Watercolors by artist Linda
L. Martin, in a two month exhibition titled: Wild Horses of America.Samples from the collection will be available
to see at the Fauquier Hospital in Warrenton Virginia from September 1 until
October 31. Hours are normal main lobby
hours for the Hospital.
The 22 plus paintings are specially
chosen from the Mustang A Day Challenge. The challenge was to paint one horse a
day, 5 days a week and post the paintings and sometimes stories with additional
photographs, on her MustangADayChallenge blog.
Linda was able to paint over 700 wild Horses from 2010 through 2016. References
for the works came through collaboration with boots on the ground wild horse
advocates and photographers.
The paintings in the collection are available
for sale. A portion of the proceeds from each item sold will go to wild horse
specific charities such asThe Mustang
Heritage Foundation,Chincoteague Pony
Rescue,Corolla Wild Horse Fund,and individual Photographers who document
wild horses on the range and suppliedreference photography for the project.
Linda is a resident of Remington, Virginia where she lives and has her studio.
Adopting wild horses is part of the solution. ~Linda Martin Mid-Atlantic Wild Horse Project.
Where
the money goes? To help offset the costs of getting the word out about
wild horses offered for adoption in the Mid Atlantic Region and thus
keeping more of them out of Long Term Holding. Maintaining and Keeping
updated the support resources available to adopters in the
Mid-Atlantic. And to help us put together a Wild Horse Curriculum to
educate about wild horse behavior, range issues and management, and safe
and natural training methods appropriate for a wild horse and
successful adoptions.
What the Mid-Atlantic Wild Horse project is not:
We are not an adoption agency for wild horses
We are not a home for abused or neglected horses What the Mid-Atlantic Wild Horse Project is
: We are part of the Adult Education Initiative for the New World
Puppets Inc, a 501c3 non-profit Arts and Humanities School, under their
the Endeavor Institute of Virgina.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
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.
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.
Well everyone is all excited about the new book by Patrick
F. Brennan Jr., Joe Tosh & John Wagner that will be released on November 1st. In the midst of the promotion and after painting my artistic interpretation of one of Joe Tosh's photos for inclusion in the project, well, my blog topped 30,000 views.( you can see it here: http://mustangadaychallenge.blogspot.com/ )So in grateful thanks to all who helped get me there I decided to have the 30THOU Giveaway celebrating the accomplishment. This is a very special print. It is not simply a print but a signed artist's proof of the painting " Run Little Horse" Brave Chasing Apache. The print is sized at 8.5 by 11 inches It signed by me and verified as an artist proof and includes the Mustang A Day Challenge Painting number and title on it.
The signed artist proof to be the 30THOU giveaway prize.
The give away ends on October 17th at 5 pm with the winner to be announced the evening of Thursday October 18th
Here is how to enter the Giveaway: step1: type in 30THOU in the comment section on This post or on my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LindaLMartinArtist step2: share with your friends. step 3: Drawing at 10PM on Wednesday Oct 17, 2012 FIRST 30 PEOPLE TO POST ARE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING. 1 WINNER on this drawing.
WINNER ANNOUNCED ON THURSDAY OCTOBER 18TH AT 5pm
More News About the New Book: Three Amigos of Sand Wash Basin
(click the image to view larger )
*Sidelines Magazine October 20th:
Patrick Brennan will be featured in a full length article in Sidelines
Magazine, a national
equestrian magazine published in the US and Canada. The Three Amigos of Sand Wash Basin book will be mentioned prominently
in that article. The story will be in their November issue – due out on October
20th, 2012.
*Book Release for Online Sales November 1st, 2012:
(click image to view larger)
There will be no pre-ordering of the book, it will be available online
only through Blurb.com. A price has not yet been determined. It is expected to
be in the $30 to $35 range- but that is just an estimate at his point. The official blurb.com link for the book will
be posted on Patrick Brennan Website www.blackhatphoto.usand there will also be a Face Book page put
up by the authors by November 1stthat will be dedicated to the book and will have the direct blurb.com
link for the book posted there.
Blogger's Note: Please share this information with all of your horse loving friends. The book is being released in enough time to give it as a Christmas Gift or to add to your own collection. Its going to be amazing!
