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Painted Horse 2006 - "Prairie Spirits"
My original thoughts were to depict the ND landscape as I see and feel it every day - wide open, free, spirited, multi- layered and textured, similar to a wild horse roaming the Badlands. Since violet is one of my favorite and most reliable colors, I felt the need to use it not only to cover the original gray tone, but to set up a base color that would give me the surface depth necessary to move forward. I then chose hues that would evoke a visual sense of the vibrant and intense skies we are so fortunate to wake up to each morning and end the day with each evening. Texture became an element necessary in revealing my concept of various land surfaces, as well as the complex layers that lie beneath. My varied brushstrokes characterize the wind, the movement of the clouds and the spiritual entities that drift throughout the countryside. The beauty is, as I kept painting, revelations kept occurring, which in many ways serves as a metaphor for life: life on the prairie. This horse now resides on a ranch in California's Napa Valley wine country.
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