Black Friday Starts Now!!! In the Mustang A Day Challenge Zazzle Shop

These 5 Stallions of Sand Wash Basin, Picasso, Corona, Tripod, Buddy and Apache are now Ornaments in the Mustang A Day Challenge Store
Buy them and many more Mustang Related Christmas gifts  at this link:
http://www.zazzle.com/lindalmartinartist/gifts?cg=196829639368103586&GroupProducts=False&pg=1&sd=desc&st=date_created
Black Friday Starts Now!  20% off EVERYTHING + 50% off CARDS & ORNAMENTS!   TODAY ONLY!  Use Code: BLKFRIDAY687 

My Christmas painting for 2013

The Grand Unveiling!! 

My Christmas 2013 Painting: 

 "A Donkey for Christmas"

A Donkey for Christmas  Blank note cards and gifts are available on Zazzle Here
http://www.zazzle.com/a_donkey_for_christmas_cards-137796910191347343

I love working on these little whimsy paintings.  It is sweet and innocent and yes, it is based on the cardinals in my yard and a wild burro that hopefully will be adopted through the WH&B Internet Adoption  that ends Tuesday November 19th at noon.

There are still a variety of these wild burros that need homes as well as a number of  wild horses.

 If you know of anyone who might be interested in starting the adventure of adopting and gentling a wild horse why not send them one of my new note cards for Christmas and tell them about wild horse or burro adoption.

If they adopt and have never gentled a wild horse before I can even give resources of experienced horse handlers who can guide them through the process.
I hope you will keep watching my blog in future days as I share more of my art and products. The original painting is not for sale at this time, however the  cards are available on  my http://www.zazzle.com/LindaLMartinArtist* shop on  Zazzle 

It is Burro Week on the Mustang A Day Challenge

Painting Adoptable Burros and Mustangs  

http://mustangadaychallenge.blogspot.com/

This Week Is Wild Burro Week!!

This week I will be painting a number of Burros available for adoption either through the TIP program (Trainer Incentive Program) of the Mustang Heritage Foundation or via the current Internet Adoptions now ongoing for the next few weeks on the BLM page.

In order to participate in the adoptions you would need to fill out an application and become approved before you may bid. To find out how to qualify to adopt and to see the available horses and burros up for adoption please go here: https://www.blm.gov/adoptahorse/onlinegallery.php

Remember every time someone adopts a wild horse, wild burro or wild mule they keep one more animals from long term holding  . And when you adopt please share your story with me and photos of your precious one, so I can put him or her in the challenge. #savingwildhorses

Mustang A Day Challenge Celebrates 50,000 page views!!!!

This offer is over. Thank you to everyone who participated.

As a special thank you to all of my followers, supporters of Wild Horses everywhere!!! I am giving away this download for personal use only from October 29th through November 2nd, 2013. This is a one time offer and my thanks to everyone who loves wild horses for helping to support this cause. Blessings.

How to download? Go to The Download page and follow the directions or download from my  Mustang  A Day Challenge Facebook Page Here>>> http://mustangadaychallengenews.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

If you have not seen the Mustang  A Day Challenge blog you can see it at this link: http://MustangADayChallenge.blogspot.com

New Painting Schedule For the Mustang A Day Challenge July and August 2013

The Mustang A Day Challenge is not over! Many people think the Mustang A Day Challenge is over. It is not. However, I will be doing a modified schedule for a while.

Its hard to believe that its been 5 weeks since I've been able to post any new paintings for the Mustang A Day Challenge. Actually its been a pretty challenging two months. I was diagnose with Lyme in late May and my last image for The Mustang A Day Challenge was uploaded on to the blog on June 20th. That was image 430.

Challenge painting #431
"Across Lava Rocks"
Watercolor by LindaLMartin

Well today I uploaded painting # 431! And this after not being able to paint for a few weeks while I stayed on steady antibiotic therapy for 28 days. On the 10th of August I will begin Physical Therapy to try to keep my affected joints from undermining me. I know this really isnt what you want to know about. You want to know when the next paintings are coming out.

Well Here is the Plan:

I have 4 more Virginia Range paintings with the help of Mikel Ann Hettrick and Anne Hall. Then I have two amazing mustangs (who's names will not be revealed until I actually paint them , however, I am really excited that their owners approached me.)  That should get us through the end of July.

Coming in August I will be painting  A number of Kigers from Riddle Mountain and Kiger Range HMAs Thanks to the Branded Kiger Association and a number of Kiger wild horse owners.  Plus More of the Alberta Wild Horses are on tap too.

Some Sand Wash Basin Wild horses of course will be on the schedule. Then a Surprise herd that is becoming very popular through out the USA that many are hoping will soon have protection.

Prints and Art Cards will be available on both etsy and ebay as well as the originals. Limited edition signed art cards will also be available for fund raising purposes. More to come on the details but  there is a lot of painting going on leading up to October.

If you have a special wild horse you would like to see me paint prior to Thanksgiving, Let me know as soon as possible so I can put your horse on the schedule. If your horse was on the schedule before I became ill and was not painted, please contact me as soon as possible so I can reschedule the painting. Thank you all for your prayers and your encouragement

Announcing Just for Fun Wild Horse Collector Cards!!

These 2.5 by 3.5 inches  card sets and individual cards are great to collect for yourself, to teach your children and grand children about wild horses or to introduce the herds to friends and neighbors who want to know more about wild horses.

Every one of these cards is from an original painting or drawing of an actual living wild horse from out west by artist Linda L Martin for the Mustang A Day Challenge.

Signed Limited  to 100 Editon Collector set
Buy via Etsy at
The Mustang A Day Challenge Store

There are two variations on the cards.
You can choose to buy the collector sets that are signed and numbered or individual cards which are signed but open editions.  Each is a miniature in-house print of the original art. On the back is printed information about the horse and its parentage including the names that the independent horse watchers and photo documenters give the horses on the range.

As of this writing there are approximately 10 collector card sets either already available or in the making. And a few individual cards available for purchase. All of the cards are print on demand.

The  collector cards are in sets and are  signed and limited to 100 of each set .  The first 5 of each set are available for fund raising for groups such as the Wild Horse and Burro Association, The Sand Wash Advocate Team, and Great Escape Mustang Sanctuary.  Card sets numbered 25 to100 are available on a first come first serve basis directly via email, on Facebook, via etsy and the highest numbers are at auction on ebay when available.

Purchase Card sets directly though Etsy here:
Mustang A Day Challenge Store
 
  Also available are  “Color Your Own” black and white collector cards.

Ready to add your own color or personalization
These cards can stand alone as black and white prints
or stand up to crayons, color pencils or markers
Buy this set for $17.00 on Etsy
Color Your Own Collector Cards

They are good enough to stand alone in black or white or they can be colored and personalized.  These are also sold as print on demand cards and are open editions. They are not signed by the artist.

$1 from each set of collector cards goes to a photographer who documents the herd from each private sale.  25¢ from each card sold individually also goes to a photo documenter of wild horses.

If your organization or group would like to use the cards as give-aways or for festival or event fund raisers. Your organization’s representative can order sets or individual cards in groups of 25 at a reduced rate and they can be personalized with your organization’s logo to be used at your even. Please contact the artist through Facebook or email info@llmartin.com for more information.  Be sure to write "Collector Cards" in the subject line.  Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for production and delivery.

Share your Love of Wild Horses!

Enjoy your summer! ~Linda

The Viriginia Range Wild Horses Series

The Virginia Range is one of the most important sights in the history of the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971. The entire process began on this particular range with Velma Johnston in the 1950s when she saw a group of mustangers transporting bloodied and abused wild horses from the range to a slaughter plant. Her life's work became the humane treatment of wild horses and helping to pass laws that would protect these historic wild animals and preserve them for future generations.

Just In case you missed the beginning of the Virginia Range Series On the Mustang A Day Challenge this week here are the links so you can see the drawings and read back:

~*~*~

Day One: The Deer Run Horses from Pine Nut HMA
Painting #391  Deer Run Mares
http://mustangadaychallenge.blogspot.com/2013/03/deer-run-road-mares-challenge-painting.html

Day Two: Part 1 Early History and why the Virginia Range is so Important to the Wild Horse and  Burro Program and Velma Johnston's Part
Challenge Painting #392 Virginia Range Foal "Running for Joy"
http://mustangadaychallenge.blogspot.com/2013/03/virginia-range-foal-challenge-painting.html

Day Three: Part 2 The Lay of the Land how the private lands and public lands complicated implementation of the Act and why the Virginia Range Herd was not included for protection.
Challenge painting#393  "Virginia Range Youngsters"
http://mustangadaychallenge.blogspot.com/2013/03/virginia-range-foals-challenge-painting.html

Day 4: Part 3 Virginia Range after 1971 (Who Owns the Horses?)
Challenge Painting #394 Virginia Range Foal: Woolly Bear
http://mustangadaychallenge.blogspot.com/2013/03/virginia-range-foal-challenge-painting_16.html

Reference Photography provided by Mikel Ann Hettrick

The Project will continue for another week or two and will cover some of the management issues with the Virginia Range Horses as well as some of the  ways that people can help prevent some of the problems that plague the horses now.

All of the images will be available in the form of signed prints on Etsy by Monday March 18th, 2013 Please check out the Mustang A Day Challenge Store on Etsy for Originals and Signed prints at this link:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MustangADayChallenge

Origins of Today's Wild Horses, Are Some Perhaps Ancient?

This week on the Mustang a Day Challenge I am painting and telling the stories of the Alberta Provence Wild Horses in Canada. Since I became ill with some sort of cold  right in the middle of it I thought I would take a break from painting today and share with you all some interesting natural history. 

The first thing I came across was this wonderful video of the Reconstruction of an Ice Age Yukon Wild Horse, Pretty inters testing. (please read further after you watch.)  There is some very interesting discussion on the page under the video. I don’t necessarily agree with everything written there; however, it is informative and thought provoking.



Then I thought well why not do a bit of a comparison between the Restoration Tarpan and the  reconstructed  Yukon Wild horse. And I thought to throw in the finer boned version of the Alberta Wild horses. I want to say that unless some significant DNA  testing is done on both the living and the dead all thoughts are conjecture. However, I think anything is possible regarding these horses until proven otherwise.

The Restoration Tarpan here in Virginia seems to have a build much like the
Ice Age Yukon Wild Horse. The photo on the right was taken  in 2011.

Lastly is a video of the Konik horses.  These wild horses, like the Restoration Tarpan are the descendants of the last living Tarpan in captivity. The horses in the wild were long ago hunted to extinction as pests to crops and livestock and for food. Some however were captured  and used as beasts of burden and transportation. These were also bred privately in captivity.  I managed to find online in Wikipedia a copy of the only known image of a living Tarpan.

I accidentally forgot to turn off the gray scale feature before I inserted
Ken's image just taken in the past year of an Alberta wild horse. I was
quite astonished as to how similar the facical features of the Alberta horse is
compared to the actual Tarpan. Both horses are stallions. Click on the image to see it larger.

This horse was kept captive in Russia. It was a blue dun, 18 years old when the photo was taken.  Oddly enough the lighter boned wild horses of Alberta look very much like the Tarpan photo graphed in the Russian Zoo.

Here is the photo Ken took with the color turned on. In reading some of
the research materials I learned that  Blue dun is also a form of
black, red dun and bay.

 Some say the last remaining wild Tarpan died in 1906 in a zoo.  Yet there is documentation by the Smithsonian that the true resurrection of the Tarpan came about as a result of Nazi genetic experiments. The desire to resurrect the Tarpan gave the Nazi scientists the justification for raiding zoos across Europe and confiscating 500 acres of pristine ancient old growth oak forests in Poland. The project while very politically motivate allowed for the preservation of many of Poland’s ancient and rare species in a protected island amid the destruction of WW2.( To read the article : Galloping Ghosts : http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/galloping-200711.html

Today some of the characteristics of the ancient horses are not only showing up in Canada old growth forests but also In the high desert horses of the USA. The American Mustang, according to one article I saw said   that any wild horse in North America that has the characteristics of the Tarpan or even the Yukon Wild Horse should be tested for links and gene markers of the ancient horses and preserved not as feral, but as truly wild and native to the land.

Even if nothing else. North American Wild horses need to be preserved  not only for their historic significance in building our countries but also  the herds’ ability to help replenish the land, and its potential connection to its ancient ancestors.

Konik  are still currently being used in reforestation projects and to restore and maintain wetlands and tributary health in countries like France, Netherlands and Scotland.
One interesting thing about the Konik is that they tend to resemble the Preswiski’s and Mongolian horses in build and head shape. The restoration Tarpan tends to be closer to the reconstructed Yukon Wild horse  while the images of the Tarpan that existed favor many of the Alberta horses.

I don’t come to any conclusions about whether the horses of North America are distinctly and continuously living descendents of the original horses. But I do think that more study is due these amazing horses to investigate those possibilities. Even without the  study into the genetic origins all the wild horses make significant contributions to be considered precious enough to maintain and protect in both Canada and the USA as Heritage Herds.

Helping Raise Money for the Wild Horse And Burro Association

This Week: I am offering 4 original paintings of South Steens Wild Horses in Oregon to raise money for the Wild Horse and Burro Association. Several of these magnificent horses passed away in 2012. One very popular band stallions Golden Boy was humanely destroyed after fatal injuries due to fighting. The mare, Jingles, was believed to be aged at 28 years old and produced her last foal,  a beautiful chocolate silver stud colt in 2011. She managed to stay with the colt even through declining conditions until it was strong enough to survive alone in the band. She died of natural causes. These are memorials to these wonderful wild horses.

The Wild Horse and Burro Association offers a number of support opportunities for owners of adopted Wild Mustangs as well as a registration service to help keep track of the horses and potentially reward those in competitions to show chase these amazing animals. I support this fledgling organization because I believe that working together to protect those that have been adopted as well as those in the wild is the best way to preserve our living wild mustang horse heritage.

 To bid ask to join the group via Facebook at this address. https://www.facebook.com/groups/377913412305368/
Thank you for your support.

Mustang A Day Challenge goes Video A Day For February!

Painting the Horses of the Owyhee Complex

Artist Linda L. Martin started off 2013 with a powerful project of depicting the Horses of  the Owyhee Complex Gather in Nevada through graphite, watercolors and oils. Nevada. There was a BLM management round up held there in December and January. With the help of BLM photography she was able to capture a number of unique qualities in these wild horses that sets them apart from other herds in different management areas.  Signed Reproductions will be available on Etsy Beginning February 11th. 
 
Working Mustangs Series:

Ms Martin began a series of graphite drawings on January 27th depicting the versatility and usefulness of  Mustangs that  had been adopted and trained. This will be an ongoing series through the Month of February as the reference photography comes in. Drawings will be posted on the Mustang A Day challenge Blog as they are completed, however will not be on consecutive days due to a full February Schedule of commissions and break off projects.

The first prints of these will be available on the Mustang A Day Challenge Etsy Store Beginning on February 5th, 2013. And also on the Wild Horse And Burro Association Auction Barn on Facebook. A portion of the proceeds from the auction sales will go to the new Association program to help promote adoption and on going education and support of  adopted mustangs and their owners.

Mustang A Day Challenge Online Video Project.

A number of break off projects are developing from the Mustang A Day Challenge. The long awaited Video project began on February 1st. The Video project will be a Video a Day project produced and released on Youtube. You can view the daily video’s here. http://www.youtube.com/user/LindaLMartinArtist?feature=watch



Videos will vary in length from 30 second show casespots to 3 minute educational shots. Mixed in the story lines for the educational videos will be selected representations by photographers who have contributed to the Mustang A Day Challenge project since 2010.  The show case videos will present paintings that have been featured in the Challenge project along with purchase information. The longer educational Videos will tell stories of Actual horses in the wild and the stories of some of the adopted horses to show people some of the aspects of herd dynamics and range life.

Opportunity to participate in the Mustang A Day Challenge Project:
If you are interested in helping to promote the challenge and its activities please contact  LindaLMartin at  info@llmartin.com. Please write  MADCProject Participation  in the subject line.