We had a little easter lambie born this year!  She is so cute.  =:)

 

Cowboy Dressage Practice

Practice, practice, practice..... and we need more practice.... both of us are rusty as hell....

Today was a cowboy dressage practice day at the Pendleton pavilion, and we're getting ready for an upcoming schooling show on April 3rd.  This isn't what our actual test will look like, (we're doing two completely different patterns) - but it helps for our practice tests at home.

Jydam - Finished!

On Monday Craig and I drove up to Joseph to pick up our latest finished bronze project.  We were both really excited, and I couldn't sleep hardly at all on Sunday night. 

We got up to the foundry in Joseph and spent most of the day sanding and smoothing different areas on the metal cast.  Then I tried to pick the perfect patina for her, which was no easy task.  I went back and forth between several different options.....but finally decided on a light traditional tone for the first copy.

The drive up there is really beautiful.

Joseph is an art lovers town!



We couldn't resist taking a few pictures in front some of the bronzes in town.

 

And here she is.....

 The first finished copy of "Jydam".  I think that she turned out really well! 
 



The nice thing about her is that she can look good in several different colors - which is why I had such a hard time picking a final patina for her.  I was leaning towards a polished steel or a black onyx look, but I decided to go with a traditional tone for the first copy.   When I can get some more money saved up, there will be other copies in some colorful patinas.  =:)

A customer recently sent me some photos from a show that she attended.  I painted a bunch of minis over the winter, and Natalie purchased a few of them to add to her showstring.  They appear to be doing well earning NAN cards for her.  =:)  The photos below are courtesy of the owner, Natalie Sherard.

These are funny pictures. 

Both Tommy and Ira were totally terrified of turkeys when they first arrived at our house.  It's understandable, because neither one had ever seen big noisy birds like these before - VERY up close and personal.  At first I had to put each horse in the barn to keep them from trying the fences in an attempt to get away from the turkeys.  They were really terrified of them.  The tom turkeys like to puff up and strut around while making a very weird noise that sounds like a hand-held fan being whipped out.  The weird noise and fanning feathers movement will generally scare the holy living crap out of horses that aren't used to it...

Now currently neither horse could give a flying crap less about the birds.  The turkeys get pushy and like to hover around the grain feeders while waiting for the slobbered crumbs to fall onto the ground.  The  turkeys will actually bump into the horses legs and pop up in mid-flight right next to a horse.  If that isn't bird desensitizing..... I'm not sure what is.

They've come a long way since arriving here, and both horses are now recovered "bird-a-phobes".

 
 
  

I finally got around to making a nice photography box for the models that I paint, and it seems to be working like a charm.  (After 17 years, I think it's high time that I finally got one of these darned things made!)  I'm honestly the worst photographer in the world, so every little tool and trick helps immensely.  My new bulb shadow covering should arrive soon in the mail too.  Yay! 

This Breyer Croi Damsha is the first one to be photographed in the new photo box.  I painted her as a primitive black point dun (bay dun), and she's owned by Natalie Sherard of North Carolina.

We're getting there, slowly but surely.  =:)  Won't be too much longer before we're blazing down the trails.

Fresh from the studio, this is one of my favorite colors to paint.  An artist resin Eberl "Wega" arabian mare in a liver chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail.  Owned by Diane Finazzo of Minnesota.