
After many color coats and many micromanaged painting decisions, Mickey and Nellie are finally finished to my satisfaction, and more imporantly, to my client's.
Today was “presentation day” at the Fox Valley Saddle Association horse show. My client came to pick up her painting, and simply l-o-v-e-d it. Which of course made me very, very happy too. She had told a neighbor she was having the portrait done, and her neighbor showed up at the horse show even before she did to talk to me and see the painting. She has ideas in mind for two portraits, so we’ll see how this progresses. There’s nothing like word of mouth to bring in sales–advertising just can’t compete with a recommendation from a trusted friend. In this regard, my client has become something like my personal ambassador–she must have brought at least a dozen friends by my booth today to see the painting and promoted it better than I ever could have to each and every one of them. If every project went like this, life would be more than good–it would be super sweet!
In between visits to my booth, I engaged in my usual pursuit–little ink sketches. I almost have enough to mat and shrink-wrap for sales display. Maybe one more horse show session will do it! Here are a few samples–all are drawn from photos taken by my friend Lauren Goodman at Blue Sky Horse Rescue in Klamath Falls, Oregon.