Animals

"The Hunter" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Aquabord, 5" x 7". Copyright ©2012 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

His prey drive is off the charts. He’ll hunt relentlessly, even in knee-deep January snows, stalking small animals until he has icicles growing on his whiskers. He’s the King of the Back Yard, but indoors, he’s just our big, cuddly boy.

"The Ancient One" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Aquabord, 5" x 7". Copyright ©2012 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

Only Miss Lish knows the secrets behind the scars on her ancient face, and she’s not telling. At age sixteen, she has the mug of a battered boxer, nose dented and one eye in a permanent squint. Perhaps she broke her face diving for cover under a piece of furniture, or maybe her former owner accidentally shut her head in a door. I shudder to think about the pain her injuries must have caused her.

What she lacks in beauty, she makes up for with her wisdom and kindness. She came to live with us in her retirement years, after a lifetime of caring for her elderly owner. She shows her appreciation by gathering gifts at night, leaving them at the foot of my drawing table. It’s so cool to go into the studio in the morning and discover a neat pile of stuffed mice on the exact spot where I stand to paint. Fortunately, she doesn’t have access to live critters, so I don’t have to experience the horror of finding dead mice or snakes.

"Blind Side" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Aquabord, 7" x 5". Copyright ©2012 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

He’s not really blind, just blinded by blinders. Trainers put all sorts of interesting contraptions on these harness race horses so they won’t get distracted by things – real or imagined – during a race. Some setups look like they were cobbled together with baling wire.

This one is posted in the Daily Paintworks Up Close Animal Challenge created by artist Taryn Day

"Chomp, Chomp" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord, 6" x 8". Copyright ©2012 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

Artist Carol Marine says in her Daily Paintworks Horsing Around Challenge  that she and her family woke up one morning while camping in Missouri to see this horse grazing near their tent. She snapped a photo of the scene, and posted it for artists to interpret.

I’m not a relaxed camper. If I heard a “chomp, chomp, chomp” from inside a tent in the early morning hours, I’d freak out. What else could it be but the Langoliers?

"Flare" by Lesley Spanos. Gouache painting on Multimedia Artboard, 6" x 4". Copyright ©2011 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

This is a harness racing horse I saw at the State Fair a couple of years ago. It’s painted in M. Graham gouache. I love gouache!  The matte surface is so velvety. I’d use it more often, if it didn’t require framing under glass.

"Redear Sunfish" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Aquabord, 7" x 5". Copyright ©2011 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

This painting proves that just about any subject can be found at the State Fair if you look around enough. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has a beautiful display of fish at the Indiana State Fair. Outdoor ponds and indoor aquariums showcase native and introduced species.  There’s even a catch and release fishing pond where kids can learn to fish under supervision.

What attracted me to this redear sunfish was the translucence of his fins. The light shining through them reminded me of fiber optics.

A few images taken along the way: