Wednesday 20 May 2009

Jeepers - a bumpy ride

I've had an exciting week visiting some Somerset cows ready for Somerset Art Weeks.



In Beckington, near Frome there is a gorgeous herd of organic Jerseys at Ivy House Farm. Geoff, the farmer introduced me to the bull of the herd with the caveat that Jersey bulls are known to kill the most people of any breed. I thought I would steer clear of him.


The cows were much more appealing to mingle with, although they did like to be scratched and want to lick my camera, which wasn't very conducive to taking photos of them.




Later on, after avoiding an torrential May downpour, I ended up near Street at Sharpham Park where Roger Saul has a gorgeous herd of White Park cattle. Marcus, the farm manager, offered to take me to see them, but I ended up driving the farm jeep (which is a first for my cow painting career) down a very soggy mud track. The cattle have the most astounding horns, which I was told they have no problem in using to protect their calves in the first few days after birth. Marcus was very kind and watched that those horns came nowhere near me as I crouched taking photos in amongst the cows.




I can't wait to paint them now......

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The top one looks cheeky! - Lovely photo.