Caren Goodrich: My Art Life

Primary Colors

2010-06-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

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

Night Run Series

2010-04-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

Night Run Series, recently sold on Facebook.

Horse and Blackbirds

2010-03-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

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

Hot Night

2010-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-15T10:26:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-25T09:39:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-05-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-04-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-04-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

This one's on ebay.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter, everyone!

Slipped Through On Rail

2009-04-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Slipped Through On The Rail" 9x12 watercolor/mixed media

Continuing my rock art series inspired by ancient petroglyphs, this is another lighthearted look at horse racing. I used watercolor and collage elements.

collage detail

Blue Monday

2009-04-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

9"x12" original watercolor/mixed media

It's actually sunny and warm here in Colorado today, but here's a horse I call "Blue Monday".

Rock Art: Dead Heat At Saratoga

2009-04-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

"Dead Heat At Saratoga" original watercolor collage, 9" x 12"

Here is a dead heat at Saratoga, way back in the day before there was the photo finish camera. I think Marylou Whitney might have owned one of these horses.

Rock Art: The 5th Race at Saratoga

2009-03-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

"The 5th Race At Saratoga" 9"x12" original watercolor collage

The primitive rock art horses are off to the races. I was going through my stuff the other day and ran across a program from the '08 Saratoga race meet. I was getting ready to toss it then decided to use pieces of the program in a collage. So the new horse racing series of rock art is born with this painting.

Rock Art Horses

2009-03-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is a fun one. I've been studying the art on Newspaper Rock in Utah and the horse and rider in this one was inspired by some of the ancient drawings there.

Which One Of Us Is Purtier?

2009-03-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

"Which One Of Us Is Purtier?"

11x14 original watercolor

I made an Art For Sale photo folder on my Facebook page. I will be posting some original paintings there, just as an occasional alternative to selling on ebay and etsy. If you want to be my Facebook friend, please look me up. This painting is currently in the For Sale folder. I won't be slamming a lot of art there, probably just a couple a week.

Double Duty

2009-03-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

Warm and Cool Horses. 11" x 14" each.

I painted a warm and cool version of the same horse, worked on both of them at the same time. This is one of my ideas for getting more painting done in a day. Do a two-fer.

Painting Faster

2009-03-09T10:46:00.001-07:00

"Appaloosa Rising" 9"x12" original watercolor

Since my last posting, I took a trip to Florida, very enjoyable but did not get any painting done during that time. So I'm back and here's another rock art painting inspired by ancient petroglyphs. The title to my blog entry is "Painting Faster", which is wishful thinking on my part as I really do want to produce more paintings than my current pace and have been thinking about ways to ramp it up a bit. Since these rock art paintings have become a familiar process for me, I think I can increase my output on these as I use similar colors every time, and don't have to think too long and hard about what colors to use or how to get started.

A Look Back: Manatee

2009-02-25T13:37:00.001-08:00

I painted this back in 2003. I just did a new manatee painting and didn't like it, so I decided to post the one I did years ago instead.

Another Primitive Rock Art

2009-02-19T10:55:00.001-08:00

9" x 12" Rock Art Watercolor

Another primitive rock art painting. Despite it's free form fun, I do get anxious when painting these as the first two I ever did are my favorites, and I fear future rock art paintings will never be able to live up to my expectations.

My concerns include:

-Having a pleasing composition with a focal point and range of values.

- The horses should look primitive without being too cartoon-like.

-I add dashes of color (purples, etc.) beyond my brown rock colors but don't want to deviate too much from the earthtone browns.

-I also fear I'll never be able to "find" any more of those horse shapes I seek after the first paint wash has dried, because these paintings are only partly planned beforehand. A lot of the imagery develops after the first paint application.

-Oh, and with all that in mind, I need not forget to have fun and enjoy the process, and hopefully the paintings will look as if they just "happened"!

Buckskin Blues

2009-02-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

"Buckskin Blues"
11" x 14" watercolor

I don't often have good (or any) titles to my paintings, but in this case I thought of the title first and then proceeded to do a painting that lived up to it. Hmmm...this could spark a title-inspired series.

Rock Art Horses

2009-02-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

9" x 12" watercolor

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. Don't be superstitious, it's just nonsense.

More rock art today. I can't tell you how much fun these are to do. I lightly sketch in where my main horse is going to go, then proceed to paint with a limited palette of colors. After the paint is dry, I develop the main horse focal point and then "find" more horses in the surrounding area. Some of these paintings come out better than others, but it's always fun and always surprising.

I am building up a supply of these rock art paintings then I'll put a few on ebay and etsy.

A Fine Day

2009-02-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

watercolor 5" x 7"

It's a fine sunny day and I'm going skiing. Spring is in the air, I feel good, like this horse rolling in the grass.

Blackbird Winter

2009-02-03T11:44:00.001-08:00

Blackbird Winter 4" x 6"

The past few weeks there has been a flock of red winged blackbirds around my neighborhood. They sit up in a giant spruce tree, singing their off-key songs. That's normal in the summer, but I have never seen blackbirds here in the Colorado high country during January and February. There are also robins, too, another unusual thing for this time of year.

Anyway, I'm not sure why they are here this time of year, but they lifted my winter weary spirits and I did this little watercolor tribute.

I also made some blackbird polymer clay beads, you can see them over at my polymer blog, beadbunny.blogspot.com. Its funny how a flock of birds can set me in motion, I've always liked red winged blackbirds and have been wanting to make blackbird beads for awhile now.

Wild Horse Watercolor

2009-01-29T13:13:00.001-08:00

9"x12" original watercolor

Here is today's painting. I'm working on several art pieces at once, and haven't posted anything new in a few days, so here is one I just completed. I will list it on ebay soon.

I have found an interesting third party ebay tool called seller circle. It puts a "floating gallery" at the bottom of each of your ebay listing pages. There's also a separate page that is created with all your ebay listings. (Mine is http://www.sellercircle.com/caren) If you have a Mac, the cool look will be familiar to you. If you don't have a Mac, you might wonder why you don't.

Sea Turtle

2009-01-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

9" x 12" watercolor

Here's a subject I like but haven't often visited. I normally paint what I am more immediately connected to on a daily basis--horses, birds, etc. But I like sea turtles and fish, despite the fact I live in the mountains, not near the ocean. It felt a little strange diving into this subject, I can paint or draw a horse with my eyes closed, but sea turtles, I had to look at some photos to make sure I knew what they looked like.

Many years ago, growing up in Southern California, I became a certified scuba diver and did dives for a few years, so I am familiar with being in the ocean, it's just been awhile. My interest in doing ocean scenes was awakened after I took a watercolor workshop with Lian Zhen in 2008. (See my blog posts on the workshop HERE.) He had us paint an underwater scene with fish, and it turned out to be really fun as you "find" more fish shapes to bring out negatively when you study the initial washes of color. (The two fish on the right and the smaller turtle in this painting were developed negatively.)

Another Rock Art Horse

2009-01-15T11:17:00.000-08:00

I'm having fun with this theme. I like being only partially in control of what happens with these types of paintings and "finding" horses within the color shapes. What a great way to stay loose.

Rock Art Horses

2009-01-08T13:07:00.001-08:00

9" x 12"

Here is an example of one of my color samples inspiring a subject. I have been wanting to do some rock art horse paintings for quite awhile now, but didn't have the components in my head as to how I was going to do it. I've seen lots of rock art paintings, some really well done and some that is tacky and "motif" like. The best rock art of all are the amazing originals, and though I have never been to the cave of Lascaux in France, I have been up close and personal with some pretty cool petroglyphs in Wyoming.

So a little color sample I did the other day reminded me of a warm, rocky texture, and it inspired my first rock art painting. It mostly was unplanned, I "found" the horses after the initial colors were painted.

Watercolor Sample Colors

2009-01-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

When I cut a 22" x 30" sheet of watercolor paper into four 11" x 14" pieces, the only waste is a 2" strip. I cut the strip into 2" squares and made some three color combination paint samples. I have been meaning to do some experimental paint samples for quite some time, and with this strip of watercolor paper staring at me, I finally did it.

And not only did the strip of paper inspire me to start some samples, but some of the results have inspired painting ideas based on the colors alone. Don't you most often think of the subject first and then decide what colors to use to depict the subject? Well with these three-color samples, I not only found some great and not-so-great combinations, but a couple of them have inspired subject matter ideas.

The sky in my previous posting was inspired by the color sample in the upper left hand corner. I'll post more of my colors-turned-into-subjects as we go along.

Sunrise/Sunset

2009-01-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

4" x 6"

Here is a little landscape painting I just did based on some photos I took of the last sunset of 2008. However, it could just as easily be a sunrise so you can look at it as an ending of a lovely day or the promise of a new day or a new year!

A New Beginning

2009-01-01T16:11:00.001-08:00

I didn't get to paint today on this first day of 2009, so here is a painting I did a couple years ago that reminds me of new promise, new beginnings. It's a little painting--only 4" x 6".

I didn't think about making any New Year's resolutions this year, but I heard someone talking about resolutions and what instantly popped into my mind for myself was "do bigger paintings". In watercolor, I usually do 9 x 12 or 11 x 14 paintings, rarely venturing into anything much larger.

So this year I want to bust out of the safety and tidiness of small paintings, and occasionally throw some paint on larger pieces of paper. I have some large pieces of watercolor paper hiding behind my desk, just waiting to be taped to a board and painted on.

An ongoing goal I have is to paint looser and more spontaneously. I spent many years painting in oils and it never had the serendipitous magic that watercolor does. I believe people who try to control watercolors too much misunderstand the medium. There's no bigger thrill for me than to have different watercolor colors run together and create new colors and shapes. I am not an abstract painter though, so my paintings have to look like something. I just want the "something" to be at least partially loose and surrounded by flowing color.

So here on the first day of 2009, I proclaim that I will do some larger paintings (two or three a month) and continue in my quest for spontaneity and looseness. If I stray away from that in the coming months, someone holler at me!

Happy New Year!

The End (of 2008)

2008-12-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

11" x 14" original watercolor

I always bring my camera when I go out to give my horse grain at the ranch where he is boarded. The other day I photographed an Icelandic pony, he is really cute and fuzzy this time of year. He was laying down in the snow and leapt to his feet when he saw me, (in case I had food), so I didn't get the laying down photos I was hoping for but this rear-end angle seems appropriate as the last posting of 2008.

2008 was a real horse's ass of a year. I'm glad it's over, I'm ready to turn the page even though our economic woes won't be behind us any time soon. This has been the biggest reversal of fortune of our lives. Thanks to liars, cheaters, scammers, government officials not paying attention, and people who thought that real estate prices could never go down, we are in a quagmire that we won't get out of soon.

Bird Series: Chickadee

2008-12-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

9" x 12" original watercolor

My winter friends consist of chickadees, finches, nuthatches and other small birds. I hang a bird feeder outside my art studio window in the winter (I can't during the summer because of bears) and in return I get plenty of opportunity to photograph the little birds. We have had some wonderful sunny weather the past few days but in this painting I depicted a little chickadee with snow stacked up on the tree branches.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone, and remember, little things mean a lot!

Solstice Solace

2008-12-21T07:31:00.000-08:00

Solstice Solace
9" x 12" watercolor

I like sunlight. I'm a day person. Today is the first day of winter, but since I have been shoveling snow every day for weeks now, it seems like winter started quite some time ago. But on this occasion I'd like to bid goodbye to the shortening days and welcome each lengthening day from here on.

Painting-wise, I revel in autumn colors, and celebrate spring by painting tulips, daffodils, and mares with their newly born foals. I tend to skip over the season that falls in between--I rarely do wintery bluesy paintings. But since today is the Winter Solstice, I did this painting using a limited palette of cool wintery colors (I used only two blues and two purples), and hey, I actually liked doing it and it didn't turn out half bad.

Primary Horse

2008-12-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a watercolor I did using just the three primaries, in an exercise to rein in the kitchen-sink-color-explosion that I tend to do. There's nothing wrong with a color explosion, but sometimes I like to remind myself that all colors trace back to red, yellow, and blue. I did sneak in some slight color variations after the initial pouring and blending of the primaries, but pretty much I stuck with the Big Three.

Another Colorful Horse

2008-12-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

9" x 12" watercolor

Ok, it's time to move on from my previous posting of when I was a kid. I've been busy this week with lots going on, and my artwork has taken a backseat for the moment. I did manage to finish two paintings though and here is one. (I'll put it on ebay in a day or two.) I wish I could come up with a better name for this series of horses with splashy colors, all I can think of is "Wild Horse Watercolors". It's one of my signature favorite styles to paint in and so far everyone likes them and they haven't become cloying. (Thanks for that word, Suzanne!)

Focusing on one style of painting such as my wild horse watercolors is something I've always wanted to do. Possibly the thing most artists yearn for is for someone to recognize their work without seeing the signature, and in order for that to be the case, the artist can't paint in a million different styles and subjects and hope to become known for what it is they do. It sounds easy but for those of us who have experimented in many media over the years, like a hummingbird skipping from flower to flower, it's hard to rein in the explosion of ideas and narrow things down to one medium painted in a consistant fashion.

The pursuit of what sells has always been fascinating to me, it's an elusive thing to those trying to figure it out. The number one thing that I believe is most important is create your art in a consistent, recognizable style. So many of us (including myself) have shot ourselves in the butt when we leap from one thing to the next, losing our fanbase when we bolt to the next craft project. Part of the problem has been the explosion of multi-media craft the past few years. Craft magazine how-to articles will have you running to the art store for the next round of supplies. I resisted that scene years ago as it's a losing battle for those who are trying to sell our art.

Anyway so here is yet another colorful horse watercolor. Look for more of 'em as we go along!

A Look Back: Painting Windows for Christmas

2008-12-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

My sister Cathy is on the left, and I'm on the right.
Cathy looks gigantic compared to me but she was standing on a ladder.

I just got back from a trip to L.A., visiting my dad and sister where I grew up. I was looking through some of my dad's old photos and ran across these. I have lots of my childhood drawings but very few photos showing me creating art. (A note to parents with young kids: take photos of them doing what they do! It is valuable later in life to have those photos!)

Here is my sister and me painting our front window for Christmas in the 1960s. It was a yearly tradition to paint the front window with a holiday theme. We had a poodle at the time and it looks like poodles were on our mind that year. Window painting is almost a lost art these days. My grandmother, an artist, always painted her window at Christmas and when she got too old to do it anymore, I painted her window a few times as an adult in the 1980s. I haven't done any window art since.

Wild Horse Watercolor

2008-11-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest offering on ebay. It's 11" x 14" watercolor and mixed media.

Black and White in Color

2008-11-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

11" x 14" watercolor and mixed media

I liked painting these two like-minded individuals in lock step with each other. One black horse, one white horse, with the same goal in mind--mowing down grass. This painting will go on ebay starting 11/26/08. I'm unable to create a link at the moment (don't ask why!) so find me on ebay at my user name caren, or click on my ebay link on a previous blog posting.

Big 'n Bold Horse

2008-11-20T08:26:00.000-08:00

9" x 12" watercolor and mixed media

Here's a big and bold horse. He's a Gypsy Vanner in a pasture at the ranch where I board my horse, and he's been one of my favorite horse subjects recently as I love the draft types as well as long, unkempt manes. I listed this painting on ebay last night.

Tagged

2008-11-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

I've been "tagged" by my friend Erika Nelson. Here are the rules of being tagged:

1. Put a link in your posting to the person who tagged you.
2. List 7 unusual things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 other bloggers at the end of your post and comment on their blogs to let them know.

Below are seven unusual things about me, some of which I have never mentioned before and are probably best left unmentioned, but here goes:

1. I won a poster contest in 5th grade with my original art. The prize was a marker pen. I was in the elementary school bathroom and had the marker pen in my hand, I spun around with delight and was aghast when the ink flew out of the pen and splattered onto the bathroom walls. I got into trouble for it even though I didn't mean to do it.

2. I've been to every state except Alaska and Hawaii, and have lived in at least eleven of them.

3. I'm a native of Los Angeles and the 5th generation of my family to reside there. My great-great grandparents were one of the first five families to settle in California's San Fernando Valley in the late 1800s.

4. My grandmother was an artist. She saved all my childhood drawings, so thanks to her I have quite an archive of my most primitive art.

5. My dad, my sister and I all graduated from the same high school in Downey, California.

6. I was a bartender at age 17. I moved to Dallas after high school, the drinking age was 18 in Texas. I went to bartending school and got a job in a nightclub a month before I turned 18. I lied about my age on the job application. They hired me, but to my dismay I had to take a lie detector test, which I somehow passed. Bartending was one of the most fun jobs I have ever had. And if you ever need any advice on how to pass a lie detector test, drop me a line.

7. I was a professional horse racing photographer for many years. My horse racing photos were published in all the major racing publications.

Here are the seven bloggers I've tagged, with apologies:

Laurie Pace
Marion Rose
Andrea Forgnone
Debbie Grayson Lincoln
Virginia Vaughan
Suzanne McDermott
Annelein Beukenkamp

Sheep Painting

2008-11-17T10:38:00.001-08:00

Sheep 9" x 12" watercolor and mixed media

Here's a sheep painting I did over the weekend. I don't often do sheep but they are fun to paint as they are silly animals with lots of texture opportunities.

Today's My Birthday

2008-11-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

Caren way-back-when

Every year when my birthday rolls around, I find myself thinking more about my childhood than I do about my current birthday. The one thing I realize is how much has changed, yet at the same time how little has changed and how destined we are. I was horse crazy at birth. The majority of drawings I did as a kid were of horses. I believe it was my inherent love of horses that fueled my artistic drive. Here's a drawing I did when I was about 10 years old--

And here's me as an adult, I ended up riding racehorses for twenty years--

Caren on Saint Ballado in Kentucky, 1992.

Talk about destiny. As a kid I didn't know anyone in the Thoroughbred horse racing world, I only knew the fictional world of The Black Stallion and other horse books I read. Still, I dreamed and drew pictures of race horses as a kid, and as an adult found my way to the real world of horse racing.

Below is a painting I did recently, a look back to the world of the dreams of childhood. It's one of my favorite imaginary images. I've done this flying horse image many times in different mediums. The reason I do it is because it reminds me of my carefree youth.

It's a sunny, warm November 16th here in Aspen, Colorado. I hope everyone is enjoying some sunshine on this fine Sunday.

Pedestrians and Shadows

2008-11-10T12:14:00.001-08:00

Shadows and Pedestrians
9" x 12" watercolor

This is my version of this week's image at the Different Strokes From Different Folks blog. Shadows are a great thing to play with and I had fun with this image. This painting is for sale on ebay this week.

detail

Cow & Poppies

2008-11-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

9" x 12"

One cow painting leads to another......cows are great subjects. This is a 9" x 12" watermedia painting with lots of texture. It's a pleasant scene of a cow laying in a field of flowers! Have a pleasant day and check out this painting on ebay.

Printed Pony: Room To Roam

2008-11-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

9" x 12" original mixed media watercolor painting

painting detail

This is a watercolor mixed media original painting with some newsprint elements. I found the words "room to roam" to be intriguing and appropriate for this subject. I like using collage elements and multi media, it helps guide the direction of the piece in unforeseen directions, and it also helps me title the painting!

Look for this painting on ebay.

Rabbit in the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-31T11:50:00.001-07:00

9" x 12" mixed media

Happy Halloween everybody!

Bunny and Ferns

2008-10-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

9" x 12" watercolor and mixed media

I was walking around town and collecting a few autumn leaves the other day for painting inspiration. I came across an exotic looking bush with fern-like leaves, it was part of a landscaped yard and didn't strike me as a Colorado mountain native, but I liked the ribbed texture of the leaves so I took a couple home. If I hadn't found them, I would have never done this painting.

The rabbit in the painting is my mini Rex that I had for ten years. He died back in September and is sorely missed. I did a lot of art over the years inspired by him, and he will live on in my art.

Book Review: Exploring Watercolor by Elizabeth Groves

2008-10-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I bought Exploring Watercolor- Creative Exercises and Techniques for Watercolor and Mixed Media by Elizabeth Groves. I am always looking for experimental techniques, and Ms. Groves' book has become a valuable addition to my art book library.

The book is hardcover with a spiral bound interior, it lays open easily on your art table so you can follow along with a particular exercise. She shares techniques which range from the traditional method, which is an analytical and technical approach; to abstract, using experimental techniques and various household items to create magic with watercolors. I get most excited about delving into the unknown, using things like gesso and autumn leaves to create a painting.

Elizabeth Groves' painting examples are all bright and vibrant, some are splashy, some are controlled, some are a combination of both. If you like fun and experimental techniques, take a look at this book. Sometimes learning even one technique that you haven't tried can set you off in a new direction or improve the current state of your art. And as the author states in her conclusion, regardless of how many years we have been painting, we are all perpetual students.

Cow Strokes

2008-10-24T12:40:00.001-07:00

9"x12"

Here is my painting which will be posted on the Different Strokes From Different Folks blog. Check it out. Every Wednesday, Karin Jurick posts a photo that anyone is free to paint and send her their version.

My cow painting is multi-media, starting with watercolor and adding acrylic, Golden texture mediums, gel pens, and oil pastels. You can buy this painting on ebay.

Scary Bat

2008-10-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

4" x 6"

In celebration of Halloween, I made this bat painting and then discovered there was a Bat Show at ebsqart.com. I entered it. Go check out the entries and vote for your favorite!

Abstract and Texture

2008-10-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

9" x 12"

I'm pushing my watercolors to have abstract elements and be more multi-media, using oil pastels, acrylic, inks, gel pens, texture mediums, etc. on top of the watercolor. I tend to be too careful in my paintings so this is a stretch for me to loosen up and throw the kitchen sink into a painting. I sprinkled some Black Eyed Susan flower seeds into the painting while the watercolor was still wet to see what kind of mark the seed left. I am finding this fun and it's the direction I want to go. This is just a stop along my journey to finding more ingredients to put into my paintings.

closeup look at the marks the flower seeds left when sprinkled into wet watercolor

Santa Fe Small Watercolors

2008-10-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my recent trip to Santa Fe and Taos, I did these three small watercolors of Santa Fe scenes. They are each 4" x 6".

Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico Art

2008-10-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a trip to Taos and Santa Fe. I hadn't been to either place in about seven years, and it was nice to revisit, enjoy the character of the area and eat some good food. Oh yeah, I also walked in and out of about 30 art galleries on Canyon Road and didn't even scratch the surface of seeing the art that abounds in Santa Fe!

I have to say I was disappointed in a lot of the art I saw, much of it was goofy and made me wonder who would buy it. But wading through the strange art made it all the more special when I found paintings that inspired me. One oil painter I liked was Jerry Jordan. Thick paint, Taos landscapes of small horse and riders riding across the big scene. Jerry's paintings reminded me a bit of Maynard Dixon. A big thumbs up to his art, especially after viewing so much of the "edgy" stuff that doesn't make sense to me.

And on the watercolor front, I liked Tom Noble. His paintings are more on the imaginary side, bright and colorful Taos scenes. Seeing Jerry Jordan's oil paintings made me want to be a better oil painter and seeing Tom Noble's watercolors made me want to be a better and bolder watercolor painter.

I'll post some of my small watercolor impressions of Santa Fe in my next posting.

Fall Fire

2008-10-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

"Fall Fire"--9 x 12 watercolor and mixed media

I'm on a roll creating many smallish watercolors this week. Ideas are bursting from my head because I get so inspired by the autumn colors. Though I rarely title my paintings, this one seems like it should be called "Fall Fire", so there you have it. It was partially inspired by the rabbit in my previous posting. Since the white rabbit worked so well against a colored background, I decided to create a white horse against an even more colorful background. That way the horse color doesn't compete too much with the background color.

Rabbit Series: White Rabbit

2008-09-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

4" x 6" watercolor and oil pastels

Here's a bunny rabbit painting now showing on etsy. I got me a new set of alphabet rubber stamps, and I'm havin' fun adding words to the image. It's not something I usually do but it has great potential to add some whimsy and informality to the art. So for the next little while, I'm going to see where this takes me. So many ideas, so little time!

Horse Watercolor

2008-09-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

4" x 6" original watercolor

Here's a small painting I just added to my etsy store. Since we are in a nationwide depression, I have dropped my shipping costs on watercolors to one dollar each, with free shipping on any others you buy at the same time. My polymer beads are free shipping within the U.S.

Bird Perch

2008-09-17T09:33:00.001-07:00

4" x 6" watercolor

I spied some young birds on the back of a horse the other day, and did this quick small watercolor study. I think they were Northern Flickers, they looked about half grown and didn't quite have their adult feathers yet, but seemed proud that they had accomplished a flight to the back of the horse. I like this subject and am going to work on a larger version.

ebsq Spam and Trout Show

2008-09-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

"Spam & Trout '08"--11" x 14" watercolor

I joined ebsqart.com, the online artist community, back in 2001. I believe I was one of the first 100 artists to join, now the membership is who knows how many. Several thousand I guess. Some of the ebsq artists I met in those early years are still my online friends.

Anyway, one of the fun things about ebsq is the monthly shows, and though I haven't participated in them to the degree I did a few years ago, I love the biennial Spam & Trout and just completed my entry for '08. I also listed the painting on etsy. Check out the ebsq show and vote for your favorite.

Update: This painting won Patron's Choice in the September '08 Spam & Trout Show.

Different Strokes: Jack the Dog

2008-09-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Jack The Dog
4" x 6" watercolor

I am participating in the new blog, "Different Strokes From Different Folks", in which artist Karin Jurik posts a photo each week for artists to interpret and paint. This first week was Jack the dog.

Rabbit Series: Mini Rex

2008-08-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

11" x 14" watercolor

Rabbits make great pets. This 11" x 14" watercolor painting is of a Mini Rex named Traveler surrounded by flowers. Look for more of these types of paintings from me in the near future, I like combining my favorite animals in idealistic surroundings!

Organizing My Art

2008-08-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

I just organized some of my paintings into two Flickr folders, so you can more easily see examples of my paintings at a glance. Click on the Flickr boxes on the top right to see watercolor and oil paintings.

Thanks for looking!

Caren Goodrich

Garden Series: Nasturtiums

2008-08-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Nasturtium Watercolor 11" x 14"

I've launched back into my Garden Series, I get so inspired this time of year because of the waning days of summer here in Colorado. I like to capture my favorites while they are here, and nasturtiums are at the top of my list. I like the cheerful round leaves and the spear-like flower buds.

Plein Air Geraniums

2008-07-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

9" x 12" oil on masonite

I did this plein air painting yesterday of my potted geraniums. There's nothing better than painting flowers in the summer.

A Look Back: Horse Pastel

2008-07-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is me in 1986 when I was painting exclusively in pastel. This is a portrait I did of Fappiano, a great Thoroughbred racehorse and sire.

Wild Horse Watercolor

2008-06-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a 6" x 8" wildly colored horse watercolor original painting available in my etsy shop.

Mule Watercolor Painting

2008-06-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a 6" x 8" original watercolor painting now available in my etsy shop.

Bird Series: One Redpoll and Two Chickadees

2008-05-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Redpoll & Chickadees 14" x 18"

This is a watercolor painting I completed today, continuing on with my bird series. Redpolls and chickadees keep me company all winter. The worse the weather is, the more birds there are at the feeder. I enjoy watching them and now that it's warm and sunny, the singing is loud and joyful.

Fish Chinese Painting

2008-04-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Fish Painting 14" x 22"

Following up on what I learned in the Lian Zhen workshop, here is a fish painting I did on shuan paper using Chinese paints. This technique is a lot of fun, and there is a lot of freedom to interpret the surroundings when painting tropical fish in water!

Lian Zhen Workshop: Day Four & Five

2008-04-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

We finished up our chicken painting, and moved on to a flower painting. Flowers are a great subject with Lian's way of painting, using a combination of abstract and realistic elements.

Lian demonstrates how he paints a floral watercolor

Teacher and student! I hold my partially done flower watercolor while Lian holds one of his turtle ocean scene paintings.

All in all, I really enjoyed the workshop and highly recommend Lian Zhen as a teacher. Lian keeps it simple and fun, and though it's not easy to achieve results as spectacular as his, he inspired everyone to try and try I will!

Lian Zhen Workshop: Day Three

2008-04-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Chicken watercolor painting 15" x 22"

On day four of the Lian Zhen workshop, we started and nearly finished a chicken painting. Everyone in the class did a rooster, hen, and several chicks, sketching out the composition and then Lian helped us improve our compositions before we started painting. He did his own chicken painting, he showed us step by step how to proceed with the painting.

Lian's demo chicken painting

Lian Zhen Workshop Day Two: Chinese Painting

2008-04-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

My Chinese fish painting, about 14" x 20"

Today we started a new Chinese painting using shuan paper and chinese paints. It took all day to do this painting, with demos in between us painting. Everyone was doing this fish painting but of course they all came out totally different. Watching Lian paint his demo is like watching a magician, he does it so easily and you see the underwater scene develop before your eyes with some very simple techniques. Like all masters, he makes it look easy!

Lian signs books with original paintings on the inside front cover.

You can bring one of his books you already own or buy one from him and he'll do a painting for you. Notice how he's holding his brush, far up the handle using a light hold. I think that's one of the keys to painting loose and fast.

Lian Zhen Workshop Day One: Chinese Painting

2008-04-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

My first Chinese painting

This is day one of the five day Lian Zhen workshop in Denver. Lian is very organized, he does a demo, then has the class go to their tables and do what he just did. We are all painting the same subject, which sounds a bit to formulaic but it works very well as it drives the lesson home yet everyone's paintings look different.

Day one and two are Chinese Painting, using Chinese paints on shuan paper which is a very thin paper made from shuan grass in China.

My second Chinese painting

There are 22 people in the workshop. I've never been in such a large painting workshop, but Lian has it figured out and no one gets shortchanged. The demos are easy to watch and he comes around to everyone and though his individual instruction is brief, it is helpful and accurate.

Lian uses a mirror above him so everyone can see what he is doing

The second painting we did was using Chinese ink and Chinese paint on shuan paper. It was a waterfall landscape that took us all afternoon to complete. In the beginning, I couldn't imagine how this landscape was going to look like much, but after we put the color in, the image was pleasing enough. I overheard many people saying how much fun they were having!

Lian Zhen Workshop

2008-04-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

This week I am in Denver taking a watercolor workshop with Lian Zhen. I bought his book about five years ago and have wanted to take his workshop ever since. Today, the first day of the workshop, holds lots of promise and I'm very excited. I'll report back here throughout the week as to how the workshop is going.

Notecards Launched

2008-04-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

I have recently created notecards from my original artwork, and put them up for sale on etsy. More are in the pipeline. Why sell notecards in the age of email? Hasn't the internet wiped out the last trace of snail mail? No! The rising popularity of handmade items prove that people still like the real thing. The note card market on etsy is thriving, and pen pal clubs abound on the internet.

I had a pen pal for awhile when I was a kid. I grew up in California, and my pen pal was in Burlington, Vermont. We both had horses, that was the glue, and I remember thinking how Vermont seemed like a world away. Though we didn't remain pen pals for all that long, I still remember her name all these decades later and the street she lived on: Tanglewood Drive.

I have always liked to write, and therefore email is right up my alley. But it's still a pleasant surprise to receive a handwritten card in the mail with a real postage stamp, canceled and dated. And I still like sending them, too.

Bird Series: Mourning Dove

2008-03-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

8x10 watercolor

Today I'm launching a new series of 8x10 watercolors. Birds.

The first entry is a mourning dove, inspired by the one who showed up around my bird feeder just a few days ago. Though there is still lots of snow on the ground, spring is officially on the way as it was the first of the migrant birds I have spotted here in Aspen, Colorado. Since the mourning dove's appearance, I have seen robins and red winged blackbirds, too.

A Look Back: Freedom Pony

2008-03-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

9x12 acrylic

This is a painting I did in 2003. It was, and still is, one of my favorite imaginary images--that of a girl flying on the back of a horse, free from gravity with no need for a saddle or bridle. It represents my carefree childhood. This image was partially inspired by Cristina Acosta's book, Paint Happy. (Especially the curvature of the earth and the bending trees.) She encourages artists to relax and explore their playful side.

I have visited this imaginary flying horse/girl theme in different ways over the years, but none recently. I may work on a new version today, and once again explore imaginary and playful images. Thanks, Cristina, for your inspiration which touches me again as I look at this painting I did five years ago.

Garden Series: Sunflower

2008-03-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

8x10 watercolor

Garden Series: Cosmos

2008-03-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

8x10 watercolor

Another of my favorite flowers, the cosmos. Though I left behind all the cosmos I planted at my former house, it is easy to collect the seeds, and I have a big bag of them!

Garden Series: Artichoke

2008-02-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

8x10 watercolor

This latest entry into my garden series, the artichoke, caused me to stop and think about what I love to paint. I am currently taking a figure drawing class to improve my drawing skills, and the teacher, Carolyn Manosevitz, spent some time yesterday talking about the art journey and creating art that has a meaning to it's maker (us). What is your art about, she asked the students. She said her's is about healing.

Though the majority of my lifetime of art has been about horses, in recent years, my horse oil paintings have become about the pastoral setting, and the way sunlight hits upon the horse figure. I love the warmth of the sun and the long lazy days of summer. That may not have the depth of meaning that art created by children of Holocaust survivors has, but since I am not haunted by the past, I look at what is before me that makes me pause, enjoy, and reflect.

Idaho Paint 22x24
2005 oil painting

And speaking of warmth and summer, one of my favorite things is growing flowers and vegetables. I wasn't able to do that for many years due to the itinerant nature of my life, but ten years ago we bought a place in Montana and I had my first garden in many years. I was delighted to find out I could grow artichokes in Montana, something that I love to eat and reminded me of my native California.

I took many photos of the flowers and vegetables I grew over the years, and the photos are fun to revisit, especially on a winter day when the sun is getting warm enough to start melting the snow. I started my watercolor Garden Series a few weeks ago to help me propel myself towards spring, and a new growing season. Gone are the memories of the end of season weariness of pulling weeds and trimming back spent plants...I'm ready to plant again!

So what are my Garden Series paintings really about? Sunlight, warmth, happiness. All the flowers and vegetables in my Garden Series are ones I grew myself. With the help of the sun, soil, and water, of course.

And don't get me wrong--the images I create are rarely succeed in fully expressing what I want to express. But it's about the journey, the attempt, the goal of having my hand succeed in creating what my mind knows.

Wild Colors

2008-02-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

Garden Series: First Pansy

2008-02-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

8x10 watercolor

The promise of spring: the first pansy planted, surrounded by the earth, before the new season's flowers cover the ground. Snow still covers the ground here, but with the longer, slightly warmer days here, I have spring and summer on my mind.

Garden Series: Hummingbird & Nasturtiums

2008-02-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

8x10 watercolor

Nothing is more rewarding than attracting hummingbirds to your garden, and to be there to capture their image.