Painting "Winter Pasture"

My most recent commission, "Winter Pasture" is a painting of Zoot, an adorable Shetland Pony.  The owner of Zoot, Anna Bigelow, imported her from Scotland.  How amazing!  I hope to visit the farm where she lives soon. Anna has since imported another friend of hers, Lyra, and they were recently reunited.  I was really interested in these beautiful creatures so she sent me some info I found fascinating.  Here is what she told me:

Zoot is a Shetland Pony.  She was born in the Shetland island of Scotland, and I imported her to the USA shortly before her second birthday.  The breed has been around for thousands of years because they are built for survival.  A layer of fat insulates their organs from the 100 mph winds that rush across the islands in the winter along with their long, thick coats.  There are no trees in Shetland, so they only have the hills and old ruins to protect them.  The islands are also covered in hidden bogs (I was once walking and I stepped in one, finding myself suddenly chest deep in the bog.  Thankfully I was able to pull myself out, with much judgement from the onlooking ponies).  But the ponies know how to avoid the bogs.  Something deep within their brains a sense the am not sure how.  The bogs do not look different than a small stream or sometimes they look like a regular hill. But the ponies know and never get caught in them.  In my opinion, one of the most intelligent breeds of equines.  

For many centuries Shetland ponies have also been used for farm work and for children's riding ponies.  For a time during the 19th and 20th century, these ponies also were deemed to be perfect pit ponies.  This was because in 1842 there was a law that banned children from working in the mines in England, but the miners still needed something small to help them with their tasks.  The ponies were strong but compact, and at one point in 1913 there were 70,000 pit ponies in use.  Most ponies worked 8 hour days.  In the 1950s and 60s the practice finally stopped.  Technology had finally caught up enough to make the job unnecessary, but also, people began to realize that perhaps it was not the most natural and kind practice, and that ponies are meant to live in the daylight.

Zoot is around 40" tall, which is correct for a standard Shetland.  They should be between 38-42".  She has big bones, correct conformation, and very high intelligence, mixed with a kind nature and temperament.  A lot of ponies in her lineage on her sire's side come for the Wells Stud, which is a famous for breeding black Shetland ponies on Mainland, Scotland.  They breed ponies that are true to the breed standard and honor the old lines.  They are supposed to be like a compact draft horse, but with the same qualities that have helped the Shetland Ponies to survive thousands of years.  Her dam's side has very old Island lineage.  Zoot's breeding is very special.

Photo by Gerry Bigelow

Thordale Stud (Zoot's breeder) worked very hard to breed the best possible ponies.  They no longer breed Shetland Ponies, but these days focus on rescue of Shetland Ponies and Shetland Sheep that are in need.  They also breed, train, and ride Icelandic Horses, and retain a few of the original Shetland mares, to live out their old age in blissfully large grassy fields.  This includes Zoot's grand-dam (Also Lyra's dam) Millhouse Vitamin, who was featured in the famous ad campaign for Visit Scotland, "Shetland Ponies in Sweaters."  Francis Taylor, the owner of Thordale, writes a wonderful blog about the adventures of all the animals on the farm.  A link to her blog about her daily life in Shetland is included HERE

These are fascinating ponies.  I have just imported Zoot's best friend Lyra (from when they were foals) just a few weeks ago.  They are both doing very well and were happy to be reunited again.  They are now learning to drive as a pair.

Information and uncredited photos by Anna Bigelow.

Here is Anna's FB link with lots more on Zoot. LINK

Photo by Frances Taylor.  LINK 

Thoughts on creating "Mid-Winter Light"

I thought it might be of interest to share some of my thinking and strategy that went into painting this piece.  Here in Maine, winters are...well...rather long (sigh).  It is a beautiful time of year in many ways, and I do love living in a climate that presents 4 distinct seasons.  But as the short days and frigid temps march along, signs of spring help get one through the tough stretches.  Hence some fresh flowers on the windowsill!

So, on this overcast, snowy day the "temperature" of the light was decidedly cool.  That means that the objects this light hits directly will reflect back cooler colors.  Shadows therefore should be fairly warm in temperature. In addition, the other subtle light source was from within my kitchen.  So objects "living" in this light would be warmer than the outdoor light.  For example, the inner wall to the left and below the window are warmer yellows and purples than objects being struck by the outdoor light source. 

Blue is considered the coolest color on the color wheel, orange the warmest.  The snow in the yard and the tree branches behind in the woods are the coolest objects in the scene...muted cool blues and purples, and pure white for the snow. The close side of the tangerine the warmest.  The daisies were already a very cool yellow (leaning more toward a blue-er yellow rather than an orange-yellow) so I had no trouble painting the well-lit outer petals.  But I struggled a bit with the color of the center of the bouquet.  When I tried a warmer yellow (more orange-ey) it did not look right.  After wondering why this was so, it occurred to me that even though the center of the bouquet was not in the direct daylight, the daylight was strong enough to penetrate the blossoms.  In other words, the daylight was overwhelming the weaker, warmer light in my kitchen.  Does this make sense?? :)  So those inner daisies not directly lit my the outdoor light were still being affected by it as the light passed through the bunched-up daisies.  Therefore the yellow leans much more toward blue/green than toward orange.

In addition to these issues, I also had to consider the light reflecting OFF of the objects.  And so you can see that both the orange from the tangerine and the blue from the vase are subtley reflected onto the inner window frame.

If you've stuck with me through this, then bravo!  There are books and books on the subject of color with regard to painting.  I would recommend a few:  Betty Edwards' "Color" is a classic.  And James Gurney's "Color and Light" is another amazing book.

Thank you again for your interest in my work!  Check out my website and sign up for my bi-monthly newsletter to stay informed of new work and upcoming shows.

Until next time - all the best,

Shelley