Sometimes it is incredible how one story leads to another. I’ve been telling the story of “Guardian of the Night Wind” ever since the drawing of Tugi and Black Magic, our ranch horses, emerged from my pencil.  (See the story below.)

After hearing how the cougar attacked Black Magic, inquiring minds always want to know what happened to this handsome Appaloosa horse.  It hasn’t been enough to say, “He’s a fine stallion.” People want to know what he looks like today.

Black Magic was named because he changes color from his summertime black with a white blanket to nearly white all over in winter.  I have just completed this new drawing of Black Magic in his winter coat.

In late October I traveled to our family ranch to complete several chores. There are always the "have-to-do's" that nag and time always seems short when I finally get to enjoy the serenity of western Colorado . On this particular day as I drove into the ranch yard, Black Magic was standing by the corral gate with his winter finery on display. 

I couldn’t resist going over to say hello. He came over to me with his typical request for scratches in all his favorite places. We had a great hour talking about how things were going. Horses are great listeners. Their ears perk up showing their active interest, twitching this way and that. On this day, Black clearly liked my company and agreed to pose for this drawing in his fine winter coat.

You can see how different he is from his coltish days. His summer black colors have transformed into winter white.  His strength is evident in his powerful neck and shoulder. His face shows little of his impish days as a colt. There is both power and gentleness scribed in the lines of his face.

He is my friend.

Are you a horse lover? What's your horse story? I would enjoy hearing from you..

My horse drawings are some of my best selling art. You can look at some of these drawings by navigating to New Works including Black Magic and also the Horses Collection under the Art Works tab. 

And, if you are looking for a commissioned drawing of your horse, please contact me to discuss what you have in mind.

Following is the printed version of a story I've been sharing at the summer art festivals that relates a special event on our family's western Colorado ranch that also inspired several of my horse drawings.

One day in 1996, the chief of the Ute Tribe located in Eastern Utah called my father and said, “Joe, your ranch in Meeker, Colorado, is sacred ground to our tribe. It was there that we camped the first night following the Meeker Massacre in 1879. We would like to hold a powwow on your ranch.  May we do so?” My father said, “We would be honored to have you.”

On the night that the powwow was held, there was dancing and storytelling around the council fire. While this was taking place, two new foals were born in the corral just a few hundred yards away.

 

My sister, Kathleen, went to an elder of the tribe and asked if he would do her the honor of naming the new foals. The elder said, “No. That honor belongs to the medicine man.”

 

So the elder and my sister found the medicine man and they went to the corral. The medicine man took his pipe and sacred sage from his medicine pouch along with his bundle of eagle feathers. He then performed the purification ritual and concluded with a naming ceremony.

 

When he was done, he turned to my sister and said, “This one is Tungundai.  It means Guardian of Night Wind. When she grows up she will have a colt. She will save this colt from mortal danger. Her sister’s name is Acowacheche. It means little night bird because she is a little flighty.”

 

My sister burning with curiosity asked, “Tell me more of Tungundai. What do you mean, have a colt and save colt from mortal danger?”

 

The medicine man replied, “I say no more.” And he walked off.

 

Several years later, Tugundai gave birth to her first offspring. He was a beautiful colt my sister named Black Magic. 

 

Twelve weeks after Black Magic was born, one night around midnight, he was attacked by a cougar and saved by his mother, “Guardian of the Night Wind.”

 

© 2006 by J. Sullivan’s Art. All rights reserved.

 

In 2006, J. B. Sullivan produced “Guardians of the Night Wind,” an original pencil drawing of the mare and her colt as told in the story above. Limited edition giclee prints of this art work can be viewed and ordered at the Art Works tab for Horse Drawings Collection.

 

Coming next ... Black Magic grows up and a new drawing is completed by J. B. Sullivan.

On long car rides that were boring to children, my sons would get tired of their toys, games, and music. Back in the day, before iPods, CD players, and all the other gadgets with ear buds, we could still talk to each other, front seat passengers and back.

When Jason and Kyle were just little whipper snappers, Dad was still a sort of hero who had a wealth of stories from his childhood on the ranch in western Colorado. Indeed, we often sat around the table after a filling meal in my family's home and laughed together over the vast repertoire of family tales.

Some of these involved disasters with the farm equipment that were only funny later because family members and the tractors, trailers, combines, etc more or less survived the ordeals.

Sometimes I read stories or poems, my most favorite being "The Ballad of the Ice Worm Cocktail" by Robert Service a humorous story from the old days in the Yukon that would always make us laugh.

Then there were all the dog stories that were part of my childhood. Our ranch dogs could be very endearing as well as extremely irritating. They always wanted to be in the thick of every farm activity.  

One, named Socks would ride in the back of the pickup, barking the entire trip and drive my Dad nuts. Once Dad's frustration was so great, he grabbed some bailing wire and wrapped it round the dog's mouth. Wouldn't you know it, that darn dog just kept trying to bark anyway. "Bawoof! Bawoof!"

Even though my sons know most of these family stories by heart, they brought a smile to the old man's face when they asked, "Tell us a dog story, Dad."

Here is a drawing of one of my favorite dog commissions, "Shadow and Lightning." I especially enjoyed the challenge of creating a composition of two dogs of such different sizes.

Follow this link to see some of the other dogs I have drawn Dog Drawings

Do you have a dog story to share?  

When I was growing up my Dad once told me to take joy in little things. He said that if a person could learn to love little things, then enjoyment of all worthy things was possible.  But, if a person only waited for big joys to come along, then, when they did, the capacity for appreciating them may not have been developed and they would pass by without the appreciation they deserve.   

He then pointed out several people known to me who seemed incapable of small smiles, laughing at themselves, or even small kindnesses to children such as me. It seems to me that life can be full of great sorrows: loss of loved ones,  brain surgery, crippling illness, blindness, deafness, love lost. Any one of these things can be devastating because what once was can never be again. 

 

Yet, in thinking on these great sorrows, it is the little joys that in some small measure, compensate for the pain. Small joys are:  reports of good grades on a test, the birth of a colt, light falling on a flower, a dog's look, a gold fish that survives catastrophe after catastrophe against all odds, spending time with a child all grown up, and a drawing completed.  

 

A thousand small encounters every day can lift the spirit and make life a treasure.  But these small things also serve another purpose.  They are the givers of purpose and meaning. Laughter gives full measure to tears ... just as tears make places in the heart for the value of a smile.

 

My drawing, "Blackbird Treat" represents a little, but important joy in my life. Out at 6:00 A.M. on a frosty Colorado March morning, Kaye and I watched and listened as the birds at the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge started their day. Busy, eating, tweeting, and flying around the lakes, the Red Winged Blackbirds shared their world with us. Now, many months later, this joy stays in my heart and in my drawing.

 

What are your little joys? Please add your comments about little joys.

 

Please share the joy of my artwork at  www.jsullivanart.com and let me know what brings joy to your heart. 

 

May art be a part of your life every day!