Summer Moved On

A sculpture by Becky Turner
painted in mixed media by me.

The very last days of this incredible summer are still with us, but only for a week or two more. Today we watched as weather reports predicted a hurricane tomorrow. Although hurricanes are never as bad here as they are in the southern states, a hurricane-like storm would really mean the official end to summer and swimming.

The water today had a chill to it. The chill of autumn slowly setting in. Francesco and I swam anyway. By next week the pool will probably be closed for good. Summer is by far my most favorite time of the year and I approach its ending with much sadness. I'm savoring the last days.

I tried to pull some pottery this week, but my mind is wandering terribly on other things like the last days of summer and two models I have been concentrating very hard on. One model capturing my interest is a Newsworthy model in bay tobiano and the other is a Rayne resin in chestnut. I had anticipated selling both, but the Newsworthy has become a guinea pig of sorts as I try to find a new matte spray that rivals the Citadel formula. Sadly nothing (so far) comes close.

The Rayne was scheduled for sale this week too, but the more I work on him the more I and am struck with thoughts of a warmblood horse I used to ride down at the barn and I think he may be staying in my own personal collection. Rayne in chestnut looks strikingly similar to that horse. His name slips me at the moment. I honestly didn't have a love affair with the beast. He was unmanageable once we went out of eye sight of the barn. I hated when they would bring him down the isle for me to ride. He was cranky. He was slow and tripped even at a walk, but he had the most beautiful chestnut coat I had ever seen. I've been trying to recreate that beautiful chestnut coat on Rayne as I experiment with some water soluble oils. They have been fun to work with and they are helping to ease the end of a good summer. I'm trying to look forward to cooler days spent at the third floor studio desk playing with rich, enticing color but memories of summer linger.

Love his voice.