New family member

Okay, this has nothing to do with ceramic horses, but I had to share this picture of our newest pet, "Napoleon". Well, he actually belongs to my oldest son. Brandon had lost his much-loved leopard gecko, Stradivarius, last year and had been on the fence about what pet he might like next. I had a strong preference for something with fur, and I probably wasn't playing fair when I showed him these Roborovski hamsters. How could we not take one home?

The first Vixen

This is the first finished Vixen, "Antoinette". She was named, of course, because I was forced to lop off her head.

Here is me doing just that, with my vellum guillotine.



I doubt I'll continue using this method, since I suspect the new multi-part molds will work better. (I still haven't poured with them yet, since I've been focused on glazing.) Future Vixens will come pre-decapitated, so I probably won't be wielding the deadly paper any more.

If you'd like to see more pictures of Antoinette (with her head firmly back on), she has her own pages here and here.

Joan's Lirico

Here is Joan's Lirico, "Gaudi". He was named for the famed Spanish architect best known for his excessively detailed Sagrada Familia, and there have been times when I wondered if, like Gaudi's cathedral, he might never be finished!

Unfortunately it was nearly impossible to capture the detail in his pale coat. It's too subtle, and easier to see if you are holding him and can turn him to minimize the glare on the glaze. But here is an attempt:




I am going to be sad to see him go, but I learned a lot about effective roaning techniques from him so he'll be influencing horses here for a while to come.

Upcoming lottery horses

I'll be posting three lottery horses to my website later today. This guy is "Dutch", a light bay tovero Finn. There's also a palomino overo Vixen ("Antionette") and the donkey-spotted Brownie that's already on the website. (More information on how lottery sales work can be found here.)

A new article

I've added a PDF file of the most recent installment of my column "Hoist the Colors", done for the Realistic Equine Sculpture Society's newsletter, The Boat.

One of the nice things about writing for The Boat is that authors are allowed to retain their copyright, so I can share articles after they are published. I'm not sure I'll post all future columns - I'm not sure I have that much space on the site! - but it's nice to have the option, especially for the articles that might be helpful to a broader range of readers. In the case of this particular article, there's a simple overview of what is currently known about appaloosa genetics. Although that might seem overly technical, in truth it has a lot of implications for painters (and judges) of model horses.

And if you find articles like this one helpful, I'd highly recommend membership in the organization. The newsletter, which usually numbers close to 200 pages, is full of these kinds of in-depth articles on just about every topic concerning the making of horse figurines. The cost of the membership is worth it on the quality of the newsletter alone!

Back to work

Sprinkles does not approve of working, unless by working you mean "feeding peppermints to the pony"

After a whirlwind few weeks that involved too many days spent sleeping in tents or on boats (interrupted by one wonderful week of nothing but studio time), I am back to work. I have a few pieces that are finished and ready to photograph, so I should have some pictures up shortly. A few pieces belong to (very patient) customers, so those pictures will have to wait until their new owners receive them. But there are sales pieces that I can share, including the first Vixen, "Antionette". Her buddy from the previous post, "Vincent", is still a few firings away. Appaloosas are always so difficult...

Sneak Peek - "Vincent"

I thought I would post a sneak peek of "Vincent", the Taboo that I am working on. I know in this picture he looks like a mulberry grey, but he'll actually be a leopard appaloosa when he's done. I have always liked the Prince Plaudit type of pattern, and have done a number of pieces with that kind of coloring. (Probably the best known is Melissa Gaulding's Okie, "Asheville".) I thought it would be fun to try it on Taboo where a varigated mane could play up some of the movement in the different strands of hair.

But I do like the look of him with a white body and a darkly shaded face. He reminds me a bit of the white grey Liricos that Joan did some years ago. I'll have to do one of those at some point!



In fact, I'll probably be looking that that type of coloring a lot with this mold. That face, with all it's lovely detailing, presents a big painting challenge. Because underglazes have to be airbrushed, getting the right angle with the brush is really important. To add a bit of difficulty, the paint, once the paint hits the bisque, can never really be completely removed because it stains. The problem with Taboo is that the angle of spray is blocked by his raised shoulder! And it's impossible to hit this side of his face without hitting his mane and ears.

What I've done with them so far is spray the darker facial shading first, before there is any other color on the mold. That way I can remove overspray (at least as much as might be possible) without damaging anything else. And if I really botch it, I have plenty of room to change to a more fixable color. Or, in the worst case, at least I don't have a lot of time invested if I can't fix it!

With luck, this guy and several other pieces will be done at the end of the week. I've been taking advantage of my (temporarily) child-free home to spend some long hours in the studio. There are too many half-finished projects here, so if my blogging is light in the next month or so, it's because I'm determined to get caught up.