Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Relearning to Sculpt

I have been painting models halfheartedly for several years. It's only in the last 5 years that I really began to try to be serious about learning new skills and not just going at it the same old way.

One of those skills is sculpting. I have been following the advice of Rayvin Brewer, Sara Gifford, Kristy Thiessen, Shauna McDaniel and Morgan Haberman when it comes to sculpting and recently tried my hand at it again.

I took 2 Breyer Stablemate (1:32 scale) G1 American Saddlebreds and began working.

First I sanded off their old manes and tails.


Then I added wire and using blue painter's tape made my tail "base."

Then I used my Magic Sculpt and began sculpting. 






I have now finished both models and painted them. They are not perfect but they are definitely better than things I have sculpted before. And I just need to keep working on them. 








Sunday, November 19, 2017

Longmire Days 2017

I am behind on my blogs for the summer. It was a bit of a crazy summer. Here's catching up a blog I started in July and never got around to posting!

July 7,8 & 9, 2017 was the 6th Annual Longmire Days in Buffalo, Wyoming, celebrating Craig Johnson's books and the Longmire Television series on Netflix (which just released it's 6th and final Season on November 17, 2017).

I drove up Thursday, July 6. Made it in less than 6 hours this year! Went to the Volunteer party with Rudi and RJ. Then went to the Sponsor Party with Rudi and RJ.

With the help of Jennifer De Bruin of De Bruin Saddlery, I made Robert Taylor a 1:9 scale version of Walt Longmire and his horse. Jennifer did the saddle, bridle, saddle bags and the tea box. I did the horse, base and rider. We made 2 sets - one for Robert and one that was a donation to the Raffle that supports the American Indian College Fund.

Me with Robert Taylor (photo by Anita LeClair)

Me, RJ, Pam and Rudi with Zahn and Robert
(Photo by Anita LeClair)


Friday, July 7 was autograph signing and conversations with the cast, baseball game, etc. 

Two saddles that Jennifer De Bruin made signed by all the actors.

Adam grabbed my phone and got a picture of me, him and Robert. 

Saturday, July 8 was the parade, autograph signing, motorcycle run, etc. I was part of the Longmire Posse Fan Club float! 

Me in the black shirt and red ball cap towards the front.
(Photo by Kim Lark)

Sunday, July 9 was the horseback ride at Paradise Guest Ranch and the closing concert.

My ride for the day Jules and me taking a selfie after the ride. 

It was a blast getting to see everyone again. Can't wait for Longmire Days 2018. 

Me with Zahn McClarnon

Me with A. Martinez

Me with John Bishop

Me with Cody Jones 





Saturday, November 18, 2017

That Artistic Failure - Tack making

The Month of April 2017 was National Model Tack Month in the Model Horse world.

As a model horse artist that likes to show in performance and have tack for my models that looks realistic, I can admit freely that I have always hated the prices of model horse saddles. I mean really, some of them come close to costing what a real saddle can be purchased.

So when I saw National Model Tack Month I was excited to join. I was going to prove that those saddles didn't need to cost so much and these people were committing highway robbery. I was also going to make the saddles for the donation models I was doing for Longmire Days 2017 (blog coming soon) as I had asked several hobby tack makers if they would donate and was met with dead silence or no.

After coming off a successful February of NaMoPaiMo (National Model Painting Month) - I was very excited to get this tack on the road and prove my point.

So I purchased my supplies from Rio Rondo. This right here is close to $65 worth of supplies. (Insert big Jaw drop here as I was whining about that.)


Then came the first part - cutting out the pieces. Not hard at all -right??

I mean it's just following patterns and directions. I can do that. 





I am just going to say right now - that took me over 2 hours to cut these out. Two hours and nothing that resembled a saddle or even close to it. Just pieces. My ADHD was kicking in and I was literally having a panic attack at this point.

Then came dyeing the VERY SMALL leather pieces - Just a note - I am working on a 1:9 scale saddle here. LOOK at all those little pieces - OH MY GOD!!!

So staining - let's just say it's not like painting at all. It's disastrous.  



At this point - I was five hours in and freaking out because the pieces seemed to shrink and not be the same size as each other and all this crazy stuff. 

Needless to say, it is now November. This saddle is still not finished. Every time I get near it I freak out and literally have a massive panic attack. So I put it in an envelope and will be sending it to a friend who makes tack to do what she wants with it. 

This was a real dent to my ego, believe me. And a much needed failure. We all have to fail and this failure proved to me that as artists, tack makers, are CRAZY and deserve their prices even if I don't want to pay it. 

I will try again next April to join the Tack Month - but I think I will start with just a couple of halters or something.