TOM WILLS PRODUCTIONS: No. 332: "The horse that Papaw painted" (True Sensation)

No. 332, "True Sensation," watercolor (mostly), May 2016.

I love it when people can realize their dreams. The best ones are the big dreams that we return to from childhood through adulthood. Sometimes it takes a very long time to make dreams come true, and only if we persevere.

In this year, two of my longest allies in Trumbull County -- both women journalists -- have somehow acquired horses. One I know for sure nurtured her equine love as a little girl, playing with plastic stallions and mares on a bedroom floor. The other has years of experience -- horsing around -- riding, showing and caring for these massive and magnificent animals. She has followed her dream to foreign lands and back.

Grass starting to "grow"

Also this year I met new friends from Mahoning County who are acquiring horses at a rate that astonishes me, because they're not cheap and are not exactly pets. They are work, they are headstrong and they have tremendous power.
I've now drawn or painted seven horses.
This one, True Sensation, allowed me to dream some, too.

Here's how to contact Emily Love about True Sensation. Click on images to enlarge.
Brochure photos by http://storytellerphotographyimagesbyrebecca.com/

This spectacular 11-year-old Arabian stallion was acquired in April by Emily Webster Love, whom you have met here before. http://tomwillsproductions.blogspot.com/2011/09/marengo.html She was an early mentor to me in the newspaper biz, and we have kept in sporadic contact over 32 years (really, we should do better).

Original photo. Clearly, dandelions!

One of the first photos that she took of True Sensation had him grazing among some dandelions (they had better be dandelions -- Emily informed me later that buttercups are toxic to horses). As soon as I saw it, I knew I'd paint it, and told her so.

It took about three weeks for the watercolor image to emerge. My grandson Anthony, 3, hovered off and on throughout the process, checking out True Sensation's gradual transformation.
"Ooh nice!" he'd say.

A beginning.

He would nod in agreement that the painting was coming together and once it was finished, he looked a little astonished.
Frankly, so am I, because I'm not really a painter. I draw, then dabble colorful splashes onto the paper. Sometimes I get lucky and sometimes it's a disaster. True Sensation was a little of both, and I used all of my tricks to clean up my many mistakes.

The hardest part of this painting really was the grass, and once I thought that I was finished, there was more. That's because I had to elongate the painting at the top and bottom to fit the mat and frame. Ugh! Getting the "new" grass to match the already-dried painting was a serious challenge and took more than a few desperate hours. But eventually I blended both to my satisfaction and, I hope, Emily's,
In the final up-close analysis, however, I am very proud of this painting, a gift.

Emily, Anthony and True Sensation

But I had to wait a while to deliver it up to Emily in scenic, quiet Kinsman, Ohio.
And I had to make all kinds of domestic relations arrangements to take Anthony along, because I wanted him to see the horse that Papaw painted. Also, I had long-promised Emily that I would deliver the cute little bugger to her doorstep.
He had never seen a horse before. At Emily's he saw five of them.

Thank you Emily for these photos, and for making these memories for us.

So, my dream fulfilled was to have my grandson see Papaw's painting come to life. He recognized the horse right away! "That one!" he said.
True Sensation truly is sensational, and he made sure to show off for all of the mares. Truly I thought he'd break the fence, but Emily wasn't worried. She is not to be trifled with.
The kid did well for about an hour in the sun, but eventually began clamoring to ride a horse. Not quite yet, pal. But I sure hope we can return.
Thanks for the watermelon and iced tea, Miss Emily.
He talked about the horses the whole way home and never nodded off.
Sensational.