Hijacked by Ireland

Which came first, the pony or the frame?

Just a couple weeks ago I came across this frame, dusty and damaged, in a favorite antiques shop in Greene, NY.  We had just arrived for the summer at our upstate NY headquarters, our cottage by the lake. The price was ridiculously low but I would have spent a lot for it. The three frames that had been rather sloppily nailed together could have been easily taken apart and I'd have had three beautiful frames for the price of one. But the frame as it was was just too gorgeous to mess with. I took it home and wiped it down with a couple of Wet Ones and then slapped on a coat of satin Poly and, presto, a million dollar frame.

The inside dimension of the frame was 16 x 20 so I knew I could easily get a beveled mirror that size and I would have an instant classic. But it was 16 x 20 and the one primed empty canvas I had in the studio happened to be 16 x 20, so I decided to do a painting to fit this frame.

I wanted something simple and bold enough to compete with the powerful impact of the frame. When in doubt paint a white horse, so off I went.