William Cheever Turner aka Turnwood Fine Art

HOMEWARD BOUND One more horse painting I would like to talk about is this one above called " Homeward Bound " . This horse team was up at the Rocks Estate in Bethlehem,  NH. The driver  had just unhitched the team and was returning to the trailer where they would be transported home.  The horses seemed to know their job was done and they were eager to get home.  As the sun was setting it began to snow.  As I stood taking the picture you could feel the ground shake from the heavy stomping of the hooves of these powerful animals.  They're massive and powerful yet so gentle.  I added to the background the red barn as it was on the opposite of the road, but I thought it added more interest to the painting.

This painting I call Hayride because the man is bringing a load of hay from a far away field to his farm.  When visiting Woodstock, Vermont a few years back I walked across this restored covered bridge.  I was happy to see that this bridge had been restored for automotive as well as pedestrian traffic.  Also it reminded me of stories I had been told as a child how big over-loaded hay wagons would sometimes get stuck trying to navigate over the bridge.  Sometimes the wheels would fall through the rotting boards from the weight of these over-loaded wagons.  In some instances the heat generated from the hay would ignite a fire and the bridge would be destroyed as well as the hay and wagon.  I came home to my studio with this image in mind and thought it would make a good narrative of times past. The horses came from images I had from Stonewall Farm in Chesterfield, NH.  The hay wagon I basically made up from memory.  The driver was an old railroad conductor's image I had in my f

Many of my painting I have done on legends and Greek mythology will be on display in the main gallery at Gallery Z.  Come by on the Opening night and I will be there to talk about any and all of the works on display including my newest one, The Three Fates, shown on this postcard.

CHALLENGER SPOOKED Hello again, these two paintings are basically the same concept.  The Challenger came to me as I was looking at a small Danbury mint model I have of a Duesenberg.  The original idea was the person driving a 300 horsepower vehicle creating dust and smoke in their  wake and also forming the image of the horses and chariot.  Upon completing this work I realized I spent too much time on the anatomy of the horses and made them look less "dream-like".  I still like the painting but it didn't meet my initial visualization of the work.  This is what can happen if I don't take the time to draw the image out and study it before committing to canvas.   So I decided I would work on another piece  only this time plan it out through sketches and drawings to see what would work best to represent my vision of "ghost horses".  I named this second piece Spooked.  

When I'm not painting vehicles and toys I get into my other favorite subject...horses. Mainly large draft horses with beautifully detailed leather harnesses.  I find the horse anatomy a challenge, but if you catch it just right you capture the magnificence of the animal.  This particular painting called, Back When, was inspired by visiting the Rocks Estate in Bethlehem, NH. We went up in December on our way to visit the Wren Gallery and were surprised to see all the activities in progress.  The kids were toasting marshmallows on an outside fire pit, others were dog sledding, some were with their parents cutting a Christmas tree and others were taking a horse-drawn wagon ride. So we climbed on the wagon and went down passed this old mill building called the "pig pen".  That is where the road and background of this painting came from.  In the parking lot I took closeup photos of the horses waiting for the next group of people.  The wagon driver was standing in the front h

 Please come by and have a look at my newest show at Gallery Z.

  Today I delivered four oil paintings to Gallery Z, Lowell, MA.   # https://galleryzartistcoop.com The theme is “Looking at America” and one of my pieces, Day in Congress, was chosen for their postcard.  We all have our opinions and solutions regarding today’s events but hopefully we want what is best for our nation and its citizens without diluting our common values.  The diversity of works will provide a good viewing experience for the audience.  

This is my newest large oil painting called the " Three Fates " after a Greek myth.    Three canvas wrapped panels 24 x 36 , not yet bolted together make up this work.  I chose a Cadillac because of its unique style, color and chrome.  In this myth three sisters appear two weeks after the birth of a child and will spin the fate shown as the red thread looping through the vehicles and when the fate has been decided will cut the thread, deciding the life of this child.  The youngest sister, Clotho, is the 1955 Cadillac convertible.  She begins spinning thread.  The bobbin is near the rear bumper.   It then moves on to the middle sister, Lachesis, the 1948 black Cadillac.  She measures its length.  The thread goes from the front bumper, over the fenders, to the rear bumper and continues to the eldest sister, Atropos, the 1901 red Cadillac.  She cuts the thread.  The scissors can be found on the back stone under the name "Atropos".   The background was inspired by