"Miles Ridden"  (12 x 16) is the latest painting to come off the Budan easel.  Painting a pile of used horseshoes has been percolating around in my mind for some time.  I am one of those girls that was always crazy about horses.  I read every horsebook in the library as a young girl and owned my first horse when I got married.  My husband and I bred Holsteiner horses, a German Warmblood breed, for a number of years and I showed at a national level in dressage.  Although I haven't ridden a horse for some time now, I have very warm memories of those years.   I have been trying to find a pile of old horsehoes to take a picture of for use as a reference photo.  I have asked some of my friends that have horses....but for some strange reason they do not seem to have the habit of saving the used shoes in a nice pile.  I was going to start calling farriers as my next step.  Then a couple of weeks ago I made a trip into Cave Creek looking for ristras.  Ristras are those bundles of red chile  peppers and are another painting topic percolating around in my head.  I remembered a shop in Cave Creek having ristras hanging in a row.  I arrived to find the ristras had all been sold, but as I wandered around I found a couple of buckets of used horseshoes!  Needless to say I was happy to find these beat up and rusted painting subjects.  Although challenging, I had a great time with all the rust and oxidation.  I have another larger piece I plan to do with horseshoes.....but I think I  need a break from the horseshoes before tackling the larger piece I have planned.    Stay tuned!