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"Exe Polled First Lady"

A favourite sketching place for me is the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, held at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto each fall.

This beautiful calf was being groomed and readied for showing in a narrow metal enclosure. She was not happy about her circumstance.

I did some quick studies of her on the spot, then snapped a bunch of photos. Later in my studio, I tried to capture her attitude in a soft, freestyle watercolour with hints of poster art thrown in.

"Maisie" was my first acrylic painting. My sister-in-law and her husband have a horse farm and boarding stable near Acton, and like all proud parents, they sent me some photos of their beautiful mare. I couldn't resist capturing her on canvas.

This painting took me about 2 months to complete.

I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. They were too. When they saw it half-finished, they said, "It goes without saying, we're buying it when it's done. Don't sell it to anyone else!"

"Marina leading Emmy"

While visiting my husband's daughter at her hobby farm, I began snapping photos of her new miniature horses as they cavorted in the pasture.

One of them inspired this painting of my step-niece Marina, leading Emmy, a small compact mare, out of the barn.

It was a bright, sun-drenched day.