Primary Colors

I use different color combinations in my paintings but sometimes I like to strip down to just the three primaries: Yellow, blue, and red. The shades of those three colors can be whatever you want. For example I used a turquoise for my blue in this painting, and my "yellow" is more of a gold. It's lots of fun to paint simply, and you get the added bonus of colors mixing and creating new shades. Here is a painting I sold recently on Facebook using the primaries plus black and white.

About My Horse Paintings and Where The Bird Muse Comes From

Horses have always been my favorite subject. My paintings are about freedom: a running horse represents my memories of a carefree childhood and how horses and dreaming of horses can change your life and cause you to pursue your dreams. Art evolves, and though I have drawn or painted horses my whole life, my style and medium of choice has changed many times over the years. In my youth and clear into the 1990s, I tried to exactly replicate what a horse looked like. I did drawings and paintings based on photographs. Since about 2000, I started painting horses in more imaginary colors and worrying less about drawing the perfect horse. I painted a lot of grazing horses, because grazing horses are so peaceful and meditative.

But often I looked at my horse paintings back then and they looked static, frozen in time instead of moving. It's hard to create the illusion of movement in a painting and I began to look for ways to bust loose. I started giving myself permission to paint freehand, permission to not know what the horse was going to look like until I put the paint on the paper. I no longer relied on my photographs of horses to dictate what I was going to do. I let what was before me on the paper be my guide. I would put down splashes of paint and then find a horse shape in it and go for it.


So where do the birds come in, the ones found most recently in my paintings? The last 10 years I have really grown to appreciate birds, and though I am not a bird painter I wanted to paint them because of how they make me feel. In real life, I enjoy the call of the meadowlark in summer and the cuteness of the chickadee who brings life to a cold winter landscape. Red winged blackbirds make me laugh, the way they chortle off-key and so predictably hang out in the cattails. And watching a hawk soar high above really gives me the feeling of freedom and wide open spaces. Has your heart ever stopped when you spot a bluebird in mid-March and know that winter is about over?

Once I started painting freehand, the birds showed up naturally alongside the horses. I think birds provide additional movement and a feeling of freedom in each painting. I also like the bit of chaos that birds present, when they are shooting off in different directions. I never get tired of painting, because each painting is a new adventure that takes me on a journey to a new place and leads me to the next idea.

B&W in color

This painting started off black and white...then I added color and collage elements. Recently sold on Facebook.

Night Run Series

Night Run Series, recently sold on Facebook.

Horse and Blackbirds

Another painting recently sold on Facebook, I like combining birds and horses...it's about freedom and feeling free!

Hot Night

11x14 acrylic on paper

Another night series, "Hot Night", that I've been doing. I'm still selling these paintings on Facebook, and donating 50% to a horse rescue cause.

Night Run

9" x 12" acrylic on paper

This is the start of a new series I call "Night Run". I haven't previously done night paintings...I like sunshine and warm colors, but this turned out pretty interesting and has been well received by those who have seen it.

Bob Burridge Workshop

I took a painting workshop in Farmington, NM this month, taught by Bob Burridge. Bob travels the US teaching workshops and spreading the fun of painting "how you've always wanted to paint." Here is my workspace during the workshop, even the leftover paper towels we used are colorful!

Rock Art

Continuing with my "rock art" watercolors that I started doing last year, I am selling these on Facebook and donating half the proceeds to a horse rescue group who buy leftover horses from a New Jersey auction each week.

Jersey Girl

Here is a 16" x 20" watercolor commission I recently completed for Jocelyn Spelker. It's her wonderful mare, Jersey Girl.

Paintings for Horse Rescue

If you are a horse lover, you know there are lots of horse rescue causes out there. There are many, many decent horses who wind up headed for slaughter that deserve to be saved. A few weeks ago, a ran across a very active group of horse rescue folks, headed up by Sharon Catalano-Crumb. They go to the weekly horse killpen auction in New Jersey and buy up horses and find them new homes.

The fundraising and networking is done on Facebook. Yesterday I posted some of my paintings on Facebook, and am donating 50% of the proceeds to this cause. If you are interested in participating, go to Facebook, search for me, Caren Goodrich, and send me a friend request. Also send a friend request to Sharon Catalano-Crumb and join the cause, NJ Killpen Horses...Horse Angels of Facebook.

Bear In Tree

Bear In Tree. 11"x14" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

I haven't posted any new art in awhile. Yes, I've been painting, I just took a hiatus from the blog. But I'm back and here is a recent painting. I am really interested in texture. I'm adding lots of it via acrylic gels and mediums, makes you want to touch the painting, not just look at it!

Two Textured Horses

I just moved to a new house so I am behind in getting new paintings done and posted here. Anyway, this is a recent one, I am using a lot of Golden mediums to add texture, they are fun to experiment with. This painting has more texture that what appears in this photo!

Aspen Bears

Bear In Search Of Food
9"x12" mixed media with food label collage elements.

detail

This has been a summer of black bears here in Aspen, Colorado. They are coming into town in search of food. They are not in search of people to harm, they just want to eat. A couple people have been injured during bear encounters, and about a dozen bears who have broken into homes have been captured and euthanized. I am not in favor of euthanizing bears. I want them to be relocated. It's a bad deal. I don't have the answer.

Trial Size

4"x6" acrylic on watercolor paper

Trial Size. This is a 4"x6" acrylic on watercolor paper painting. I painted the blue, yellow, and red colors abstractly then "found" horse shapes by painting negatively with the light blue-gray color.

Running Horses Mixed Media Painting

9"x12" mixed media

This is a small painting that is a study for a larger painting I will be doing. I have some running horse images in mind as a departure from a lot of my more serene grazing horse paintings.

Action!

Horse Watercolor

16" x 20" watercolor/mixed media

Oh that's an imaginative title, "Horse Watercolor"....I should do better. Anyway, it's a 16" x 20" watercolor/mixed media on 300 lb Fabriano paper, a paper I just started using and I am probably going to switch to it permanently once my stock of Arches is used up. So goodbye France, hello Italy.

And did you notice I am doing some larger paintings? So many people have requested/wondered about larger works, and I don't blame them. I realize 16" x 20" is not large compared to some artists work, but I have been doing a lot of 9"x 12" and 11"x14", so 16"x20" is a step in the direction of meeting the needs of those with bigger walls to hang art on.

Horse Commission

16"x 20" watercolor and mixed media on 300 lb paper

This is a recent painting commission I completed that is going to Pueblo, Colorado. Thanks to Nancy, Karla and Gretchen!

Charlie Horse Commission

Charlie, 16" x 20" watercolor and mixed media on watercolor paper

This is a painting commission I did recently, it was commissioned as a wedding anniversary gift. The subject is Charlie, a really fine bay horse who lives in New York. It is 16" x 20", watercolor and mixed media. Contact me if you want me to paint your horse! caren16 at aol dot com

Grazing Horse Collage

9"x12" watercolor mixed media collage

I used collage paper to create texture in this simple composition. I love grazing horses, it is a peaceful subject. I like to visit my horse and watch him eat grass this time of year. Right now he is in hog heaven because the grass is fresh, green, and growing fast.

Bigger Rock Art

"Racing and Leaping"
16"x20" original watercolor mixed media

"I love your paintings, do you have any bigger ones?"

That's a frequent question I get. It's actually a goal of mine to produce larger works more often. I have so many ideas that I tend to do small paintings because I'm always experimenting and can do more in less time. But I admire large works and many homes have big wall space, so here is a 16" x 20". OK, that's not widely regarded as a large painting, but I promise to keep working upwards in scale.

Buy this painting on etsy.

The History Of Horse Racing

"The History Of Horse Racing" 11"x14" watercolor mixed media collage

I call this one "The History Of Horse Racing" because of the "then and now" juxtipositions. This is part of my Rock Art series inspired by ancient petroglyphs. When observing petroglyphs here in America, I was charmed to see riders depicted with their arms straight out so I picked up this idea for my own Rock Art series. That was "then"....the "now" is the collage element of contemporary racehorses and jockeys.

Earth Day 2009

Polar Bear 11x14 watercolor

In 1970 for the very first Earth Day, my friend and I plotted to ride our horses to school. Back then one of the big issues (especially in Los Angeles) was smog. So we were going to do our part and ride our horses instead of riding in an air polluting automobile or school bus. We did not ride our horses to school on Earth Day, but it was a fun idea.

Other big environmental issues in the 1970s were oil spills, pesticides, wildlife extinction, overpopulation, and "global cooling"! We used to call the whole movement "ecology". What ever happened to that term? Does anyone remember the ecology flag? I embroidered one on the back pocket of my jeans.

In the 1980s, there was a big focus on recycling. I don't remember what the issue was in the 1990s, maybe we were all too self absorbed that decade to worry about the environment.

In the current decade it's global warming. But I wonder, what ever happened to acid rain? Did we solve that problem? And what ever happened to Zero Population Growth? Nobody even talks about the population any more. I don't get that, as the Earth sagging under the ever increasing weight of new humans is the root of all environmental problems.

I guess it's a work in progress that will never quite be solved. So do something today, do what you can tomorrow, because really every day should be Earth Day.

Rock Art: Tax Revolt Day

"Tax Revolt" 9x12 original watercolor

Here is my artistic view of today, April 15th, which is Tax Revolt day. Attend a Tea Party near you if you can!

Wild Horse Watercolor

This one's on ebay.