Trick or treat!

Treat yourself to a pretty PAM this Halloween! This lovely gal is on ebay through Saturday night (10/31):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170398788805

Pirate ponies

As it's "Talk Like A Pirate Day," I thought it fitting to post a picture of a recently finished commission on his improvised base, heehee.

Also, I have a cute leopard appaloosa CM Flash on ebay at the moment. He ought to be a fun halter and performance horse: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170384756369

I have had a busy summer, but I have been working steadily on custom orders and will have a few more to ship out this week. Pictures coming soon!

Lots of little horses heading out!

So how about that Derby? Calvin Borel's antics still have me giggling. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy! And how cool is it that Mine That Bird is a gelding? Hopefully, he'll have a nice long career.

For me, the Kentucky Oaks was even more exciting than the Derby this year. For those of you who didn't see it, here's the race on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRGvbUmqv-s

I don't know how to embed the video, but do watch it, and watch jockey Calvin Borel as they hit the turn. He looks back, but never once does he need to ask his filly, Rachel Alexandra, to run. She just draws off of her own accord and nearly breaks the stakes record in an easy gallop. Scary to think what she could do if she turned on the afterburners! I had an inkling that she would win and was working on a portrait already, but no one could have anticipated how she would win. Amazing! The portrait model is up on ebay at the moment:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170327943560

In addition to finishing up my Rachel portrait, I have been working hard on commissions, and I have 9 horses finished, boxed, and ready to ship today and tomorrow. Hooray for progress! One of those horses was an Enviado that I am particularly fond of. Such a lovely sculpture to work on, and I think he turned out exceptionally well. I love contrasting colors!

Painting up a storm!

I had hoped to have my backlog completed by March (why do I have this weird feeling of déjà vu?), but painting always takes me alot longer than I anticipate. I am making good progress though, especially now that the weather is starting warm up a little (other than the snow today, of course).

With the racing season really getting into swing again, I thought I'd post some progress pix, including two Thoroughbred portraits, George Washington and Artax. More to come soon! :-)

Quick update

Hi guys! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year! I visited my parents and sister in Georgia for Christmas, and in between eating too much and going antiquing, I took inventory of my OF collection. I'm planning to sell a chunk of it at some point in the next year or two in order to narrow my focus down to the rare, weird, and/or shiny models. :D It's going to be a big undertaking, that's for sure.

Anyhoo, I'm back in cold, snowy Chicago, and I'm back to painting after a nice holiday breather. My goal is to have my remaining commissions out the door by the end of the month (or at least finished and ready to ship). As you might have noticed, my website is down at the moment, so I can't post updates there. My hosting service was bought out by another company, and I'm waiting to hear when my site will be restored. In the meantime, rest assured that I am working, and I am really finally getting down toward the end. I'll be in touch with everybody soon to send pix of finished models and get shipping addresses. :D Hooray!

Saying good-bye

When my grandfather retired from the Mayo Clinic in 1978, he and my grandmother moved from Rochester, MN, out into the country to be "gentleman farmers." They picked a spot on top of a bluff overlooking the Zumbro River and built Red Hawk Farm, named for the abundance of red-shouldered hawks that visited their hilltop home. The land was largely untillable, but Grandpa made a go it it, planting corn for many years and tending an enormous garden filled with goodies like raspberries, rhubarb, zucchini, and even popcorn. With an eye to the future, Grandpa also became a tree farmer, and some 20 years on, his trees are still growing and flourishing.

Grandma, meanwhile, tended her magnificent flower garden, kept the local bird population well-fed, and rode and looked after her 5 horses, most of them pensioners who lived well into their 30s in her care. I only remember three of them, Bea, Skipjack, and Coffeebreak, but I spent many hours with Grandma learning to care for them---grooming, feeding, cleaning, and of course, riding.

I have many, many happy memories of the farm---playing with the dogs, Hawkeye and Hannah (pictured above), sledding in winter, celebrating most of my Christmases there, exploring the fields and deer trails with my sister, digging up Ball jars from the basement of the spook house (a derelict old farm house on the property), feeding the birds, playing with my Breyer foals on the living room rug as a kid, having wild games of shuffleboard in the basement...

On Saturday, the farm will be auctioned off. It breaks my heart to know I'll never see it again. The property has a great deal of potential and has generated a lot of interest, so I hope that whoever buys it will fill the barn with horses again and feed the birds and enjoy it as much as we have for the last 30 years.

My NAN auction donation piece

He's done at last! More pix can be viewed on my website here. Proxy bidding has begun---more info on bidding can be found on the NAN site.