Renae's NaMoPaiMo party

Yesterday, Renae Keller invited the Colorado hobby community to a combined NaMoPaiMo and housewarming party.

A whole bunch of us gathered in Nae's beautiful, sunny kitchen to eat, talk and paint.

Melissa Addison, Regan O'Keefe, Collyn Richmond, Beth McCarley, Teresa Fedak, Yashka Hallein, Renae Keller, Karen Gehrhardt, Angelo Zunic and Fabian Rodriguez. Not pictured: Heather Malone and Jennifer Buxton

I brought Bubbles, but I didn't work on her. She's so close to being done, but the last details are the hardest. I'm going to really need to concentrate, so it's best to finish her while I'm alone.

Fabian's horse is at the other end of the painting process. This one started out dapple-grey, but that wasn't working. Fabian stripped it and started over. 

Now it's on it's way to being a nice liver chestnut.

Angelo brought three models. This one is her NaMoPaiMo project...

and the next two are some of her resculpts.

I love what she's doing with this one! 

Check out Angelo's paint palette! What a great idea!

Regan...

and Karen both worked on non-NaMo projects... 

and Renae worked on everything!

This is her official NaMoPaiMo pony... 

and here she's giving Karen an overview of pastel application.

Finally this photo shows her wearing her brand-new magnifying visor. Yay! 

This was such a fun day.

Thank you for letting us invade your home, Renae.

Let's please do it again next February!

The nitty gritty

When I went out in the field to catch Thunder yesterday, I found him sleeping on the poop pile.

This was not unexpected. He loves that poop pile.

It's warm and steamy and fragrant. What more could a little Rocky Mountain Horse ask for?

I know some riders who are content to clean only the parts of the horse that are covered with tack. Alas, that is not me. It doesn't matter how short or how casual the ride is, I feel compelled to turn this...

into this.

Admit it, Thunder. You look - and smell! - so much better now!

Most model horses are presented in show condition with short, sleek coats, 

model by Ryan Jaeger

neatly groomed manes and tails...

model by Tiffany Purdy

and whiter than white markings. 

model by Ellen Yanosky

There's nothing wrong with this, of course. Most people - myself included - like clean horses.

model by Beth Kingdon

But what if you're painting a slightly unkempt, shagged coated pony? 

model by Christine Sutcliffe

This is something I've been struggling with. I don't want Bubbles to look like she's been sleeping on a poop pile, but I also think that maybe she's a little too freshly clean.

Today, I decided to make those whites a little less white.

I don't love it yet, but I think I'm on the right track. With a little more work, I should be able to find the right balance between cleanliness and realism. 

This is definitely the nitty gritty part of NaMoPaiMo, but the end is in sight. I can do this!

Pictures from today's ride

Yesterday, I went over  to Heather's house to celebrate the Braymere blog's five millionth pageview and record the Mares In Black NaMoPaiMo episode.

When I left, there was six inches of new fallen snow on the road. Heather asked if I would be okay driving home. I told her I'd be fine, then sighed and added, "I am so sick of winter. I just want to go riding."

So guess what I did today?

I went riding!

And it was glorious!

I was accompanied by Mary Jo and Diana, 

and all three of us were giddy to be in the saddle...

and making tracks on all that fresh, new snow.

There wasn't any ice or mud so the footing was fine, and the bright sunshine made it feel a lot warmer than thirty four degrees.

The only real hazard came from melting snow on low-hanging branches.

Fortunately, it all stayed up there, at least while we rode under it!

This was a near perfect ride on a near perfect horse with the most perfect riding buddies I could ever hope for.

I thought I would spend today finishing my NaMoPaiMo pony, but this was better. Tomorrow, I'll get her done!

The end is in sight

With a little less than a week to go, there are one hundred thirty two models in the NaMoPaiMo winners' circle.

My pony is not one of them, but the end is in sight. 

I've worked on her tail and hooves since the last pictures in this progression were taken. For all intents and purposes, she is done. It's just a matter of finessing the details.

NaMoPaiMo day twenty

As the month wears on, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to balance NaMoPaiMo administration, painting and blogging. Fortunately, the end is in sight on the painting front...

and just look at all these horses in the winners' circle

One week and a few hours left to go. We can do it!

You've got this

Last month, I spent a few days with my Mom at her home in Altadena, California.

Mom lives just a short distance from Eaton Canyon, which is one of my all-time favorite places. 

The first morning I was there, I got up early and went for a walk in the canyon. 

My phone buzzed as I picked my way down to the canyon floor. It was Ryan with a question about whether or not he should brave blizzard-like conditions in my car. I told him to stay home.

Then I sent him a picture of what I was doing.

Ryan loves Eaton Canyon almost as much as I do. His reaction was immediate and emphatic.

I told him that I was planning to walk to the waterfall, but given the amount of water in the canyon, I wasn't sure I would make it.

He encouraged me to try.

I wasn't convinced, but I really did want to see the waterfall, so I let Ryan's enthusiasm guide me. I walked under the bridge and up into the narrow part of the canyon.

This part of the trail criss-crosses the creek over and over again. It's not usually a problem since the creek is mostly dry. On this day, however, it made for a lot of precarious crossings on slippery rocks and wobbly logs.

Progress was slow, and I got discouraged. I told Ryan, and he said, "You've got it, Ma."

Somehow, those four little words made all the difference. I put one foot in front of the other and made my way up that canyon.

My feet did end up getting wet...

and, in the end, the destination wasn't quite as glorious as I'd hoped for.

Still, I was glad to be there. I took a selfie for Ryan - and myself - and spent some time enjoying my achievement before I headed back down the canyon.

There's a reason why NaMoPaiMo is a community event. 

Painting a horse is hard and the pitfalls are many. It's easy to get discouraged, especially when you're working alone.

Fortunately, no one has to go it alone during February. Help is always just a couple mouse clicks away.

So is encouragement, support, enthusiasm, humor and empathy. 

We are all in this together, and when someone tells you, "You can do this, " what they're really saying is "You're not alone," "I'm rooting for you" and "I care about you."

There are ten days left in NaMoPaiMo. This is crunch time. Some of us won't actually do it, but all of us can be there to support each other as we put one foot in front of the other and try our best to reach our goals.