New studio furniture, new art, and a Greyhound painting in progress

It's been a very busy November! I hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. I'm very thankful for my husband and the new studio furniture he built for me. I have much more workspace now, as well as file cabinets and drawers, vertical storage for paintings, and shelves. It spans two whole walls of the studio, and the tops are covered in glass so I don't have to worry about getting paint on them!



I love this time of year, and enjoyed several days of hiking in the Loess Hills.



The fall colors of the prairie grasses never fail to take my breath away. I took two separate Plein Air outings (painting on location) to paint at 300 acres of restored native prairie and oak savanna that belongs to the neighbor of a friend. Like most of Iowa, the surrounding land is agricultural fields, but when you're standing alone on this restored landscape with prairie surrounding you as far as you can see, they might as well be a million miles away. It's very surreal, like stepping back in time. I'm very thankful for the hard work and care the landowner put into restoring this land, (and for allowing me to paint there!)

These photos are from the first day I painted there. I was actually waiting for an overcast day:

And the finished painting:

November
12 x 9" oil on linen
© 2010 Kathleen Coy

The next day I painted there, I walked a little further for a different view:

Since this is the first year I've painted landscapes, I'm still experimenting. This one took an abstract turn... I wanted to try to capture how it felt to stand there surrounded by these beautiful tall grasses and oaks, with no sound except for the wind, and the thoughts of how agriculture has changed the land of the Midwest. It was haunting, and I tried to capture that.

Natives
20 x 10" oil on canvas
© 2010 Kathleen Coy

And finally, here's the Greyhound painting I'm working on. It's not finished, still a ways to go, but I'm having a lot of fun with this one! His name is Petro. It's 11 x 14" oil on canvas.

He should be finished in a day or two. I'll post an update with more photos.

Until then, much love,

Cat Portraits - Sen-Chan and Yuu-Chan

The portrait commission of two Abyssinian cats are finished and I love how they turned out. This is Sen-Chan's portrait, and the background may be my favorite I've painted yet:

Sen-Chan, 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas
© 2010 Kathleen Coy

And this is Yuu-Chan's portrait. I love the back lighting:

Yuu-Chan, 12 x 12 inch oil on canvas
© 2010 Kathleen Coy

Both of these cats have left us, but they will remain forever young in their portraits. I hope the paintings bring happy memories to their human every time she sees them. I know she misses them terribly.

I got to deliver the portraits in person, which was great fun for me, as many buyers are not local, and their paintings are usually sent by mail. She lives very far away, but was visiting a town near me last week for a horse show, so it worked out perfectly!

Here's a photo of the two of us with the portraits. "#1", as she is known on her blog, is a brilliant, charming, and fascinating woman, and I'm so glad we got to meet in person.


Much love,