Frolicking Unicorn Sketch on 11"x14" Canvas
Although it's rapidly melting, an abundance of snow can still be seen from my studio window, especially throughout the fields and along the ridge of Green Mountain where our neighbours clear-cut their land; much to mine and the unicorns' chagrin, not to mention the other animals and birds that call Golden Unicorn Farm, and beyond, their home. I'm really saddened by the fickle-mindlessness of people who continually destroy and obliterate vast forests for greed or because it's just an easy way for a landowner to make a buck. I feel the value of our Golden Unicorn Farm is our living trees, bushes, wild flowers and grasses; I don't see dollar signs on any of them. They are as much a part of me as I am of them; just their existence never ceases to keep me in awe of their wondrous attributes and I don't take their lives for granted just because I can still see an abundance of them (certainly not as many as before; can't even imagine how much has been thoughtlessly destroyed).
Snow Star, the last unicorn that I painted hasn't been seen since her portrait was completed but in her place, I've noticed on more than one occasion, a very playful unicorn that looks very much like a pinto (patchy markings of white and another colour). Like Snow Star, he's a very beautiful animal and I'm thinking, he must of seen Snow Star's portrait and now he would like me to paint one of him as well. It's not that I haven't caught glimpses of him before but he's been showing himself a lot more often now, and for longer periods of time. He's often seen leaping into the air, rearing on his hind legs and bucking across the field. Sometimes though, when I least expect it, he will stop a short distance from the studio and look up at my window as if to say, "Better grab your brushes and paints, I'm not going to pose here for very long" - oh, he knows I'm here alright! But like Snow Star, I only really get to see him when the sun has dipped behind the horizon and the silhouettes of the trees stand nakedly against a darkening sky.
The Frolicking Unicorn has yet to be named, so if anyone thinks they have a suitable name for him, both he and I are all ears. I'm not sure I should be posting photos of the unicorn's portrait as it proceeds because sometimes the paintings turn out very unsatisfying and I heave them in the trash can or burn them in the wood stove. But at the moment, I feel confident, especially since the piebald or spotted unicorn seems to have approved the sketch. Now that the pencil work is over, it's time to start applying paint - cheers, eh!
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