HeARTful of Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving from the "wildlife" here in my studio to all of you!  May this be a day of reflection and joy in seeing all the ways that you have been blessed and provided for this year.  I am thankful for you and your appreciation of beauty and art, and for your support and encouragement.  Thank you all!!!

This past year has been a huge leap of faith for me.  I am grateful to my dear sister Robyn, her husband Ed, and my nieces Madeleine and Megan, and nephew Josh for encouraging me in so many ways and making it possible for me to focus on creating art full time.  This is what I have been able to produce since coming to Omaha:

I am grateful for the opportunity to work on art this year.  My skill level has a long way to go.  Sometimes I get frustrated at the slow pace of my learning and ability growth.  But I was reminded again yesterday that I need to be thankful for the abilities that I currently have, and to be glad that I am aware of need for growth.  That can only lead to further learning and improvement which will result in better art to offer the world.

Here's a great artists' poem to highlight a thankful spirit this Thanksgiving season (the word "pied" means multi-colored):

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things---

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced---fold, fallow, and plough;

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

                                    Praise Him.

                                                                              --- Gerard Manley Hopkins

Be brave and courageous!

Bambi and Wiggles

"Bambi and Wiggles"

Charcoal/graphite

17" x 22"

Meows and neighs have been prevalent sounds in my studio the last week.  And now you can see why.  Let me introduce you to Bambi the mare and Wiggles, her cat friend.  They are two unlikely companions but seem to get along just fine.  Bambi isn't unnerved at all by this four clawed creature who can scratch, hiss, and pounce.  Wiggles seems oblivious to the potential of being kicked, stomped on, or bitten.  There's a quiet camaraderie in this barnyard relationship...a comfortableness of each being safely who they are without getting on each other's nerves.  This is a metaphor for what goes into making a good friendship.

 Speaking of friendship....Michelangelo, my art manikin, wanted me to introduce you to a new studio resident and friend.  If you look closely, you will see a small red cat.  This is Renoir who was crafted for me by my nephew Josh Milligan out of Play Dough. Josh stated that Renoir was to be my studio supervisor.  Michelangelo said that was his job description, but that he didn't mind sharing some tasks.  

This past weekend I enjoyed attending the 2014 Nebraska Horse Expo in Lincoln, Nebraska. Beautiful horses, jumps, and trail challenges provided good photo references for me.  

Not to be excluded, the little tykes also got to have their moment of glory in the stick horse rodeo.

Recently I met Mary Pell, mother of my horse-loving friends Kirsten and Rhiannon.  She makes these amazing tote bags out of their horses' feed bags.  I think she sells them for $6.00.  They are weather proof and a clever way to recycle.  Let me know if you would like to buy some.  

Just a reminder...the 2015 Bonnie Patterson Fine Art Calendars are now available for ordering on-line here on my website.  Just picked up a new batch from the printers so help yourselves!  

Be brave and courageous!

Horsin' Around Again

My studio is turning into a stables again.  My manikin Michelangelo is ecstatically horsin' around trying to demonstrate his riding abilities to me.  I'm not impressed.  The buffalo has safely been removed off the easel, transported to the framers, and is carefully corraled at the printers awaiting a CD scan.  Here's a peak at him fresh off the easel:  

("Mr. Majesty"     17" x 22"    Charcoal/graphite)

We've opened the stable doors to having another horse on the easel.  Here's the first sketching on him:

Horses are irresistible for subject matter.  I love being around them, whether in the corral, the pasture, rounding barrels, or working hard in holding the rope taut with a steer at the end.  There's a beauty and nobility about a horse combined with a sensitivity and vulnerability.  At the end of the book of Job, God asks Job a series of questions to highlight the fact of God's all-powerful character.  I love the beauty in the description of the horse in these questions:

     Have you given the horse its strength

          or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?

     Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust?

          Its majestic snorting is terrifying!

     It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength

          when it charges out to battle.

     It laughs at fear and is unafraid.

          It does not run from the sword.

     The arrows rattle against it,

          and the spear and javelin flash.

     It paws the ground fiercely

          and rushes forward into battle when the ram's horn blows.

     It snorts at the sound of the horn.

          It senses the battle in the distance.

          It quivers at the captain's commands and the noise of battle.

                                                                   ----Job 39:19 - 25

                                                                   New Living Translation

What a vivid description of the horse!  If you are around horses much, you can just visualize what Job 39 is describing.

Okay, now here comes a little offer for you:  the first 5 people who guess what I'm going to draw between the legs of this horse will receive a free 8" x 10" print of the finished drawing.  

Currently I have 4 pieces of art hanging at the beautiful Jewish Community Center here in Omaha for the Silver Palette Show.  This show, sponsored by the Bellevue Artists Association of which I'm a member, goes until November 30th.  Here are a few photos from the reception this past Sunday:

Also, the 2015 Bonnie Patterson Fine Art Calendars are now available to order!  You can gift yourself or others this holiday season by clicking on the tab at the top of my web page to take you to the calendar page.  

Be brave and courageous!

2015 Calendars Hot Off the Press!

Just in time for the holiday season of gift giving....the 2015 Art Calendar is ready to order!  I have included poignant quotes for each month along with 12 images of my artwork.  If you enjoy western and wildlife art, then you will find much for your eyes to look at each day of the year.

Just click on the 2015 Calendar button on this website and you'll be given the opportunity to order by clicking on the Buy Now button.

Calendars remind us of time in a variety of ways....days, weeks, months, and years.  The famous quote on time states that "Time and tide wait for no man."  We cannot control the clock.  Time moves on at a steady rate.  I find it interesting how conscious we are of time "seeming" to drag by when we are waiting for something to happen or enduring troubles.  And then time can "seem" to fly by when we are engaged in something we enjoy.  As humans we attempt to do all kinds of things with time.  Here is Michelangelo, my art manikin, trying to stop the clock here in my studio.  

We are reminded that our times are in God's hands in Psalm 31:15.  How well we use time and how we live out each moment is a challenge for each of us.  Time is a wonderful gift.  I have been reminded last week how precious time is with the passing of my Uncle Robert Bell who used his time on earth well for the good of many people.  And just today comes the word that my father's brother, a heroic WWII veteran is now gone.  You and I are still alive today.  We are living in this moment with this gift of time.  May we live it fully and well!

Here is an update on a new work I started this week, hoping to have it finished by Saturday night.  This is of the buffalo that I saw in Yellowstone National Park this August.  Think I will be calling this work  "Mr. Majesty".  

Be brave and courageous!