OGDENSBURG -- The Frederic Remington Art Museum will kick off its annual Art Highlights & Tea lecture series with a presentation by artist, actor, horseman, and author Mark Grice about his debut novel “Paint the Horse Blue.”

The talk and reading will take place at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the Frederic Remington Art Museum.

The talk is free and open to the public, and will be presented in the Museum’s Tiffany Room.

Mark Grice is a professional horseman, an award-winning artist, a part-time actor, and an author. He has written numerous magazine articles for equine publications and enjoys writing and performing Cowboy Poetry, some of which appears in Paint the Horse Blue. The novel recently won a Winnie Award at the Equus Film & Arts Festival.

“Paint the Horse Blue” follows the story of Kella Major, a horse trainer and single mother in central Ontario, who finds herself facing desperate circumstances. Local readers will find much to identify with in its picture of the challenges of rural, small-town life in the North, and in its colorful and poignant cast of characters. And it doesn’t give too much away to reveal that a character called “Laura Foster” of the “Frederic Remington Art Museum” makes an appearance in the book.

Copies of “Paint the Horse Blue” are currently available in the Remington Museum gift shop and at the Museum’s online store. They will also be available at the Art Highlights & Tea talk, when Grice will sign copies of the book.

After the presentation, at 3 p.m., tea will be served in the parlors, courtesy of Ann Groome, Kathie Wade, and friends.

The cost is $10 for Remington Museum members and $15 for non-members.

Call 315-393-2425, email desmond@fredericremington.org, or reserve seats at the tea online at fredericremington.org.

The Art Highlights & Tea series takes place from January through April on the second Wednesday of each month.

Lectures begin at 2 p.m. and are always free and open to the public; the tea, organized and run by volunteers, begins at 3 p.m.

The Frederic Remington Art Museum is located at 303 Washington St.