The Daily Chicken

Morgan Relief is finished!

2011-06-27T19:40:00.003-04:00

I finished it up tonight after working on it for half the day. It is glossy due to the veggie oil I put on it to smooth it all out. It will absorb into the clay by tomorrow and leave the usual finish.

So excited to be able to call it done! Now to get it in to the caster and get it in production. :)

Nearing completion on the Morgan Relief!

2011-06-25T19:35:00.003-04:00

Nearly completed!

This thing is just buzzing along! I love it when a project really clicks all the way through. I still have a lot of tweaking, smoothing, and detailing to do but it's all in place now! The flowers still need the most work.

This photo gives you an idea of the thickness of the piece, approx 1" at the thickest area.

The only undercut area is the ear. There just was no way around that. I had fiddled with different ways to make it not be that way but this is the way it looks best. So for the ceramic edition I will mold it as a separate piece and attach each one, or block in behind it with clay when I mold it, and clean it out on each one. I'm not sure which one will be easier. The other option is to add a small piece behind it and create a 3 piece mold. For the resin edition there is no real issue with it since the rubber flexes.

The dreaded undercut.

I hope to have release information in the near future! Stay tuned!

A Morgan Relief for Morgan Relief!

2011-06-23T13:58:00.006-04:00

I am working on a large medallion right now (on the humid days when I cannot paint) to use to help raise funds for Forever Morgans. This group started a couple of years ago and I have been supporting their efforts when ever possible since I found it shortly after it began. Someday in the not so distant future I am hoping to be able to have a real Morgan (either an at risk horse nearby or one from them). If you know of anyone looking for a Morgan (or Morgan type) horse right now they are having a summer special with reduced adoption fees to help make room for incoming horses. These are all beautiful horses with good hearts. Some are registered, some are grade. They all deserve loving homes though!

The sculpt is BIG measuring approx 5" x 7" but should be a lot of fun to paint and glaze. Eventually I hope to release it in both resin and ceramic, so I am sculpting it for ceramic to make it easier later. That means that I cannot have any undercuts that would catch on the mold, as plaster is not forgiving like rubber is. I am not normally one for sculpting a lot of background stuff but for what ever reason I decided that this one needed it. I have also been given a bunch of beautiful roses from the neighbor and they have been very inspiring.

John grows every type of glorious rose just to be able to give them to friends and neighbors.

I am always looking for something to challenge me, as that is how you grow. So here we go, sculpting roses out of clay with no undercuts! I want to make sure there are plenty pf places for glaze to puddle and create even more depth as well. So much fun that I have not been able to pull myself away from it since I started it yesterday.

Here it is after another hour of work this morning.

And after 2 more hours! It goes so fast when you are inspired!

A belated BOYCC recap + other news

2011-06-21T16:37:00.005-04:00

This was the scene outside the show hall

Ok so I did not get to post when I wanted just due to everything that has been keeping me busy. I wish I had had something to type out posts while I was on the plane on the way home. I had several wonderful posts all constructed in my head, and alas they have gotten lost in there somewhere.

Joanie's darling backyard & studio

In short, the experience of BOYCC 2011 was AWESOME! I was sick the whole time but I would still do it all again. The venue was perfect, the food amazing, the people wonderful, the eye candy striking, and the clinics insightful! I had a blast. My hubby came along and is still talking about it a month later. I'd say he had a good time too! He definitely has a new found appreciation for our little clinky ponies! Joanie totally blew him away when she got out Stormwatch's 17 piece mold! As a gift for the occasion I had ordered him a hand built ceramic dragon. It arrived while we were gone and was a wonderful surprise for him on our return.

The Made With Love Friesian mare that I picked up while I was there

I learned so much, and gained some delightful new friends in the process. Friendships that had been made in the past were strengthened as well. I just can't say enough great things about the whole trip. I can't wait to get full force into making clinky things! The only down side was that I wish I could have cloned myself so that I could have taken ALL of the workshops.

These are the horse head pins that we china painted in Karen Gerhardt's workshop

The whole experience made such an impression on me that even on the plane home I was working out how I would put on a similar event here in Michigan. We could do the same thing for cold painting and finish work possibly next year even, and a ceramics version the following. Our new property is close to the expressway, easy to get to all sorts of shopping, and I have facilities at my disposal that are nearby. Hotels are 10 minutes away, and Detroit Metro & Flint Bishop airports are within an hours drive. I may even have a real equine reference in the back yard by then. :D

The line up of Hoscars made just for the show

Now the update on our moving process is this. It's a government loan program, which means that it is SLOW and heavy with paperwork. I am hoping that we will be able to move sometime in August but I really have no idea. I am currently able to paint (as long as the humidity cooperates). So I am working on a few commissions and some sales pieces. We may have to bring a bit more money to closing than we had anticipated since the appraisal is not coming in as high as we need. Right now we are waiting for the appraisal to be adjusted for some repairs we are having done, and waiting for another agency to approve some things. I should have my studio up and running shortly after we move and the ceramics division going sometime this fall if all goes well. As a huge blessing, I am being gifted TWO kilns! One from a friend local (this one is needing rewired), and a second from one of my best friends, whose mom has one and wants her to take it. I am so excited. Now if the house stuff just finally aligns and we close, we can get the move going. Thank you all for your support and continued prayers for this situation!

And the winner is....

2011-05-06T17:44:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the delay today. :) Anywho, the winner was picked by Random.org and it is hrsadct!! Please email me with your addy and I will pop your goodie in the mail on Monday. :)

Freebie Givaway!

2011-05-03T12:22:00.003-04:00

My FB studio paged reached 300 fans so as promised.... here is your freebie!

To enter the drawing, post a comment on this blog post. That's all you have to do to be entered. The winner will be drawn at random, and the prize shipped free of charge! I will chose the winner on Friday morning.

So what is the prize? This cool Medallion sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn, and painted by myself. I drilled a hole up in the mane so that it could be hung on a ribbon as well. :D

I hope to have some fun stuff to give away later this summer as well. Stay tuned!

Ahhh the unfairness of it all!

2011-01-25T14:29:00.003-05:00

This drawing pretty much sums up how I feel right now!

I have been having problems with my shoulder for a while now, on and off. This past summer it decided to become consistent. After much deliberating, and pushing by friends and family, I made an appointment with my family doctor about it. I was just looking for a prescription for physical therapy, but she wanted me to see the a shoulder specialist first. So I made my appointment with the Institute for Athletic Medicine, and a month later was finally in with the doctor there. The exam was not fun, and the diagnosis even less. I have torn my shoulder labrum in some way or another. Essentially the cartilage that stabilizes my shoulder is ripped, so my shoulder dislocates almost constantly. The only real treatment is surgery. The one thing I was hoping to avoid. Boo!!

The MRI with Arthrogram is scheduled for tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous about the procedure itself, but it should go fairly smoothly. I made sure I got in to a center that does this all the time, so they are good at what they do! I'm not crazy about small spaces, having things injected into my shoulder, or the length of time I'm going to have to stay still. Bah! I am just really hoping that the damage is not so bad that they have to do an open surgery, which will need even more healing time. I have another appointment with the specialist on Friday to go over the results of the MRI and plan surgery.

I did some research today to see what the general healing timeframes are, and the news was not as I had hoped. Now since my work does not require a lot of movement of my shoulder, I might be ok painting sooner, but it looks like it will be a minimum of 2-3 months. All of this when I was planning to do a marathon of painting and jump headlong into glazing before April/May. Talk about throwing a wrench into things. Boo!

Just day to day living without my right arm is going to be interesting enough. My friends and family are all plotting ways to duct tape my arm to my body so that I am unable to use it during the healing time. LOL.. Gotta love em.

With this in mind all of the unsold "Commission Me" slots have been removed from the sales list. Anything not done by my surgery date will have to wait several months until I can use my shoulder again. We were also hoping to buy a house sometime around June/July, so that may put yet another delay in things. We will be looking for a house with a more appropriate studio space, which will ultimately lead to better productivity, but the process to get there tends to muck things up.

I have already ordered bisques to work on, and have a wish list of glazes and a few other bisques. I was planning to work on things over the winter and then have some of my own work to show at BOYCC, and be able to offer some fun new stuff on Etsy. I just need to remind myself that they will all work out better when I am healed and pain free!

Clinky things, here I come!

2010-12-31T12:53:00.002-05:00

As 2010 has come to a close, so has almost all of my commission back log! YAY. I do have some very long over due pieces to do over this next year, and then I should be done! I am so thrilled with this because it means more time to play with new materials, namely ceramics. For years and years I have wanted to get into ceramics but have had other things get in the way of that. I am hoping that 2011 will be the year of broken down barriers, both with my art work and with moving into a more appropriate house/studio!

There is a wonderful little pottery shop in town that has graciously allowed me to have them fire things for me until we can move and I can purchase a kiln of my own. She is an experienced artist with porcelain, earthenware, and glazing, so I look forward to learning from her. I have begun making a wish list of glazes and bisque pieces to practice on, and should be able to get working on those in a month or two. I am also THRILLED to say that I will be attending BOYCC this year in mid May! A chance to learn from the masters in a hands on setting. Plus a wonderful getaway for hubby and I without children. All of this topped off with a show at the end in which we may oogle all of the clinky things, and maybe even show the few things I hope to have finished in time.

One of the issues I am going to have to figure a way around is my lack of an airbrush or any airbrushing experience. I have never touched one, as there just is not room here for a compressor of any decent size. I may just muster through with the little one that we have if I decide that the hand painting is not going to work. I figured if nothing else I can work on things like leopard appies and roany stuff that does not require much shading. I am also going to do some artsy colorful birds.

So what does all of this mean for you? It means if you like stuff that is shiny, I may have something to offer in the summer. I still plan to offer the usual things though, especially between now and May, as I will need funds to pay for all of this stuff and build up our savings for a house.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a very blessed New Year!

Indian Fire, Elsie, Sushi, and more!

2010-09-28T21:31:00.006-04:00

I finally finished Indian Fire! I had so many little things that slowed me down, but he is done. And not only that, I found a great new supply of exceptional black mohair, and got an amazing new Arabian Halter by Heather Morton-Abounder to use for photography. Here are some photos of Indian (Whom I have named Abednego). He is available for offers. I would like $900 for him, and will consider trades/part trades for nice clinkies/bisques! I am especially looking for pieces by Addi, Sarah Mink, Lesli, Joanie, The Boguckis, and of course Hagen Renaker and other nice poultry. I will also consider the usual nice customs and resins (prefer classic and smaller generally). If you are interested in him, email me!

Also finished this week (well mostly, I think I may go back and continue to refine some things).... Elsie! I adore her, so she's staying here. I did customize her a little into a Gypsy Cob mare, with the feathering and chin fluff. I will get some better photos showing her detail later on.

I almost have Stormwatch finished. I just need to finish some work on his mane, paint the horn, and do his final details! Then he will be off to his owner at long last.

And if you have not heard yet, I will be painting TWO Sushi resins! One will be for me to do what I want with, the other will go to Tom for him to sell or keep. He has requested his to be done in fleabit grey and be haired, so she is sure to be a stunner. I think she's going to look wonderful like that. The one I am going to do is still undecided but I will NOT be hairing it, as I know that many of you out there prefer the sculpted manes and tails. :) I have the resins in hand now and she is a real treat. Brigitte really outdid herself on this one. If you have any color suggestions for the one I will be painting for myself (probably to sell) please feel free to email me! So far I have had dark rose grey and bay rabicano suggested.

And finally... I love things that are shiny. This especially includes ceramics (particularly poultry and horses). It has been a long time goal of mine to make the shift into ceramics, and I am finally able to start doing so! A pottery shop near me has opened up and "Lulu" the owner, loves to have artists in to work, and will teach me and help me get into it. I have 5 tiles for the Flying Heart Fundraiser that I will be glazing later this week. I expect that they will probably take about 2 weeks to get fired, and then I will be offering probably 4 of them for sale shortly after that. I'd like to purchase one of them for my own collection. :) So Stay tuned! I will try to remember to snap some photos after glazing them, but before firing, just to see how they change.

Stuff in the works

2010-08-17T11:55:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since I have had time to post. I have been busy painting, and posting on Facebook is just easier most of the time. Anywho, Indian Fire's auction should be up probably in the next week or so. I have to finish his legs/hooves and some details, then do his hair and make him his halter. :)

Also got this Caldero done and shipped out a few weeks ago.

And still plugging away at Stormwatch! I seriously underestimated the amount of time it would take me to paint and detail his mane and tail. I spent most of 3 days doing his tail and it's still not done. His mane took me an entire day just to base coat! :S Lots more work to do on this gentleman. I can't figure out where I saved the pictures I took more recently. I have gone back and darkened that front left leg (as seen in the Indian Fire photo above). I'm not sure exactly which way was better. It's still bugging me.

After these guys are done, I will resume work on Pedro(sale horse), Kalilah(commission), Elsie, and Oliver. I might squeeze in a couple of simple custom G1 stablemates as well. I have a TB mare and Drafter in basecoats. They'll be for sale at some point. I may or may not be parting with Elsie & Oliver when they are done. I think they might stay here for a while. :)

I also need to get up to the pottery shop next week and get these FHF fundraiser tiles glazed! I'm looking forward to playing with some glazes on those. Everyone has done theirs so differently. I have some idea of what I want to try. Fingers crossed that they turn out really nicely!

Wow, where does the time go!?

2010-01-01T11:46:00.003-05:00

It's 2010 already! When did that happen? It went so crazy fast. Well it's the start of not only a new year, but a new decade. I really don't know where it will take me. I used to think I had a clue, but now I know better!

There are a few things I do resolve to do better this year. One is laying out my budget and sticking to it, the other is to finish all of my commissions or send them home refunded. I really hate disappointing people, but the amount of time I have to work on painting has dropped incredibly. And to compound things, now that I am not painting consistently I find it much harder to get back into the swing of things. By the time I get into the swing of it, I run out of time again. It's been very frustrating. Especially since I really want to paint these horses!

So what to do about it?? I think I need to structure my days better, and actually schedule in work time. I have tried in the past, and failed miserably. If anyone has any tips for doing this, I would love to hear them! Otherwise I am just going to try as hard as I can to stick to something of a schedule. So here we go 2010, onward and upward!

Reflective #2 - sold

2009-11-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much!

Sales Post - Reflective Medallion #2

2009-11-05T14:05:00.003-05:00

Here is the second Reflective medallion I have painted so far. I just love this sculpture. The first one was so much fun that I immediately ordered a 2nd as soon as it was finished!

This time I finished it in a deep palomino with a glossy green background. The flash was a bit harsh in these pictures, and his color is a little darker than shown. Price is $175ppd. Email me if you'd like to snap him up. :)

Itchy Cob again

2009-11-05T09:06:00.003-05:00

She's starting to look a bit less creepy now! And yes after much deliberation i have decided that it is a she. Somehow I just could not put bits on this creature with the area being so exposed. lol So an udder it is!

This is the 3rd head so far but I think this one will stay. It may get Dremeled to twiggish thickness again, I am not sure yet. All in all I am happy finally with the way she is turning out. It has taken a bit to get the legs in the proper position but I think we have it. :)

Oh and just for fun here is a little teaser on a sales piece coming......

Cool new Medallion (etc.) Show!

2009-11-01T21:02:00.004-05:00

I am really excited about the new online shows at ModelHorseBlab.com! I helped judge one back in September and it was very easy to tackle. This month's show is for misc model horse stuff including medallions, awards, plaques, etc! Now I have sold all of the medallions that I have painted so far, so I have nothing to enter, but if you own one of my pieces please feel free to use the photos I took. :) Don't forget to let me know how they do, too! Did I mention they have some awesome prizes?!

Here is a link for more info!

Truffle is Sold & AA Friesian Mare finished

2009-08-28T01:53:00.002-04:00

Truffles the Tesla I posted about did find a new home. :) Thanks!

Also finished this week is an AA Friesian Mare resin in Ivory Champagne. Still working on getting some really good photos of her. Here is the only one I have at the moment. She is a custom order, and is not available for sale.

Sales Piece - "Truffle" Tesla in chestnut tovero

2009-08-22T20:33:00.003-04:00

It has been a while! I can never seem to anticipate how busy things will get around here. Just when I think things are going to slow down, I am proven quite wrong! So anyway, it has been hard to get back in the painting groove. The pressure of having my dear customers waiting so patiently for their pieces just kills me, and my ability to be inspired. It's a bad place to be. Then after such a dry spell, it's difficult to feel confident enough to just jump back in on a custom order that you might mess up. So, while I really did not want to finish a sales piece before getting many more orders done, I felt this was the only way I would be able to get back into the swing of things. And it has helped. Now to keep the momentum going!

So here we are, a little cutie to break me out of this dry spell. I am offering her to Blog readers first for a low price to show my appreciation. For those of you not familiar with this resin, she is a classic scale draft foal sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis, and released many years ago. $175ppd takes her home. She has a lot of little roany pencil details that are not evident in the photos. It's late here and the light is dwindling. I will try to get some better ones later.

Itchy Cob

2009-07-04T20:51:00.003-04:00

I just realized that I never posted about this blob of itchy goodness before! Here are a few more pictures of the poor lad.

He started out as an Appy Performance Horse of all creatures, but you'd hardly know that now. In fact I usually have people guess as to what he started as, and I don't think I have had anyone guess it correctly. Hehe! He has been dremeled, cut apart, melted, and apoxied.

Itchy Cob update

2009-07-04T13:17:00.004-04:00

Just when you think you have it all together... Things just fall apart. ;) Well in this case it took a saw. It had to be done. He still has a long way to go. The hard part has been his left side, of which I do not really have references for. The picture I am working from does not even show his left hind leg due to his long thick tail. I just have to guess based on what I know of the anatomy of that area.

Well here is a close up of some hair texture & wrinkles I was playing with last night. He's going to have plenty of squishy horsie goo for sure.

Better pictures of Reflective

2009-06-04T12:51:00.002-04:00

Here he is all finished, sealed, and with better photos than a person can do at 2AM!

I love contrasting finishes on these. Just makes things pop that much more.

"Reflective" Reflections

2009-06-04T10:56:00.003-04:00

I snagged a Reflective plaque from Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig this past week and what a joy he was to paint! Sometimes it takes something like this to get the artistic juices flowing again. Something small, low pressure, with instant gratification! If you are not sure about if you want to try one of these guys, do it! You won't regret it!

Here are some pics of the piece that I took last night at 2am. I just could not put it down until It was finished. I still have some sealer to put on it and probably I will tweak a few things now that my eyes are not crossed. Hope you like him!

A little Lombard for you

2009-03-10T19:17:00.004-04:00

This guy will be a sales piece eventually though I do hope to show him a bit first. I thought I would do a sculpted mane and tail on him for those of you who panic at the thought of keeping mohair in perfect shape. :) The tail is a Rio Rondo braided tail. I have also tweaked an ear and will be resculpting little bits here and there to give him character.

Oh and Ms. Scarlett is back in one piece. ;)

Developing Character

2009-03-02T13:49:00.003-05:00

Hardships are character building for people and for plastic horses alike. This mini Scarlett met my coping saw and while at the time it seems to her like a tragedy, I assured her that things will be better in the future. :)

See a little super glue and wire and things are looking better already!

Progress is Solar Powered!

2009-02-23T17:01:00.003-05:00

Anyone who lives in a northern climate will probably attest to the draining effect that a lack of sunshine brings during the winter months. And if you have followed my artwork for a few years you may notice that same pattern. It is just so hard to get motivated when you just feel like hibernating!!

Today the warm spring sunshine made a grand appearance, and brought me a good kick of energy. Yay! So here is a little of what I have on my desk. The rest I will get pics of shortly. One of my 6 yr old daughters got a squished finger mid picture taking so needless to say productivity came to a quick halt! That's O.K. though. I think I needed a time out cuddle anyway. :)

Caldero is a custom order, the Morgan is for my own collection/experimentation, the two foals will be for sale when finish. I promise more updates on the rest of the custom orders very soon. Thanks everyone for your patience!

Been a while!

2008-09-24T12:26:00.004-04:00

I have been so incredibly busy lately! Between homeschool activities starting up again, de-cluttering the house in preparation to list it for sale, and helping my mom move into her new house, there just has not been much time to do anything! I picked up a sketchbook to doodle while I am here or there, and have decided to do a kids (and big kids) Horse Coloring book. The goal is to have it ready to print in October so it will be available for sale for the holidays. Phew... With all of that going on I am actually looking forward to some painting. :)

While I was de-cluttering I found a bunch of my old sketch books. I listed some poultry theme artwork for sale. I did most of them back in '05. If you are interested, the pictures and prices are listed on my Photobucket account: http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m74/bantysbrood/For%20Sale/ . I will give discounts for combined orders.

Also I will be officially changing my studio and farm names to Chookhenge! It was a long time coming, and I decided on it a few months ago but wanted to wait till I had some things done before announcing it. This will make my life a little bit easier. Below is the logo (though still in progress). I plan to add to it a bit yet. I am working on a website, but don't anticipate that it will be ready for visitors till after the new year.

OK back to work for me!!!

Painting hooves

2008-08-15T15:08:00.010-04:00

I wasn't sure if anyone was interested but since I was painting up Al Sayyid's hooves today I took photos of the whole process. The colors and steps I use vary from horse to horse, depending on the look I am going for, but generally it goes something like this.

Step one- Paint the whole hoof a mix of Yellow Oxide, Burnt Sienna, and White. The mix is thin but still covers fairly well in one coat.

Step two- When that is fully dry, take a damp flat brush and dip on edge of it in my thinned white mix. Then with the white edge of the brush along the top of the hoof I do a thin layer. The result is a lighter top and darker bottom with some translucency to it. (repeat one more time if needed)

Step three- for striped hooves I add in some vertical lines with a medium grey water color pencil. Some stand alone others are in groups.

Step four- with a small wet (but not dripping) round brush I blend the water color pencil lines with vertical strokes. I may use the water color paint that ends up on the brush to add a few more faint lines.

Step five- In the same way as the 2 previous steps I add a few stripes in with the blank water color pencil and blend them in again. You can spray Dull Cote before this if you don't want the black and grey to blend together. Spray liberally with Dull Cote when you are happy with the blending.

Step six- now repeating step 2, with the same damp brush and thinned white mix. This helps set the black and grey stripes into the hoof.

Step seven- now I use a cotton swab and some Burnt Umber pastels to add in some 'dirt' and shading around the lower portion of the hoof. If you decide you have added too much, you can remove it gently with an eraser or a moistened cotton swab.
Step eight- Respray with dull cote and then apply Delta Ceramcoat Gloss Varnish. If you don't want as much gloss you can sue the "Matte" varnish, or respray with dull cote. The brush on varnish is very durable though and helps protect the hooves. All done!

The Arabian mare & Foal

2008-08-11T12:55:00.002-04:00

I know several people have been anxiously awaiting the release of Addilynn & Joseph, so I am happy to announce that I will be working on getting them released by Fall. I finally reached a point where I feel I can really finish them well. Still have quite a bit of work to do on them but it is flowing much easier now.

For those of you who have not seen her before, I started her back at a workshop I attended several years ago, taught by Karen Kasper. She has undergone several changes but the over all feel of her has stayed the same. A few months later people started begging me to make her a baby, so that is how Joseph happened to come into being. They are large traditional scale. The mare is approx 8.5" tall at the withers.

At this point I am hoping to avoid having to put them on bases, but I may need to adjust the foals gait to do that. The mare I think will be fine.

They are both done in medium firmness classic clay, so I had to freeze them to firm the clay up a bit for detailing. We have so much humidity right now though that she was covered in condensation instantly. lol

If you see a steady stream of sales horses..

2008-06-18T12:14:00.003-04:00

Do not be surprised. Because the economy and housing market are so bad here in Michigan, our house is now worth $30k less than we owe on it. Which means the only way we can move to a farm like we want is to pay down the mortgage a ton, or rent it out. With so many houses for rent right now, we don't really think that is a great option. But we may consider that this fall when we get some emergency $ saved up. So in order to pay down the mortgage enough to sell (and hopefully the market will recover somewhat so we can sort of meet in the middle), I have to be able to send an extra $1000 or so each month. Not an easy task with the amount of disposable income everyone has shrinking. Right now I would like to be able to pull in at least some money through artwork. If that does not work, I will have to go get a 'real' job. That would leave me very little time for anything hobby related. It might be that I just open up for commissions again when this batch are finished and shipped.

So for you it means, more opportunities for my work for a while at least. Or the chance to have a custom order done. And it means that no matter how much I love my Stormwatch, he will be coming up for sale when finished. Suburban life is slowly killing me... lol.. I need a farm more than I need resin.

And just to keep people entertained, here are some photos of recently completed works. Enjoy!

Flag day pony "Betsy"

2008-06-14T11:08:00.002-04:00

Since this wee lass is being finished up today (Flag Day) I decided to name her after Betsy Ross, one of the US Flag designers. This little pony is the G3 Stablemate, which is a most adorable mold. This is the first G3 stablemate that I have painted, and she was a lot of fun. She's nearly done now and will be for sale. I may give her some more white markings on her body though. She is $65ppd

Betsy the pony is Silver Dun Tovero. I have a reference photo of this color for anyone needing it for showing, and will print it out to go with her. She does have some brush strokes showing (darn heat was drying my paint too fast), but she is still super cute.

Finished pictures of Edmond

2008-05-28T23:14:00.003-04:00

He is done! :) Enjoy! I will be posting him for sale in a few minutes.

Coming up for sale!

2008-05-28T17:39:00.004-04:00

The Boxing shire is nearly completed so I wanted to give those of you who read my Blog a little head start if you are interested in purchasing him. I will post his finished photos here in approx 2 hours. If you are interested please email me!

Glad this guy doesn't shed!

2008-05-27T11:46:00.002-04:00

15,000,000 tiny hairs later.. lol.. ok maybe not that many.. though I would not be surprised if it were true. This is the Boxing Shire I took to my inlaws and worked on yesterday to sell. Minis are so portable that way. I can pack up all my pencils and the horse in my little foam case and off I go. Trads are no where near that easy. I am hoping to finish him up today, but here is a little glimpse of him in progress.

So many sculptures, so little time (and money!)..

2008-05-26T11:08:00.002-04:00

So many of my resin orders have been coming in at the same time this spring. I finally got my Dafyyd after waiting for a year and a half. Wooohoo! Then I ordered myself a Sencillo. I entered a lottery for a Scarlett. And now have received word that my Stormwatch is in! Yikes! So what this means for you is a sales piece coming up very soon, possibly two. Smooshed in amidst the commissions I am feverishly working on. The first sales horse will be a mini. He is the Chaney Boxing shire, being done in bay Sabino with some roaning. Probably something a bit like this one. The other might be that Eberl Hermes resin.. if we ever get to speaking terms again.

Pixie pic

2008-05-22T11:51:00.002-04:00

Quick pic of the Pixie I am working on. Still not completely happy with the pattern on her but shes getting closer. My camera batteries were dying so the shot isn't very good colorwise.

Progress! (and house for rent?)

2008-05-20T14:30:00.004-04:00

Ok at the prodding of a fellow artist (she knows who she is), I am updating my blog here. ;) It has been an emotional roller coaster here in my life for a while, one I wish I could jump off of at times. With art being the kind of thing that involves so much emotional investment, I just haven't had anything to give it until lately. Even now there isn't a lot but I am trying! So to break back into things I finished up this lovely Arabian medallion sculpted by Rebecca Turner .

He was a fun piece to do, and I used the medallion to test for the chestnut color I am possibly going to put on my NAN donation. Also in the works at the moment are 2 commissions that I will hopefully have finished up this week. One is that Al Sayyid in fleabit grey, and the other is a Pixie in baby bay tovero. Pictures to come as I get a little more done on them.

On the personal front, we still have not moved. We have been working towards moving for so long then the market fell, and the result now is that we are upside-down on our mortgage. We owe more than we can sell it for by a decent chunk. Our only option appears to be to rent this house and I am unsure about how I feel about that option. We will see. I am trying to just leave it all in God's hands. He has better plans for us than we do. We just need to be patient and wait and see what they are.

Getting it back.. Paint Therapy.

2008-02-12T20:42:00.000-05:00

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted, it has been a rough winter so far. I am really looking forward to the renewing rains of spring. Between pneumonia, double ear infections, food poisoning, the flu, the loss of a friend of mine, and my baby niece who was stillborn this past week it is a wonder I have painted anything at all since November. And I haven't really. But I need too. That pull to create and paint through the hurt and sickness is over whelming. I cannot just sit on it any longer. So what do I have to inspire me? Plenty of commissions that is for sure! (EEK!) I sincerely apologize to all who are waiting for pieces from me. I really do mean to get them done and shipped when I say I plan to, things just keep smacking me in the face.

I have managed to finish up that rebellious Rasam that I started last fall, and start a lovely fleabit grey Al Sayyid commission. I am going to try to squeeze out a sales piece soon as well, probably that Hermes resin if I can get him to cooperate with me. Then it will be back to commissions again for a while.

I am also working on a donation for the NAN auction! So stay tuned for more info on that beasty.

It's been a while!

2007-11-24T10:48:00.000-05:00

Talk about busy...! Between the stuff going on the last month and a half, and not being able to find any Dull Cote at the store, I did not get anything much done in that time. I am back in the swing of things now though! Finally finishing up that Rasam that has been fighting with me for months. The Babaji (pictured) I finished is now for sale, and I have a Valda, Al Sayyid, and Pixie all in progress that are commissions. Babaji is a very neat horse, and I learned a lot painting him. In retrospect I wish Id done him solid Buckskin, but I think he turned out pretty neat. Now that I have Buckskin/Dun and Bay down pat, I am hoping to polish off the skills I need to paint Chestnuts.

Now on a more personal note... If anyone remembers that house we looked at this summer and tried to buy, we found out it has gone back up for sale, and the price has come down again. I am not sure if it will still be up for sale when we finally sell this one. It would be great to have 6 bedrooms to work with, but that house needs so much work. We will see. It is pretty neat to watch how God's plans unfold. We finally made the decision to start working on the preparations to adopt a little boy from Ethiopia in the near future. This means a lot of my sales pieces from now on go to the adoption fund. We are really eager to get this going, but trying to be patient as we really need to move to a larger place first.

The search for a new webspace

2007-09-29T14:40:00.000-04:00

Well it has been 10 months or so since I was last able to log into my webserver to update my website. I have ended up using photobucket and Flickr mostly now, along with this blog. So the decision has been made. I will need to move my website and do a total redesign of both the horse art, and chicken pages, and perhaps add in some personal pages for other hobbies and family stuff. This will be a huge undertaking. So I will not be taking any orders from Dec on till after we move more than likely. Until then, anyone who would like to see my most recently completed pieces can see them on Flickr.com. I really like the lay out of the photos there, and the ease in searching, as well as the slideshow option.

On the orders front.. I have taken quite a few lately, and some of those I had forgotten to write down and booked the slots twice so it may be a tad longer to get them all done but I do not anticipate long waits. Now that things are settling in with the homeschool for the year, I should be able to get back to a steady work schedule.

Yarrrrgghhh..

2007-09-19T14:36:00.000-04:00

Ahoy! In the spirit 'o tis swash-bucklin good holiday, aye have decided to offer ye some booty.

Aye found tis wee thin' whilst rummagin thru me treaayes. 'E was done lats sprin', an neva found a proper ship t' call 'is home. First matey t' tell me t' name o' one o' me chickens, gets this critter 'or free! You may have to do a bit o diggin (as any good pirate should be capable of!). May t' best matey win!

(ps. if you are browsing my website, it doesn't work well in firefox)

darn lungs.. Behind again

2007-09-18T19:56:00.000-04:00

This fall has been MISERABLE with the allergies/asthma, and now add on that a cold. Ugh. So when I take my meds, they make me shake, which isn't all that great when you are painting tiny details on a horse. It worked ok with the grey drafter since all the dapples were zig zaggy. LOL.. Lots of stuff is getting prepwork done now for this reason. I can't paint, but I can prep. So hopefully in the grand scheme of things it wont slow me down too bad.

I have also been restoring this awesomely cool Art Glaze "Oatsville", sculpted and I believe also finished by Paul Sanders. Still working on the tail. His poor original tail is long gone, and instead of sculpting a full look-alike tail, I decided that I really liked the short docked look. So I am giving him just a little bit on the end to finish it off. Matching the glossed bisque color is not proving very easy, but hopefully I can get something close enough. With all the breaks he has, he probably won't be a future show horse, but I love him anyway!

New Flatwork!

2007-09-14T16:39:00.001-04:00

It has been some time since I have done any flatwork for sale. So last night while sitting in my barely lit bedroom studio while my hubby slept, I decided to try some colors and techniques out on a canvas board. I am planning a painting for my kitchen and these were some of the colors I was thinking about. Anyway, it is a painting in acrylic of 2 Gypsy Cob mares in the sunset. It is for sale for $75 including shipping in the USA. The matte and frame are not included. The entire painting is 16x20, and it extends to within 2-3 inches of the edge, mostly rough brush strokes. Feel free to email me if you are interested in this piece!

Just Keep Swimming... er flying?

2007-08-31T13:36:00.000-04:00

Well chickens don't swim very well, so we probably shouldn't try that. Anyway.. it has been a while since I posted. I have been so busy lately painting, planning the school year for the kids, house training puppy, and moving my mom 200 miles back down near by. It has been insane. The house is a disaster, so today's job is boxing up and shipping EVERYTHING that I need to ship.. (ugh) and reorganizing the house. That is between our anniversary yesterday (10 yrs!) and my birthday tomorrow (29 already?!), and hubby has been keeping me busy doing things out of the house.

So studio news? I finished Chet, and the Valinor, and I am *almost* done with a Rasam. All of these guys are sold. Due to the down hobby economy I have decided to offer some custom order slots on some unpainted resins I have here, rather than offer them already finished. It breaks up the payments a little since I only need the body cost down, and the rest isn't due till the horse is finished. And since I already have the resins I know they are ones that I would like to work on. Right now I still have an Al Sayyid available for order, a Babaji on order, and that custom Svelte yet to finish along with a couple of orders. Hopefully next week will be a bit less busy and I can get back to work!

No New House, but we got a puppy...

2007-08-16T11:46:00.000-04:00

The house just wasnt meant to be. They would only give $10k for repairs and since they were making us use contractors instead of us doing it, we just couldnt get it done for that. So that ends the house for us. I was starting to get nervous about the amount of work and funds needed, so it is a weight off my shoulders. I know there is a better place out there waiting though. Hopefully with more land. I wasnt sure 2.8 acres was going to be enough.

So here's our new puppy! He wasnt really planned, I ended up trading a guy 10 chickens for him at the swap. He is a red and white bi-color Australian Shepherd. His name is Smokey, but I call him Moe. He's so smart! Already house broken at 8 weeks old, and walks fairly well on a leash. He is going to be a great dog!

Inspiration strikes again.. Meet Sven!

2007-08-08T10:29:00.000-04:00

I am still working on Chet, but decided I needed to start another horse to feed to Ebay. After 2 days of staring at blank resins and partially started paint jobs I decided that I could just paint a Svelte resin next. Well I found this gorgeous buckskin tobiano paint colt to use as reference.

Then I thought... I would really like to try to do the mane and tail in hair like his. And maybe I will make him neighing, that will be cute... and tweak an ear back... So here we are 24 hours later. lol He still has a little more resculping on his face and a few other spots and then tomorrow I can start priming. He is going to be SOOOOO Cute!

Moooooving on..

2007-08-02T09:48:00.000-04:00

PHEW! I am SOO glad that auction is done. lol.. And my Dull Cote should be in today so I can get back to work on Chet and start another project or two. One of them is a cow... yes.. a cow. It's a cut calf resin that I picked up about 6 months ago, just to break up the monotony. Gotta keep workin today. I am already a touch behind on starting another sale horse. One of the next ones will not be haired. I may do a Svelte.

Woohoo! House update!

2007-08-01T13:06:00.000-04:00

Well the first major hurdle in getting this house has come through. They approved us for the loan! YAY! We still have to do the home inspection, get bids for repairs, make an offer, and find a renter for our house before closing. BUT God will help us. :)

A lesson in patience??

2007-08-01T08:45:00.000-04:00

Well we still haven't heard back about the loan yet. I hope they call soon with good news. I keep thinking of all that studio space as I sit here at my cramped little desk, painting... or trying to set up a photo shoot on a box by the bedroom door. Don't get me wrong.. I am definitely thankful for this place, but it is time to move on. lol

Majeeda's auction is still in that mid auction lull that I hate. I know everyone is just waiting, but there is always that fear that maybe, just maybe, no one else is going to bid. There are over 100 people with it on their watch lists, over 700 hits to the auction itself. The suspense is killing me! LOL!

Ok, back to projects. Chet had a bit more work done to his roaning and pattern, but not enough to justify a photo shoot. The Dull Cote is totally empty and I can't get any more till tomorrow, so I need to start on a different project. I can't work on that Arabian mare and foal that everyone is asking about. It has been far too warm in this house, and they are too soft to work with. My seam scraper has walked off again (do they have invisible legs??) so I am thinking maybe I should just give up for the morning and spend some time looking at horses for sale online... I mean.. for reference material.. (wink)

Majeeda & Chet at 7am

2007-07-31T07:49:00.001-04:00

I am soooo not a morning person. ugh. I didn't actually go to bed until 2:30am, then was awoken at 7am by the dog, barking because he wanted to go for a walk. I am thinking more and more about starting him on medication or something, he is so obsessive!! Anyway, he wouldn't let me go back to bed. So I decided to work on Chet some more. Majeeda is on Ebay and I absolutely hate this time period between listing and the end of auction. It feels like time is standing still, and I am so nervous about what it will end at. The time after Breyerfest is such a hard time to get a good price on ebay, and even though I have had scads of email saying she will go high, you just never really know till it happens! I am glad I decided to do a 3 day auction instead of a 5 day, I don't think I'd have survived 5 days of this. LOL! It doesn't help that we're supposed to hear back today about the loan.

Ok, working on Chet again. I worked on him over the last 2 days also, so here are some more updated photos. I can't do that much right now because I am almost out of Dull Cote again, and the hobby shop won't have any more till Thursday. Today I think I will just focus on his roany spots and his tobiano pattern.

Plodding Forward; Chet's Journey

2007-07-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

Alright, well last night I ran out of Dull Cote, so I started working on a Chet resin commission. He's been base coated a lovely shade of gold so far, and now its time to start the metallics and pastels. I know people probably would like to see a horse go through the process, so I thought I'd show this guy from start to finish.

Here are the photos I am using for reference:

He will be the red dun with the markings and roaning of the bay tobiano.

Here he is being basecoated:
(yes, my desk looks like a war zone. Believe it or not I actually *cleaned* it up for these photos!)

I picked up more spray today, so I can finish up Majeeda, and continue to work on this guy. More later..

Ack, the fleas!

2007-07-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

OK not real fleas but with all those fleabites on this mare, I couldn't resist! Seriously I think I have put 8 hours in on her so far, and I *finally* have all the fleabites on her I think.... I hope at least. I've now started the work on her legs (which had been used as handles during all that pencil work).

Still have about 4 more layers of color to apply, and detailing. Phew!! She is full into that messy stage and I have pastel dust everywhere.

No news on the house yet. We should hear back on the loan early next week. Still praying we get it. I have already mentally moved in, even though I have tried not to get attached. Please keep praying for us!

In other studio news... I am being prodded to get the 4 sculptures that I keep promising, actually finished and cast. They're coming! They just keep getting pushed back for projects that have a more immediate ability to create income. :) I am hoping to have the Arabian mare and foal set, as well as Tater and Tot (the Gypsy Cob and Miniature horse) done and released by early '08. Maybe I can snap some photos of them later on.

The House...

2007-07-24T18:56:00.000-04:00

OK had anyone told me a week ago that I'd have found our dream house and we would be trying to buy it, I'd tell them they were crazy! But here we sit, waiting for the financing to see if it can happen! We currently live in a 1000 sq ft home on .3 acres. There is no garage, attic, or basement for storage. Now put 5 kids, 3 cats, 4 birds, 2 bunnies and a dog in there.... you can see what I'm getting at! Just a smidge too tight. So this house we found (or I should say God lead us to!!) is 6 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2.9 acres, horse barn, chicken coop, in ground pool and a walk out basement for my studio!!! WOOOOT! Its perfect. Were totally in love with it.

Now the trouble is, we have not sold our house yet, and the Michigan economy for selling is pitiful at best. And we can't make a contingency offer because it is bank owned. So.... we have to either sell this puppy fast, or find someone to rent it and BEG the bank to give us the loan. That will be tomorrow's task.

Please pray for us! We REALLY need this house. My poor 10 yr old daughter is sharing a 10x10 bedroom with her 3 younger sisters(ages 6, and 4.5 twins) and shes begging for her own space!

Ok, now on the model horse front.... I need funds and fast! So hopefully by early next week I will have my custom Ziryab resin on Ebay. So far she is really turning out nice, but man those fleabites are a killer! I haven't even begun to tackle putting them on that big ole belly of hers. Phew...

Bawk Bawk Begawk!

2007-07-14T09:02:00.000-04:00

Alright, so I figured why not. So I am inviting you into my crazy zoo. So here is an intro into the critters.

Dog -
Toby, 3 yr old rescued Husky Shep mix. Weighs 70 lbs, white with dark spots, and he thinks hes a lap dog..

Cats -
Paisley, Kate, and Burnt Marshmellow

Birds -
2 parakeets - Shelby and Luke
Sam - the white capped Pionus
Kermit - the green cheek Conure
Tim - a young Red Golden Pheasant
two Button Quail
Plus my flock of Silkies, Showgirls, Brahmas, Salmon Faverolles, and Marans (around 150 birds!!)

Rats -
Moya - Pearl Merle Varigated Dumbo girl
Blobby - Blue rex Dumbo girl
Cloud - Blue hooded Dumbo girl

Rabbits -
Poppy - Black and Orange Harlequin marked Lionhead Doe (My sweetie)

Fish -
The Bettas - Animal, D-Man, Liam, Sapphyre, Heinz, Kourtini, Flame, Janice, Fluffy, Belle, & Teenie.

Frog -
Froggie - Green tree frog

Thats all!!! LOL...