{"product_id":"mustangs-wild-original-watercolor","title":"Mustangs Wild — Original Watercolor","description":"\u003ch2 class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003eMustangs Wild\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore I moved to Hawaiʻi, I was already dreaming about what I hoped to paint here — whales, honu, tropical water, and the life I wanted to someday experience firsthand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut I’ve never wanted to paint something simply because I have a photograph of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI want to spend time with what I paint. I want to paint from experience — and with experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI want to watch my subjects movement, understand something of its personality, and feel the energy it carries before I try to translate it into art.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo while I was still living in the Lake Tahoe area, I asked myself a simple question:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat magnificent wild animals are here with me now?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe answer was Mustangs!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eIn the Beginning, There Were Horses\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHorses had been part of my life long before this painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a kid, I loved them enough to work for free at a local horse stable, and they were among the very first animals I learned to draw and paint. I believe a horse and a parrot were my first two animal subjects.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYears later, while preparing for a completely different chapter of my life, I found myself returning to them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI was drawn to spend time around the wild and free-roaming horses in the Washoe Valley and Virginia Range areas east of Lake Tahoe. I loved watching them and getting to know the individual horses within the different herds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo of them I could already envision in my future painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paint mare came from the Virginia Range. She was beautifully marked, calm, and gentle in her presence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dark stallion came from a herd I spent time with in and around Washoe Valley \/ Lake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe was something else entirely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStrong. Alert. Fiercely protective of his herd.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd very aware of everything happening around him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA Moment I Never Photographed\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne evening I arrived near the wetlands at the south end of Washoe Lake around sunset.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI had only just gotten there and hadn’t even prepared my camera when the horses came running in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe stallion entered the shallow water, backlit by the setting sun, whinnying and pawing at the water while his mares gathered behind him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt lasted only a moment. - I never got the photograph, but it was a beautiful gift to witness!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI remember thinking immediately:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eI need to paint this majestic horse.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMustangs Wild\u003c\/em\u003e became my way of sharing something of what I saw — and what I felt — in this horse’s mana.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eTwo Horses, One Landscape\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two horses in this painting came from different encounters and different herds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI brought them together within a landscape inspired by the high-desert country east of Lake Tahoe, where open sage-covered terrain rises toward the Sierra Nevada Mountains.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI composed the foreground for the painting rather than copying one specific location, allowing me to build the environment around the personalities of the horses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe spotted paint mare stands slightly behind him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe stallion watches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThree Colors at the Base — Many Layers to Build Life\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe painting began in a way that looks almost nothing like the finished watercolor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the first layers, I simply started with three primary colors:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003emagenta, phthalo blue green shade, and lemon yellow.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose first washes looked so funny — almost like tie-dye — before I gradually layered darker pigments over them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRather than painting a black horse with black pigment from the beginning, the deeper color developed through transparent layers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTraces of those earlier colors still glow beneath and within the finished horse, giving his dark coat subtle shifts of cool and warm undertones when viewed closely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe same layering process continued through the mountains, desert vegetation, rocks, and expansive sky until the entire scene slowly emerged from those first transparent washes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd thankfully, the tie-dye horse eventually became a wild and respectable mustang stallion. 😆\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA Little Kauaʻi Hidden in the Art\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is one small detail in \u003cem\u003eMustangs Wild\u003c\/em\u003e that tells another part of the story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLook closely at the white star on the stallion’s forehead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIts shape is the island of \u003cstrong\u003eKauaʻi\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the time I painted this, Kauaʻi was very much on my mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo while I was painting this wild horse from the Sierra Nevada landscape, my heart was still longing for the island I was dreaming about.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy fearless stallion carries that dream of Kauaʻi on his forehead — secretly...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eor maybe not so secretly. 😉\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYears later, I now live and make my life as an artist on Kauaʻi.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat little mark makes \u003cem\u003eMustangs Wild\u003c\/em\u003e feel, to me, like a painting created somewhere between two chapters:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehonoring where I was while already dreaming about where I was going.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eArtwork Details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTitle:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eMustangs Wild\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArtist:\u003c\/strong\u003e Christie Marie Elder\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCreated:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMedium:\u003c\/strong\u003e Original Watercolor\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArtwork Dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 20\" H × 30\" W\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFramed Dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 35\" H × 40¼\" W × 1\" D\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrice:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e$15,000\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOriginal:\u003c\/strong\u003e One of One\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e____________________________________________________________________________\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eFraming\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMustangs Wild\u003c\/em\u003e is professionally presented in a simple \u003cstrong\u003eglossy black frame\u003c\/strong\u003e with \u003cstrong\u003edark gray matting\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003ePlexiglas glazing\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe deep neutral presentation keeps the focus on the watercolor itself while giving the luminous sky, distant mountain range, and warm high-desert landscape a clean contemporary border.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFramed dimensions: 35\" H × 40¼\" W × 1\" D.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProfessionally framed and ready to hang.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eArtist Signature \u0026amp; Documentation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSignature:\u003c\/b\u003e Signed by Christie Marie Elder on the front.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach original artwork includes a \u003cb\u003eCertificate of Authenticity (COA)\u003c\/b\u003e together with an artist biography for provenance and collector records.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCopyright\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e© Christie Marie Elder. All rights reserved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePurchase of the original artwork transfers ownership of the physical artwork only. Copyright and reproduction rights remain with the artist and do not transfer with the sale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShipping \u0026amp; Delivery\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKauaʻi:\u003c\/b\u003e Complimentary gallery pickup or local delivery is available for original artwork purchases.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOff-Island \u0026amp; International Collectors:\u003c\/b\u003e Because each original artwork requires specialized packing and insured transport, shipping is quoted individually based on the artwork and destination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBefore purchasing, please click the “Request a Shipping Quote” button on this page and complete the short form with your delivery address.\u003c\/b\u003e We’ll arrange the appropriate professional packing and transport, then contact you with the complete shipping quote.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce you approve the quote, we’ll send you a secure invoice through our online gallery for the artwork and shipping.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kauai Christie's Art","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48353203519675,"sku":null,"price":15000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1531\/1583\/files\/IMG_2112_4180d145-0fe3-4ad3-a7b9-d0570b5f3c64.jpg?v=1789201586","url":"https:\/\/www.kauaichristiesart.com\/products\/mustangs-wild-original-watercolor","provider":"Kauai Christie's Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}