have the whole thing filed on the computer. Everything is so much easier than it would otherwise be! I love working on this book, and not only because the computer is involved. Along with all of the challenges, and probably somewhat because of them, this is a fun story to write. How fortunate that I have this nice course to take, so I can learn as I go, make corrections, and come closer all the time to getting it right. I can't wait to get these chapters back! While waiting, in between drawing sessions, I'll work on a short story.

So, see? Whether the sun shines or the rain falls, energy comes from somewhere, and things get done. I can't imagine what the alternative would lead to!

Working Artists Show

King Rocky-pencil-by Pat Wooldridge
Just one of the pieces I will be exhibiting in the upcoming Kennebunk Library "Working Artists Show"

It's so great to be included in the MEIC Working Artists Show. Until I was contacted about this, I hadn't thought about what the the term Working Artist might mean. Certainly I didn't dwell on the fact that I have always held some sort of job---or jobs---while also creating art, and that I didn't have an outside money source other than my jobs. I just kept on combining art, and work, writing and family, volunteer work and everything else, into my days, finding ways to meet deadlines whenever they appeared.


When right in the middle of it all, there isn't much time to think about how, or if, it will all get done. We just keep on doing it. And now there's a show about it which will run for the first two weeks of July in Hank's Room at the Kennebunk Free Library. There's a whole list of Working Artists from the Maine Illustrators Collective on their blog http://www.mecollective.blogspot.com/who will be participating. What fun!


The original artwork I would like to mention here is titled "Show Day!". These are Belgian show horses from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. They appear at Fryeburg Fair each year. I took the reference photo while they were competing in the Four Abreast class at the Fair. This work can be seen on my website under Black and White Art. www.WooldridgeEquineArt.com

WORKING ARTISTS SHOW runs July 2nd-July 31st

Artist's Reception is in Hank's Room, Kennebunk Free Library
July 8th 4:30-7:30pm The public is welcome. Come see my work!

There's lots going on now that the season for art shows and exhibits is on us. A friend and I registered for a Black and White Show at the Freeport Square Gallery, Freeport, ME, and delivered our work on a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. In the morning she brought her photos over and I showed her how to cut mats, and mount and frame her work. She did fine!
Not knowing how long that might take, and wanting to give her all the time she might need, I did my matting and framing a couple of days before. I had one request: could we stop somewhere if we saw a horse farm where the horses were in pastures near enough the road to take a couple of photos, and would she take the photos of me if I stood with my drawing board and pencil, working. This was to go with my bio for another show.
On the way to Freeport we saw a nice horse farm with white fences, stopped and got permission to take the photos. They came out good. She's a good photographer.
Then, off to Freeport. Once our work was checked in, we went to Starbucks, across the street and to the South, a little way, and bought coffee. It seemed as though we ought to celebrate a little, since this is her first-ever show, and it's my first real gallery show in years and years. I hardly ever drink coffee anymore, so there were two milestones in one day.
The Artists' Reception was last Sunday afternoon. We were very pleased with how our things (3 pieces for each of us) were hung. We saw them across the room and to the right, as soon as we walked in! Loved it! The show runs until mid-June.
I believe I may make up for lost time, somewhat, as the next show, the one that requires the photos to go with the bio, is called "Working Artists", exclusively featuring artists who work at a job besides doing their art; who have not received grants or inheritances, or money from spouses or relatives. I qualified for this, and was put into one of the last two available spots. It's just a good thing I didn't second-guess, and procrastinate, and end up completely out of it.
I have been working quite hard on NOT putting things off; being on time wherever I have to be; and not scheduling SO MUCH in a day that I can't possibly get to where I am supposed to be without rushing unbelieveably. Maybe it's working.
The Working Artists show starts the first of July and runs until mid-July. It will be in Hank's Room, at the Kennebunk Free Library. I will love being in this show.
And, in August there is the Saluting Norman Rockwell Small Town America show, held in the Kennebunk Town Hall. Each artist will create a piece that has been inspired by one of Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers. Just pick one, be able to say why it is inspiring, and do the artwork in any medium desired. The cover isn't to be copied exactly, but there should be some connection to Mr. Rockwell's original. I'm really looking forward to that as well.
There will be a great Artist's Reception at the Town Hall, too.
Besides all of this, I've been learning more about marketing my work, from a motivational marketer named Robert Imbriale. He isn't your average person-of-this-sort. In fact, I have never heard of a person in this profession who is quite like him. He is direct, very helpful, never pushy, and on top of it all, he is kind. How about that. A very good combination. To hear him, you could go to BlogtalkRadio.com/motivational. Give his one-hour show a try; see what you think.
Also, I follow Jay Bennett's blog. He is in the same health and wellness network marketing company I am in (see my LinkedIn site for information about that). Jay has good advice. I love this company. It's by far the kindest company (can there BE such a thing? Yes there can) that I have ever seen.
I have been using their products for over three years. I feel 20 years younger; my sleep has improved, and so has my energy level; my thinking is clearer, too. There's more, but if I keep on, people will think it's too good to be true.
With all of that going on, there are still plants to set out, in pots and in my small gardens, and the lawn to mow, and before much mowing goes on, it will really be the best idea to rake up all the bits and pieces of little branches from the last minor windstorm. There are still a few from winter, too. I know---but look at what-all has been going on. Add to it, a going-away party for a grandson; a graduation party for a granddaughter; visits from another granddaughter and grandson.....two visits in two weeks! Even before they were married and moved away, to some degree, they STILL lived an hour away and didn't get down here much, since they were in high school, with a VERY long bus ride morning and afternoon, so the second time they were here, we took a trip around the area, visiting pretty spots they had never seen, and they loved it. I'm glad. My grandson, Nick, lives in California now, so he has some new memories of Maine to take back with him.
Add to that, a weeks-long visit from an old friend from Scotland. She stays with her daughter while in the States, every few years, and we've had such fun; I've picked her up and we have gone up and down the coast visiting familiar beaches and harbors, and scouting out new ones, and taking photos, making time along the way for tea and raspberry scones at a little shop, for a lunch together when she first arrived, at her daughter's home. Then a couple of lunches here, with those little rides around the beaches, etc., and each time, toward late afternoon, a movie on DVD here at the house.
The first time it was "Mrs. Palfrey At the Claremont" with Joan Plowright and Rupert Friend, both of whom have received awards for their performances in that movie. The next time, we saw "The Enchanted April"---Joan Plowright, Alfred Molina, and others equally good. Give these movies a look. You'll be glad you did. They're a pleasant change from a lot of what's out there lately. A quiet movie now and then (or maybe even all the time!) is a good thing. Calms us down. Makes us laugh. Lets us breathe and relax. Tea and a treat go well, too.
As for me, I will get calm, laugh some, breathe and relax once I've worked more on the final chapters of my book for young readers (ages 8-12). I like the way it is going, thanks to my instructor at the Institute of Children's Literature. What good courses they put together!
Okay. I'm off to take advantage of it!

The sun is out, which makes a great day even better. It's been awhile since I've written anything here. Preparations for art shows are taking up quite a bit of time. There are three new ones coming up this summer; one, showing Black and White art, will be in Freeport, ME, in June. Another---Working Artists, will be in Kennebunk in July, and I'm working on a piece for a really fun show (does that phrase remind you of Ed Sullivan in any way??) that will take place in Kennebunk in August.
Paperwork, and figuring out how to send jpegs and tifs and all that, as attachments, takes up some time. Especially the jpeg or tif attachments, most of which, with me, do not succeed for awhile. Eventually, one way or another, though, they do. So if you also have problems getting these things to go where they're meant to, you are not alone.
The art website is still being updated, though you can get to it without a problem. The first page has a lot of written info, so it takes some patience to scroll down to the buttons, but come and take a look at the artwork, and keep at the scrolling for just a second or two, and the buttons are at the bottom of the page as usual. Soon they will be at the left hand side also. Much easier for you, then, and a load off my mind for your sake.
Time is valuable! I have to say, I didn't think about the time element when I had my webmaster put that ESSAY (you might as well say!) where it is. I wrote it, asked her to place it there, and for the time being there it is. I will see what to do about it.
This is one gorgeous day, with all that sun! Sometime in midmorning I plan to take a break from artmaking, writing, and meeting deadlines, and get out into the springtime, if all I do is stand there and look across at the neighbors' lilacs next door and the ones down the street, and at my own violets coming up in unexpected places wherever the wind blew the seeds last fall. It's always interesting to see where some of them end up.
A little break in the middle of things makes for more energy afterward. Come to think of it, a walk will be even better than just standing there!

Do have the best of all possible days!

Although for several years I have had an art website, I hadn't yet listed it on my blog because it is being changed bit by bit, and all for the better. It just occurred to me, why ISN'T it listed? It has lots of good material on it, why wait 'til it's perfect to let more people know about it than already do? On thinking more about it (probably a dangerous thing), nobody's perfect, why would a website be? Life is change. If that sounds trite, okay. Trite sayings are around because they're true. Is that sentence a Trite Saying by now?
After all, the site shows improvement already, and this way everyone visiting will get to see more changes as they occur---kind of like a construction project which, I guess, it is. You'll see it at the head of the Link List www.WooldridgeEquineArt.com
Today's entry is short. Yes. When the sun is out, all kinds of after-the-winter yard work gets started, causing more ambition, so indoor chores--No! No! Projects! Artwork, even---are also finished and more are set up, ready to go. Things just roll right along; a lot of doing, no time for writing. Enough said. I would say 'have the best of all possible days', but now it is evening. 'Good Evening' doesn't seem to work, either.

It's spring---isn't it? There are 3 small clumps of daffodils (only planted last year) with shoots that are about 3 inches tall right at the edge of where the blue spruce branches spread out, easily seen from the living room window. Plenty of crocus are blooming in yards up and down the street, just not here in my yard yet. They're in the plan for next year. Blue and yellow ones. (How blue are crocus, anyway? Maybe they are more purple than blue. That's okay. It looks like Spring is going to take, here in Maine, now that the flowers are actually UP.

Some of my friends are still visiting in Florida. I can see where Florida could become a winter habit for many. For me, I don't mind the challenge of winter (especially now that it's gone for another few months). Partly, I guess, it's the feeling we get when we go out ahead of a storm, to do all possible errands while the traveling is still GOOD, and have done everything, even filling up the gas tank (!) and we get home again just as the first flakes start falling. Or even better, sleet, which REALLY adds to the feeling that we got away with something.

Actually, speaking for myself, it's just that I have never liked driving on slippery roads, not even a little bit. For years I put up with it, we all do, but now, working from home more than ever before, I have more of a choice. Besides, my car will last longer. I like my car, so there's that to consider. I like all my cars, some more than others. My last car was a good one. It looked good, ran fine, and certainly got me where I planned to go. By last year it was turning 20 years old, and the question does arise..... Just then another car I found looked pretty good. It is 10 years younger, too. The 20-year-old is still going strong for the girl who bought it. She lives in town, so I get to see that car coming and going now and then. It's the first car I've parted with that I've ever been able to say that about, though I remember them all.

If nothing else, maybe the quick before-the-storm trips are sort of a holdover from the days when people had to think ahead to survive. Who knows? Either way, it's rather exhilarating. That sounds as though I don't have a life, but really I do! :)) It's just that most of my life takes place in the house---serious projects, lined up one right after another. They are sitting there right now, too.

The snow-blowing/shoveling is not always the greatest, but not horrible. In the middle of it all, we always know spring is one day closer. The bird feeders get filled once the driveway is done (do the fun stuff last; plus, I can't get to them until some sort of path is cleared). The chickadees stop shouting then, happy to see New Food, and I get to go back in the house, so we all get a reward. There will be no more talk of winter for the duration. That means, not until at least the end of November.

Two days ago the sun was out all morning, then light rain which turned to POURING by late afternoon. The laundry I hung out early was 3/4 dry when I brought it in just as the drizzle began. Knowing it wouldn't dry completely, I hung it out anyway---what I'd get would be better than nothing, considering there aren't supposed to be sunny days until at least Sunday, and maybe not then. It's April! Temp.'s are around 50 now, so we're ahead. The grass will be greening up nicely, with this rain. Three days ago I got out in the late afternoon to rake 2/3 of the front lawn. It's in 3 sections; I did the two that I see from the living room windows and which really were the most covered with little blown-down branches, tiny pieces of the blue spruce branches and leftover fall leaves. Everything is so much easier to deal with, dry. When that rain came, it was a good feeling to know the waste bags were full and waiting to go to the compost mountain at the landfill.

True to form, the sun which was lovely for most of the morning, is gone. I did take time to visit a new (to me) early morning business networking group. To be sure to get there on time, I drove. At that, I was about 10 minutes late. It's really close enough to walk to, which will be good, and 7:30 is a really good time to meet that way one morning a week.

Now to work more on getting the artwork website redone. It's nearly ready. You might like to take a look at my LinkedIn site, which IS ready: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/patwooldridge

And do have the best of all possible days!