This is a painting that I’ve been working on for months. When I say I’ve been working on it, that doesn’t mean I’ve been painting it everyday. In fact I may go several weeks without adding a brushstroke. But I look at it everyday in my studio and wait for it to tell me what it needs. I feel like it is getting close to where it wants to be. I like the interplay of shapes and colors, and the relationship between the horses and the viewer. Horses live very much in the moment, all senses taking in information. Although to the untrained eyes, horses may seem not to notice what is going on, if you observe where their ears are pointed, you’ll have an idea of what has got their attention. In a herd situation, horses work in cooperation with each other, listening and looking in all directions and communicating to each other through subtle body language.

I’m currently reading a book called “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. It’s not an easy read, in that the concepts he presents are so simple that they are impossible for the mind to grasp. Of course for those of you who have read his book, or those of you who practice meditation, you know how difficult it is to turn the mind off and just be present.

There is a sweet spot in painting, when the mind seems to shut down and cease its endless babble, when the process of painting is all that exists. Time suspends, ego evaporates, separation between self and paint and canvas disappears. Everything just is.