Tag Archives: Montana

Conjure up a cowboy in 30 minutes!

January 16th, 2010 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

Last night I went to the Great Falls Art Society meeting.  We had a pastel instructor there, with a live model. It was so interesting and fun to watch her work!  She had us do three gesture sketches, then she showed us how she would create a painting in 30 minutes from her cowboy model.  After that, we tried creating our own painting from the model.  He was a very good model, fun to look at with his hat, boots and coat.

The instructor told us what we were trying to do in this painting, is create something that screams cowboy in a leather jacket, in 30 minutes.

So here’s my attempt.  I haven’t had so much fun painting for a long time!  I realized the reason I haven’t wanted to paint lately, is because I’ve been painting such tight, realistic looking work.  I’d much rather create something like this!  It was a revelation….

Donna Ridgway

©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Appaloosa in the Snow

January 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Donna Ridgway


We spent Christmas Day with my cousin and her family, near Swift Dam, west of Dupuyer, Montana.  On the way to her house, we stopped to take photos of this beautiful horse.  I liked the way his colors contrasted with the snow and the blue of the mountains!

You can purchase this image here on my Red Bubble site, Appaloosa in the Snow

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Missoula, Montana trip!

July 6th, 2009 | Posted in Elaine Hurst

Doug and I went out to Missoula, Montana, to visit our daughter, Erin.  She was graduating from the University of MT, in the Forestry and Resource Conservation Department.  We also go to have wonderful hikes in the area, meet wonderful new people, and have fantastic time with Erin!  The weather was great, and we loved Missoula!  I really like the bumper stickers that say: “Keep Missoula weird, do your part”.  Perfect!

We hiked in various places, the Rattlesnake area, the Bitterroot Valley, around Missoula itself, and lots more.  Licorice ice cream from “The Dipper”.  Dollar sushi night, staying at wonderful Judy and Dwayne Wright’s house, and meeting all the super friends of Erin.























©Copyright 2008 by Elaine Hurst. See original post here.
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Digital fun….It’s been a real dry year!

June 27th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

“It’s Been a Real Dry Year!”

Here’s a spoof on the favorite conversation of ranchers and farmers. I had so much fun working this up.

The world of digital art has interested me for a long time, but I’ve resisted spending the time it takes to learn “how” to do this for ages. I finally took the plunge and spent hours and hours working away in Gimp and Photoshop Elements, until I could create something I actually liked.

I hope you get a kick out of it also! :)

You can find this image for sale here on my Red Bubble site.
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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“You Go First”

June 26th, 2009 | Posted in Joan Jannaman


Here’s “You Go First”…the last painting that I finished a few weeks ago. These two Montana paint horses were happily grazing away near Anaconda, Montana last summer when I interrupted their privacy with my skulking around the fence line. Hubby was endlessly finding places to pull the car over every time I spotted horses grazing in that beautiful Montana scenery.
I’d never been out there until last summer when we made a whirlwind trip to a friend’s wedding. It was incredible. I totally understand why people fall in love with the west. We live in a beautiful country and to travel around experiencing the nuances of all the regions…..it’s a blessing.

©Copyright 2008 by Joan Jannaman. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Joan Jannaman’s website.

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Eagle Rising

May 22nd, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

On Valentine’s Day, 09, we decided to take a drive and see if we could get some photos. It was snowing hard, the wind was blowing…. We drove along the Missouri River and to our delight, the eagles were there along the river. Some of them were fishing, but most were sitting in trees. This eagle was on a rock outcropping, high above the road, sitting on a post. I had to walk up to him, and see how close I could get. This is the moment when he took to flight…

A few years ago, I met Sharon K Shubert in an online artist organization. We became friends. To make my story short, Sharon stepped into the world of digital art. I had a longing to see my photos used digitally, but I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around digital computer programs! One day, I mentioned to Sharon, we should get together on this….then I won’t have to learn this digital stuff…. We were off and running!

I sent Sharon the large, digital file, of “Eagle Rising”, and she created “Twin Eagle Landing”! Neither one of us knew this, but the other one, had entered their image in the “I Love Bird’s Group” on Red Bubble. And each image was featured!

Here’s the award we received for our images. I think it was awesome fun the way this turned out. You can see more of our combined images on Red Bubble and soon to come…on Zazzle.

This is an exciting venture for both Sharon and I. It’s like when 2+2 =’s 5! My camera and my eyes, plus Sharon’s digital knowledge and her eyes, creating something better than the sum of the parts!

Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Donkicorn meets Elfin King.

May 5th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

Owning a donkey is a very special thing, and it’s also an educational thing. Owning a donkey teaches you to think patiently! Our Pedro teaches us something every day we own him. He’s quite ornery and quite delightful, all at the same time. :)

While I’m waiting for Pedro to come to me, to get a pellet, or hoping he’ll allow me to pet him, my mind gets to going a million miles an hour, with all the what ifs….here’s one of my what if’s…what if Pedro was a unicorn donkey and he was in the moonlight, and the elfin king came along. What if the unicorn horn on the donkey touched the crown of the elfin king? I think sparks would fly and it would light up the night!

Even though this would be such an exciting sight for me to see, the donkicorn would remain calm and humble, patient and kindly. And the elfin king would be humbled and honored to have such an event happen to him!

Stick around, these two might get together again someday! In the meantime, you’ll find them in my etsy store by tomorrow.
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Update on the elk. He’s in the snow now!

May 5th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

Poor elk, he went from fall to winter in a hurry. I couldn’t make him stand out from his background so switched seasons on him. I bet he was surprised! lol

I’m calling him finished this time! He’s 8X10″ on canvas board, painted in acrylic. I’ll probably put him for sale in my etsy store.

My art isn’t very high priced. I’d like to think I could sell more art at a low price, then sell a few at a high price. I’d also like to price my art so ordinary people can afford it. So don’t be afraid to check out my store! You might find a gift you’d like to give someone! Makes me happier to sell something than to have them piling up in the studio taking up space. After all, once I’m finished with a painting, it isn’t mine any more, it’s just waiting for it’s new home!
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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The Unconventional Yearling

May 1st, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

I call this the Unconventional Yearling. In real life, this little filly had the strangest coloring, a dark bay roan, with tan points. I began to draw her with blue paint on the support, and this followed. She has a mind of her own! She wanted to be this way, truly she did!

She seemed really cute and full of personality when I finished her, kind of like she could come to life and be a real horse!

It’s so relaxing and interesting to paint in an unconventional way. Kind of challenges my brain to create something new, and make it work.

Hope you enjoyed the Unconventional Yearling. She’s for sale in my etsy shop for $35.
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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An elk painting. Work in Progress, WIP

May 1st, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

I’ve laid in the basic elk, and a little bit of an idea, but need to figure out where to go from here. This painting is 8X10 inch, on canvas. I started it with watercolor, to place basic colors and draw the elk onto the support. I’ve now moved on to acrylics and covered most of the painting over with some under layers.

More to follow later!
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Emmie, a cat oil painting by Donna Ridgway.

April 16th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

I began this painting while looking at a photo of my own kittie, Scarlet. Suddenly a different cat began to emerge. This new cat has long hair and Scarlet has short hair, so I had to find a new name for this little fuzz ball! I decided to call her Emmie, because she has such pretty emerald eyes.

I’m almost finished with this. She needs an addition of whiskers, then I’ll post her for sale in my etsy shop.
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Sing Song, black cat with green eyes, oil painting by Donna Ridgway.

April 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

This is our cat, Sing Song. Our neighbor went to a party at the bar in Vaughn, one October night, 4 or 5 years ago. When our neighbor left the bar, she heard pitiful sounds coming from beneath a vehicle. Lucky for Sing Song, our neighbor loves animals and couldn’t bear to leave this starving kitten there in a snow storm, on the wet ground, under a vehicle that was about to move.

Our neighbor brought Sing Song home, and came to ask us if we wanted this scroungy little cat. Of course we said yes! :) We were remodeling the house we lived in at that time. When Shelley turned Sing Song loose, Sing Song headed into the open heater vents and we didn’t see her again for a week!

I waited until she was used to coming out one certain vent in the night to get food. I blocked off the other vents. When the right night came along, I sat and waited, as quiet as a mouse until she came out the vent to eat. I used a stick and poked the vent shut so she couldn’t go down the hole any longer. From that moment on, she had to learn to live with us. :)

She’s quite independent, very bossy, and loves to control things around here. Never let her dish go empty, never let the water bowl go empty, never let Scarlet get to close to her….the list goes on….but she’s a happy cat now.

Hope you enjoyed meeting Sing Song!
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Green Llama WIP 2

March 20th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

I had a lot of fun painting this llama. He’s so haughty! When we go to do chores for our neighbor, this guy gurgles and hawks up cuds like he’s going to spit at us. He hasn’t done it yet, thank goodness. We can’t be mad at him, as he’s guarding four baby goats, and he takes his job very seriously, thank you!

As you know, I started painting him on St Pat’s Day, so he had to be kind of green. :)
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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In a green mood, green llama next…

March 18th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

First post of this painting in progress, it’s a WIP, or work in progress. Intended to be silly…
I’m having fun today, painting at my kitchen table…like in the old days!

We still don’t have the floors done in my real studio… and the lights went out in the bedroom studio…so I’m taking over the dining room. We never use it anyway! LOL We eat in front of the television!
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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St Paddy’s Day horse. You guessed it, he’s green!

March 17th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

Thought I’d paint you a green horse today, seein’s it’s St Pat’s Day! Here’s how I started out….

This next image is about half way done…

And here’s the green horse! (below)

You can see a bit of my easel on there, on his face. Down at the bottom. Outside of that, he’s wishing you a Happy St Pat’s Day!
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Split Personality

March 11th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

This is a beautiful horse, but I took an ugly photo of her! Because she’s so sweet, and such a wonderful girl, I had to try to do something nice with this photo! A tribute to her…

I opened the photo in Photoshop, looked at it for a long, long time, thinking…. Because of the color of her eyes, and the abstract qualities of her blaze and mappings, her eyes don’t seem to belong to the same horse!

And because of the same weird look of the blaze, and some distortion of the lens, the bottom of her face needed to come off here. So crop it I did.

Looking at what I had a bit longer, I thought I’d make her black and white all the way. Because she still seemed to me, to look like two different horses in the same face, I decided to split the photo!

Wanting a division between the faces I have here, I decided to place her onto a background. As I placed the pieces of her face on the background, the name of this work came to me!

I give you:
Split Personality!

If you didn’t know what I’ve done here, you would never guess this is all one horse. Photoshop is so much fun. Don’t be afraid to play with it. You never know what will come to you as you sit staring at your computer screen!
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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Looking Back, Equine Photo by Donna Ridgway

March 10th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway


This horse spends his time alone in a pasture. Sometimes, a herd of mule deer run through his field, and he’s not alone for those brief moments in time. In this photo, I think he was getting tired of spending his time alone, and wishing the deer would come along. I think he hoped if he looked back, he’d see them there.
Donna Ridgway

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©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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The Dapple Grey

March 9th, 2009 | Posted in Donna Ridgway

Here’s another of my neighbor’s horses. I tell you, doing these chores is killing me. LOL I haven’t been around such pretty horses for quite a while. They smell so good, and I love the way they nuzzle my face. Their whiskers are tickly. One of them pulled my scarf from my neck and flapped it around. I love horses with personality!

Donna Ridgway
PS Look for some of these photos to appear in my etsy shop!

My equine art website.
Travel the gravel! Our dirt road photo shoots…

artist reference photos for sale.

My Nature of Montana website. Wildlife and scenery of Montana.Posted by Picasa

©Copyright 2009 by Donna Ridgway. See original post here.
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