DOLLY

Down the road, about a mile from our ranch, was an organic farm known as “Live Power Farm.”  I loved watching the owner, Steve, with his draft horses and horse-drawn plow, tilling the fields, getting ready for another year of growing vegetables for our community and beyond.

Draft horses are large, strong and are a joy to watch in motion. Steve and his team DOLLY and Queen plowed the fields year after year. They tilled the land the old-fashioned way every fall season- no tractors involved, only man and horse and handheld plow. Steve would walk behind the plow, helping steer it, and you could hear him talking to the horses with a calm guidance. There’s an art, and heart, to horse drawn plows, and the special relationship that farmer develops with his team.

DOLLY was mostly white with some grey. Queen was a medium brown with blonde mane.  Beauties.  Their arching necks and thick manes danced with power. They were giants with a gentle nature. I fed them apples over the fence.

I enjoy painting white or light-colored horses and cattle. The light color allows one to see the various colors of the shadows on their light coats. We tend to think shadows are grey or black, but shadows are full of color depending on what tone and how bright the light source is. A white horse or white cow is like a blank canvas to me, allowing the colors to show in a pure way. Sometimes shadows can be turquoise, lavender, purple, or green hues, sometimes ochre or orange tones. It depends on what colors are reflecting from the sky, from the ground, the trees, or the hay or the blackberry bushes. Shadows can also be colors off other horses or cattle or sheep or farm animals standing close. In the light and in the shadows, life is also a palette of colors. I love natural light. I love my country neighborhood.