Derby Week pARTy

Lise Leblanc "Lucky 7" 9 x 12 oil on canvas

Okay, so our reference photo by Kim Santini was taken last summer at Saratoga, but this is Derby Week, so a racing theme is appropriate. In fact I believe Kim will be doing a horse instead of a dog-a-day to celebrate this week. Add to that the final week of my April Thirty Horses, Thirty Days, and there will be lots of daily ponies around! And that, my friends, is what we call shameless self-promotion by your pARTy hosts! :-D

We had another great turnout for our pARTy, having a go at a fairly challenging image.

Kim Santini, "Stirrup" 10 x 6 acrylic on multimedia artboard

Molly Poole, 5 x 7 watercolour on paper

Valarie Wolf, 6 x 6 oil on panel

Linda Shantz, "Expectation," 6 x 8 oil on canvas board

Terry d. Chacon, "Waiting to Ride" 6 x 8 oil on canvas

Sheona Hamiliton-Grant, pencil sketch

Deb Stonebraker, "Quarter Panel," 5 x 7 Prismacolor on Ultrasuede

Delia Pacheco, "Reflect," 5 x 7 acrylic

Miriam Hughes, 8 x 10 watercolour sketch

Mary Agarwal, Wait to Hurry No.7,"7.5 x 5.5 pastel

Lisa Guarino, 3.25 x 3.25 Pen and Ink/Markers

Linda Massey, 6 x 11 watercolour and ink

Linda L. Martin, "Number 7's Dance," 8 x 10 graphite

Kathy Roeth, "Ready To Run," 9 x 12 watercolour and gouache

Charlotte Tanner, Pen and marker on cardstock

Charlotte Mertz, "Saddled with a Seven," 5 x 7 watercolour on coldpress

Catherin McMillan, "No .7 On the Nose," 9 x 9 pastel

Byannick, "I See You," 9 x 7 oil on board

Melissa Shumard, 9 x 12 acrylic on watercolour paper

April 2010s Virtual pARTy

Photo of Thoroughbreds in the paddock/saddling enclosure at Saratoga (NY), courtesy of Kimberly Kelly Santini, http://www.TurtledoveDesigns.com or http://www.PaintingaDogaDay.com.


Well, here goes - this is the image for the next pARTy, to take place this coming week, April 19th. All pARTy artwork must be emailed by midnite EST on Saturday the 24th.

How does a Virtual pARTy work? Using the chosen image (contact us -ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com - for a high res jpg) create a piece of artwork within a 24 hour period. Send a jpg of your artwork (4in wide at 72dpi please) to us - thevirtualparty77@yahoo.ca - by midnight on Saturday, April 24th, 2010. Include your name, the particulars of your piece, and your websites or blog address. When you visit the pARTy blog (http://the-virtual-party.blogspot.com/) the following week, you'll see your piece in the great company of other pARTy participants' various takes on the same reference.

However.... We do ask that if you post or publish your resulting pARTy artwork in any way, you give credit to the reference photographer and mention the Virtual pARTy event. We also ask that you refrain from entering pARTy artwork in exhibitions since there is always the possibility another pARTy artist could enter a piece very similar to yours.

Oh yeah !! Don't forget to visit the pARTy forum where artists can share their experiences and comment on each other's work. This forum is private (so theoretically no clients will see our true thoughts about any given piece!), and therefore you must register first in order to participate. Please register with your real name, and then fire off an email after registering so that you can be activated asap. Additional information can be found there.

Sharing is good. Know another artist who might want to participate? Please forward this note along with our advance thanks. The more, the merrier is what we say.

Y'all come back, you hear? We aim to have Virtual pARTys every 4-8 weeks, with the frequency relying entirely on our availability. Linda is at the mercy of her herd of Thoroughbreds and Kim gets pulled in 100 unpredictable directions (and merely wishes they were horse related!) - we do our best to maintain a relative frequency and appreciate your patience. Your best bet is to watch the pARTy blog and the pARTy forum for announcements - we do our best to give at least a week's notice prior to each new pARTy.

What do you think? Feel free to chime in and share your ideas about how we might improve the pARTy experience.

Thanks so much for pARTy-ing with us!

Linda and Kim


All artwork included in pARTy blogs and forum, including reference photographs, is copyright protected by the individual artists. We ask that you extend them the same copyright respect and you demand others to extend in your direction. Courtesy goes a long way towards making this world a sunnier place. And who doesn't love a sunny day?

The Many Faces of Bellator

Shanghai Spring, 4 x 6 watercolour and ink, Christine Trevino

We had our best turnout yet for a pARTy with this March edition - now you can see what took me so long getting them up! Thanks to all of our participants, and to our handsome model, Bellator. Hope you all had fun!

Artists - I included the "specs" on your piece and a link for those I had - I didn't have time to go searching this time. Send me an email and the pARTy address if yours is missing and you'd like me to add it. And if I've missed someone, please let me know!

Yvonne Todd, 6 x 2.5 oil

"Bellator in Winter," 14 x 10 watercolour on coldpress, Dora Sislian Themelis

"Why The Long Face?" 16 x 8 oil on canvas, Linda Massey

Sue Kroll, 10 x 8 acrylic

"Fuzzy Ears," 7 x 5 oil, Marilyn Sadler

Miriam Hughes

Mary Agarwal

Lisa Guarino, 4 x 3 watercolour pencil

Linda Ward, 3.5 x 2.5 (ACEO) pencil

"Vertical (Bellator)" 16 x 8 acrylic on canvas board, Kim Santini

Kathy Roeth, 14 x 10 gouache and watercolour on coldpress

Karen Thumm, 12 x 9 oil on canvas board

Karen Bowden

"Just a Bit of Blarney" 6 x 4 acrylic on coldpress watercolour paper, Linda Martin

Judy Johnson, 6 x 4 watercolour

"Nice 'N' Cozy", 6 x 6 acrylic, Elizabeth McCrindle

"Hay?" 11 x 4 oil on canvas, Diana Lancaster

Charlotte Tanner, acrylic on cardboard

"Bellator #2" 7 x 5 oil on shellaced masonite, Linda Shantz

Thanks For Your Patience!

Do I sound like a TV station? My apologies for not having the chance to get the latest pARTy paintings up yet - unfortunately the demands of the work that pays the bills has to take precedence, and I've been busier than even what is usual in that department. That's not all bad for me, of course, because it means the bills will actually get paid! :-D

Please stay tuned!

~ Linda

Ready....Set...pARTy! March 2010

Here's your image for the March pARTy. You have from midnight tonight until midnight March 20th to get your painting to us. Remember the idea is to complete your painting in a 24-hour span of time. Complete instructions are above. Email a low-res image (72 dpi, approx. 4 x 6 inches dimensionally) of your painting to us at thevirtualparty77@yahoo.ca - if you don't get a reply acknowledging receipt, that means something went awry!

This handsome boy is Bellator, a young Warmblood gelding that lives at Inish'Or Farm in Puslinch, Ontario. Please remember to give credit to the photographer - in this case, Linda Shantz.

PS - if you'd like a high-res file from which to work, just send a request to the address above.

March pARTy! March 15-20

We're trying to keep up the momentum, so it's time to announce the next pARTy! We'll post the photo late Monday the 15th, and you'll have till midnight, your time on the 20th. Remember the idea is that your painting is completed in a 24-hour period within that stretch of days. The 'rules' haven't changed - see the top of the blog for more information! Just please remember, if you want to sign up for the forum, drop us an email to let us know you've done so, so that we can activate you, and please use your real name so that we can tell you apart from the spam!

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you all and what you come up with!

February pARTy Showcase

February pARTy participant Linda Massey had a special challenge thrown her way in the days leading up to the pARTy deadline. Here's what she emailed along with her entry (pictured above):

"...I didn't think I would get you something as Friday morning while I was feeding in the barn.....my foot caught and (I) fell head over tea kettle onto the concrete aisle way onto my head... I wasn't able to drop feed buckets and get my hands down to block the fall so my hard head took the hit.... I spent the better part of the day getting checked for concussions, taking x-rays and CT scans and spent the night swelling up and turning B and B.... I have some whiplash but basically I was fine. But my body nerves were so shaken I couldn't stop my right hand from shaking... the doc said that was okay and would go away after a day or two... so this aft. I picked up a brush and sure enough I was fine. And painting was better medicine than the doctors prescribed for the pain. "

We would like to award Linda Massey the Gold Medal this time around!

Thanks, Linda, for playing, despite your injuries. We hope that you are continuing to feel better.

-Linda and Kim

February pARTy Paintings!

We had a great turnout for our Feburary pARTy. Thanks again to Kim Santini for providing the reference image of the Curly horse! Artists - I have tried my best to include information for everyone with their image, but if yours is missing (or incorrect!), just send me an email or make a comment to the post and I'll make the changes.

Thanks so much to everyone who took part! Without further ado...your pARTy pARTicipants! (in no particular order!)


Kim Santini, "Up Close(Percy)" 6 x 8 acrylic on board


Catherin McMillan, 5 x 5 acrylic on canvas panel


Catherine Gillespie, "Percy"


Lois Primeau, 5 3/8 x 8 oil on gessoed masonite


Sue Kroll, acrylic

Lisa Ward-Guarino, pastel


Candy Simchik, "Hello" 5 x 7 acrylic on canvas board

Kate Dardine, "She Really Didn't Need a Man on Her Back" 6 x 6 oil on canvas


Kathy Roeth, 9 x 7.5 watercolour and gouache on coldpress archival watercolour paper


Linda Martin, "Snow Globe" 4 x 4 watercolour


Marilyn Sadler, "Snow Pony," 5 x 7 pastel


Linda Massey, "Winter Reflections" 3 x 20 oil on panel


Diana Lancaster, "Wild Dawn" 6 x 6 acrylic


Linda Ward, "Mardi Gras Pony!"


Linda Shantz, "Up Close and Personal with Percy" 10 x 10 oil on gallery wrap canvas