Friday, January 29, 2010

Racina

Racina___16 x 24 giclee on paper from a watercolor___8 available___$90
Grandmother Helen raised and trained Arabian horses. She rode, too, till she was way past 80, and trained riders way after that. Her horse, Racina, was one of her favorites, and it was Racina who was the most "forgiving" horse with new riders. Grandmother put me on Racina when I tried to learn to ride properly...I was sort of a "lost cause" for Grandmother. I rode a whole lot as a kid, but always bareback, and I learned some bad habits that kept me from ever "sitting well" on Grandmothers finely trained Arabians.
I painted Racina when Grandmother lost most of her vision. The painting has faded some, but when it was first painted the background was darker. I never liked the background, but I did it this way so Helen could see it better (she could see contrasts, and these colors better for some reason)...She loved when Racina would hold her head and tail high...this was her favorite painting and was hanging by her bed when she passed away a few months ago. Read about her at this link, where there is a great photo of her, too. http://vvaughan.blogspot.com/2009/10/seventy-years-agocows-angus-farm.html My father-in-law, RV wanted some of our family members to have a reproduction of this, so we made a small edition... e-mail me if you want info vvaughan8@yahoo.com

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