Ruth Soller » Blog

Zapata Ranch Roans Red and Blue, oil on panel, 12x16, $600

I participated in Jill Soukup's Painting Horses Workshop at Zapata Ranch near Great Sand Dunes National Park in Southern Colorado. Our class of twelve students from around the United States and Canada included professional artists, horse breeders and trainers, a greeting card designer and a toy brand manager. We experienced sketching, painting, and sculpting horses from life along with studio work and demonstrations and presentations. Zapata Ranch is a working ranch and is part of The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. Wranglers include recent college graduates in fields of animal science, land management and water conservation who work for a season. A professional chef prepares fresh meals daily from local meats and vegetables and herbs grown on the ranch. Herds of cattle and bison are herded by quarterhorses working on the ranch. 

This piece is one of a series I am creating from my sketches and photographs from the workshop. I observed these red and blue roans in the corral and chose a background of the nearby sand dunes. This painting is available from my home studio.