Inspiration

L'air du Temps

Oil on Canvas

40" x 60" 

7950.00

Available Now as a Limited Edition Print

Inspiration is a funny thing. It is the beginning point. The place you start from and the place when I am finished I return to and ask myself if I held true to the inspiration or did I take a wild detour and land in a place far away from where I started?

My introduction to Lipizzaners was very typical. I was captivated by the Wesley Dennis's illustrations in Henry's book The White Stallion of Lipizza, I watched Disney's The Miracle of the White Stallions and I was smitten. I wanted one of those beautiful white horses that could leap into the air and preform capriole!

At this point if someone would have given me a 30 year old welsh pony I would have been over the moon.

When you're young, dreams and fantasy have not been dulled yet by the realities of life. Your imagination has no boundaries. Your heart knows how to sing and how to fly.

If this painting gives you a glimpse back to when you clutched at your heart when you look at a magical white beast leap into the air, then I held to my inspiration.


This painting is now being offered as a limited edition print.

20" x 30" Giclée Print, Edition of 10, 495.00 shipped in the US

13" x 20" Giclée Print, Edition of 25, 275.00 shipped in the US

contact me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com to purchase

Process

Detail of Underpainting

I work in a series of contradictions. I usually start with no idea of where I am really going. However, sometimes I start with a colour., and sometimes that colour changes. I always start a painting on canvas with an underpainting of colour washes.

Detail of Underpainting

The colour washes are applied in thin layers. In places there will be one or two layers, in others there will be several. These washes start to build a landscape, a road map of lights and darks and of movement. They give direction  and are in no way indicative of the colour that will be applies over them.

Once this has been achieved  I spend a great deal of time looking at it from all angles. I place them upside down, sideways, and mix them up. Often times a triptych will become a diptych or a single canvas.

Detail of Underpainting

Triptych

40" x 78" 

I search for the movement that suggests the figure that should be there. Once this has been established I can start painting.

So really, my underpainting a series of underpaintings.

More than a Feeling

Pasture Mates

Oil on Canvas

34" x 34"

3750.00

Starting a painting is easy! I begin with colour washes. I layer them. I manipulate the colour by placing one on top of the other. I let gravity play a part in the pigments settling and running. Most of the time I'm delighted. The work comes in the next stage.
                                                                                                                                       
 I am an intuitive painter. A lot of what I do is that I allow myself to be guided by what I have already painted. I respond to the color, and the line, and the shapes.

What I am moving towards is a feeling. This particular painting was motivated by that feeling of joy, and peace, and of that full hearted love you feel when you see your horses content in the pasture.

If I have succeeded, you will feel it too
.

Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith

After several inquiries regard "Leap of Faith" I have decided to offer it as a Giclée print for a limited time. Image size 16" x 20", 2" white border, for a total print size of 20" x 24". 245.00 plus 10.00 shipping and insurance in the United States via USPS. Arrangements may be made for International orders.



or contact me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Thank you.

Titled

Against the Wind

Unofficial Photo until I can get to the Photographer

Against the Wind

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite

17.5" x 23"

Sold

Official Photograph

Titling a painting is a funny thing. I never want something to be too specific as I don't want to constrict the viewers experience, I want to enhance it. So it needs to be a open ended.

I usually think of the title hours after I have left my photographers. He will ask me for the title and I don't have one, so we will reference it by materials and subject or color. I have quite a few files titled blue pony or red horse.

Everyone once in a while someone will be taking to me or I'll be listening to the radio and a word or phrase will catch my attention and that's it! The title of a work I have just completed. Or it will lead me on a little course of seemly random thoughts that bring about the title.

Last night via email chat someone asked me the title of this painting. I didn't have one yet. During our exchange she mentioned that her horses' Jockey Club name was Against the Wind. Voila! Titled!

Thank you Anne.

Sometimes

Primavera

Oil, Acrylic, and Charcoal 

on Canvas

40" x 60"

7950.00

Sometimes, if you are very lucky you just listen to your heart. You forget all the reasons why you shouldn't do this or you ought to do that, and you just listen to that constant, soft, true voice. The voice that usually gets drowned out by all the shouting in the world.

This painting is one where I just listened and was led down a garden path.

Double Edged Sword

Untitled

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.25" x 23"

975.00

One of the best things about being an artist is that there is no one telling me what to do. One of the worst things about being an artist is that there is no on telling me what to do.

The freedom is amazing! I can explore things, ideas, media, anything and everything. I can revisit the past or plunge into unknown territory. I am the one who sets my own parameters and can remove them or change them at will. It is boundless!

This sort of freedom can also become a hinderance. With all the possibilities, how do I choose one to start? How do I focus on one idea, one notion, and stay with it when there are so many other ideas dancing around demanding attention?

To be honest, I don't know. Some days I don't. Some days I clean and sort things. Some days I stretch and gesso canvas. Some days I do paper work. While, all these things need to be done, some days I do them to avoid choosing.

Most days however, I just pick my media and begin to work. 

Most days are good.

SaveSave

Pleased

I am so pleased to get these out into the morning post. I sold a painting to a lovely woman in North Carolina during Kentucky Derby Week and so off these go to benefit ReRun Thoroughbred Rescue and Remember Me Rescue, both doing so much good.

Fortunate

Untitled

Mixed Media on Paper

30" x 22"

NFS

I am fortunate. I grew up with two parents that wanted me to be happy. Not Kool Aid and Potato Chip happy, but deeply satisfied and content happy. This means that it was always okay that I wanted to be an artist.

My friends have understood me. That I am a painter, I am prone to fits of despair, I am prone to fits of elation, I get lost in thought and conversation. That I will spend enormous sums of money on paint while fretting about how to pay the electric bill.

My friends and family believe in me. Maybe not that I am a great talent, but in me. That my pursuit of happiness is valuable, if only to me.

While it hasn't been easy and there are times that I wish I could go and get a 9 to 5 job, I am happy.

I am grateful for the support I receive in a myriad of ways, from clients and patrons buying my work to someone saying "This is beautiful", to a fellow artist discussing media and techniques. I am fortunate that I realize it and I am grateful for every bit of it.

Thank you.

Relieving the Stress

Shooting Star

Oil and Mixed Media on Panel

From time to time someone approaches me and wants to know if I will do a lay-away plan for them on a particular painting or print. They are usually a bit shy about this, but they shouldn't be. The answer is almost always yes.

The monthly payment plan gives me a bit of relief from stress. I know I don't have to worry about this bill or that because a check is coming in. That in turn allows me to focus for easily on creating.

To those of you who have or are on a payment plan for art, thank you!

In the Still

In the Still

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

20" x 26"

Sold

I usually don't have a plan when I started working on a painting. This was clearly the case when I started working on this one. I would just apply a layer of acrylic paint down, wait for it to dry and apply another layer.

After awhile I was satisfied with the result. I set it aside. Every day or so I would pull it out and look at it. After a few weeks of this I decided I was going to finish it.

 I gathered my materials and was about to set to work on an entirely different image when I notice the first horse emerging out of the field of blues and greens. Gradually they all made their presences known.

This is the result of wandering and allowing.

To purchase please contact me or go to my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/457615114/in-the-still?ref=shop_home_active_2

Kentucky Derby Today!

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.5" x 23"

Sold

So today's the day! At the moment I don't have a favorite, I wish them all the best and a safe trip.

I love Thoroughbreds. I learned to ride on them. My first horse was a TB, and in fact the majority of the horses I have owned have been Thoroughbreds.

I also believe in giving back. So in celebration of the bred that has give so much to me 20% of all art purchased from between now and May 8th, 2016 I will be given to ReRun and to Remember Me Rescue. Both of these organizations do an outstanding job in giving Off the Track Thoroughbreds a life after racing.

My original artwork may be viewed at www.tannerjensenfineart.com and in past blog post.

As an added incentive I will be providing free shipping in the contiguous U.S.

If you have any questions, please email me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Thank you.

Exploring the Dark

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Graphite on Yupo

17.5" x 23"

800.00

Everyone knows that in the dark, you can't see. However when I was in a drawing class many years ago an instructor turned the tables on the phrasing and said "In a world of absolute light you see nothing."

This had an impact on my. I started search for the shadows.

In Celebration of the Thoroughbred

Look Homeward

26" x 20" 

Mixed Media on Yupo 

1250.00

I love Thoroughbreds. I learned to ride on them. My first horse was a TB, and in fact the majority of the horses I have owned have been Thoroughbreds.

I also believe in giving back. So in celebration of the bred that has give so much to me 20% of all art purchased from between now and May 8th, 2016 I will be given to ReRun and to Remember Me Rescue. Both of these organizations do an outstanding job in giving Off the Track Thoroughbreds a life after racing.

My original artwork may be viewed at www.tannerjensenfineart.com and in past blog post.

As an added incentive I will be providing free shipping in the contiguous U.S.

If you have any questions, please email me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com

Thank you.

Doubt

Untitled

Ghost Serigraph with

Watercolour, Ink, and Graphite on

Rives BFK

Image 10" x 14"

Framed 20" x 24"

750.00

There are lots of days when I am in the studio riddled with self doubt. Questioning what I am doing. Questioning why I am doing it. Questioning if it matters.

Then a painting sells.

There is a rush. A feeling of yes, someone recognized me. Me. Not my skill, not my ability, not my choice of materials, but me. The me that was and is always there. The me that I had no hand in creating. The me that has connected with something I don't understand. Something that is beyond the word of defining and lies in the field of feeling. Something only the heart glimpses and the artist wants to share.

And someone else felt it too!

Texture

Leap of Faith

Acrylic, Graphite, and Charcoal 

on Yupo

17.20" x 23"

Sold

I have been working on Yupo for the past few weeks. It has a lovely smooth surface. The graphite and charcoal glide across the surface. It accepts the paint and also resists it. It is a fascinating and seductive material to work on.

Detail of Leap of Faith

Generally I do not incorporate a lot of texture in my work. I prefer implied texture, even when working on canvas. However, I find myself building and manipulating texture on the Yupo, both actual by building layers that have more body and implied by layering paint of different values and transparencies.

Detail of Leap of Faith

I have no idea where this is all leading me to, but I am enjoying the trek.

Mad about Yupo

Comin' In

17.5 x 23

Mixed Media on Yupo

Sold

I LOVE the surface of this paper. Yupo is a synthetic paper made by a company in Virginia. It has soft and velvety texture. It accepts the charcoal and will then release it, leaving only a ghost of the line. A line like the memory of a dream.

I have been using acrylic, and gesso, and charcoal, and water-soluble graphite on it. I have been working with a limited colour palette, and yet I feel there is so much to still explore with in these boundaries. It's intoxicating, I love being a painter.

Light and Dark

Untitled

26" x 20"

Mixed Media on Yupo

Sold

I have been experimenting with Yupo. It is a synthetic paper and responds quite differently than traditional paper. I have been fooling around with it from time to time for that 8 or so years.

A couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time to complete a painting on the Yupo. I used Golden Acrylic along with water soluble graphite, ink, and vine charcoal.
This is the result. A horse in shadow with light illuminating the lower half.

Fresh off the Easel

Ghost Horse

Mixed Media on Panel

15" x 15"

1250.00

This painting took years and moments to create. 

I had a panel that I had been adding and subtracting color to for years. Literally years. I have memories of this particular panel that are at least 8 years old.

Sunday I was looking at it. I really like the color. I started adding lines with a pencil that became the outline of a horse. I started mixing paint and applying it to the surface and then removing it. I added more lines with colored pencils, I added more paint, and so it went on.

Yesterday morning I looked at it and thought it was finished, so I left it alone. Today I believe it is ready to share with you.

Delighted

Yesterday I received this photo of "Wild at Heart" hanging in it's new home. I am delighted when I get notes and photos of where and how people are living with the artwork I have created.

If you are living with one of my creations, please by all means send me a picture. I love seeing where they make their homes.