Tuesday, February 25, 2020

NaMoPaiMo - National Model Painting Month - February 2020


The month of February 2020, I am participating in the Facebook group NaMoPaiMo - National Model Painting Month - this is a model horse painting group and it's always great to see what people do! (This will be a very image heavy blog).

Here are the Rules - if you are interested - NAMOPAIMO RULES

Here is a picture of my donations that I am sending to NaMoPaiMo. 



I was not very excited about NaMo this year and my piece is going to be a very dark, disturbing piece. See my blog here

I spent an afternoon getting my work space ready. 



And then I spent an afternoon working on the model I finally decided on. She is a vision of me - my pretty side I show to the world and the ugly side I keep to myself. 



I will show the off-side when I get her painted. 

January 11th was a NaMo Prep Party - see my blog here



I completed Registration on January 12th. 



Then February 1st was the start of it ALL! 




And here is the official photo of all the entrants!! 




February 8th was a NaMo on the Front Range - I could not make it due to the snow and a back issue. I hated missing it. 

Jennifer posted a great blog on the Stats of NaMoPaiMo - here 

I went for several days without painting. I get in funks like this where it just doesn't seem important to want to be in the model horse hobby at times. I have been in it since 1982 and feel like i haven't come far at all when i see so many talented artists younger and better than me. My NaMo model is me - I am doing a blog only on her. Her good side and her bad. 

Final piece completed on 2/24/2020 - see her blog here







Monday, February 24, 2020

Sweet Melissa - my NaMoPaiMo 2020 Horse

I have done several blogs this month for NaMoPaiMo - Mostly because this year the idea of NaMoPaiMo really was whether or not I wanted to stay in the hobby or not. 

In January, I did the blog on ADHD and being an artist. Then there were my February blogs on NaMoPaiMo and MinisPaintingMinis

This blog is about my decision to do my NaMo horse as a reflection of how I see myself. One side is the pretty side I try to show to the world, the other is the beast that lives in my mind; the thing I see in the mirror everyday that whispers all those horrible things to me. 

The pretty side I show the world - even in the prepping stage.


I only posted the in progress pictures of the "good" side. It wasn't until she was completed that I showed ALL sides. 

This is her completed side. She is beautiful and the "perfect" horse on one side 



and the other is all the horrible things that go on. 




Blue is fear, Red is Anger, Yellow is instability, Pink is weakness, Orange is ignorance, white is emptiness, black is death of dreams and green is envy. 

These are all the things that eat away at me on a daily basis. The things that stop me from doing art, writing, music, being happy and healthy. 

The grooves and gouges represent all the times people have hurt me when I placed my trust in them. 



Tuesday, February 18, 2020

What does your NaMoPaiMo 2020 Horse Mean to You?


So many of us have a REASON behind the model we paint - not just joining in the NaMoPaiMo experience of bettering our painting skills and seeing what others have or are doing, but because the model itself sometimes means something to us in specific - What does your NaMoPaiMo model mean to you? Mine is a reflection of myself - the pretty side that I show the world and the ugly side that I try to hide.

You'll see once she's completed - what about yours?

I will do a special blog about my NaMo Horse once she's done. 

I posted that to the NaMoPaiMo group on February 13 and here are some of the 68  responses I received:

  • Molly Pengra: Mine is for recovery after an accident. And I didn't just want a simple color I want to do an appaloosa as a challenge...I still cannot fully close my right hand into a fist. So holding a brush not only produces soreness, but is challenging me with the pattern. I just want to heal and be better.

  • Sara Bowman: My horse means me trying to paint more horses for myself. I don't consider myself much of a painter, I'm a tackmaker by trade. It feels good to be making my next performance horse. I will be able to put him in the ring knowing I painted him AND made his tack. Plus painting him has been a good outlet for my depression and anxiety.

  • Katrina James: My collection originally started with a Oxidol I painted (2008) to look like my favorite mare who passed away in 2004... By 2012 I was hooked (showing, etc) And my collection grew. This year, I purchased a resin (Hot Chic 2.0) to 'replace' the Oxidol I had been using. :) I'm hoping my skills have increased enough over the years to do her justice!

  • Sarah Brabbin: It’s part of a journey that’s helping me come to peace

  • Basia Krocz: My NaMoPaiMo horse is just a portrait of the gelding that helped me overcome fear of riding, he’s so quiet and gentle

  • Jennifer O'Donnell Danza: My yearly NaMo horse is always just for me because I seem to forget to do things for myself, including painting my own blank herd. In the past year however, I have found myself diving nose deep into much needed healing from my divorce (which happened in 2009...it takes a long time to heal.) I lost A LOT of who I was during my marriage and dedicating a room just for my illustration and my model horses has been extremely therapeutic and healing for me. I forgot how much I loved being in a room with my little stable, the horses all lined up and all my pedigree papers strewn about the floor like a little girl pretending to create a new horses in my stables. This year's NaMo is a great great granddaughter of my one main stud I played with endlessly as a child. I feel a connection to the person I lost through this piece. Ive even combined an old body (Halla) with a new head (Voyuer) in a symbolic gesture of bringing the old me together with the new me. So this year's NaMo horse is very special to me personally. She is my healing piece of art.

  • Grant Gregory: Mine is to kind of help me through a transition. For all of my working life, I’ve always worked with animals. I worked at vet clinics, I worked at a local park that had Clydesdale horses and a petting zoo, and I worked at a place that is a natural history museum taking care of the animals in that collection for over 20 years. I just left that job for many reasons, not the animals, not my co-workers, but too many restructuring changes that I was tired of coping with over the past few years. That and my feet and knees and other body parts worn out, as well as some of my mental strength for coping with just too much (a bit of compassion fatigue). I’m still struggling with whether or not I’ve chosen correctly, but I’ve made a decision and need to stick to it. I’ve always had an artistic talent that I’ve not really paid that much attention to or that I pushed aside for other responsibilities. I’m hoping to see if I can just do it, and work on developing the little talent I have. I’m not super confident when I see what other artists do, and I often feel like it’s a common gift that almost everyone has in one way or another. I often feel I’m not that special as far as that goes. I’ve been told I do well, but I guess the experts say you’re your own worst critic. Yet I look at others work and I say I can’t do that as well as they can. So I want to try to at least do something artistic. I know a lot of it is just doing it, and learning new skills, and practice, practice, practice. I’ve got free time now to do it, but I’m facing hurdles as getting motivated and accepting my changes at life, from being on the go, physically and mentally exhausted, but yet also having trouble to adjusting to this new way of life. Maybe it will get better when it’s not so dreary and wintery.Oh my, I’ve written a book, haven’t I? Anyhow, I just want to see if I can do it, learn from other artists, and just be. Guess it’s time to go work on my pony now ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Jordan Leigh Sickrey: I’m bisexual & love the unicorns and decorators, so I decided to make a pride unicorn. It’s also just an A+ color scheme. His name is Ralvez, which is the name of a ship in Criminal Minds that I enjoy even though CBS will never give us any of the main characters in an LGBT+ relationship.

  • Jennifer Bray Buxton: Ha! This turned into an entire blog post. My model is a tribute to a horse I admired very much. https://braymere.blogspot.com/2020/02/awesome-tribute.html

  • Karen J. Lloyd: For me, my horse (Django in black leopard Appaloosa) will be a tribute of sorts to my black & white spotted bunny girl Solstice. She was always my artistic muse, not only featuring in several of my canvas paintings and (an unfinished) colored pencil drawing, but also my constant companion while I did my art. My bunnies predominately live in our living room, but she would always brave the linoleum, and hop into the kitchen to visit and hang out with me. She had an unusual warrior spirit her entire life that I knew her (over 8 years) and that remained when she had cancer. Even with a huge tumor on her side, she STILL hung out with me during last year’s NaMoPaiMo. I struggle with a lot of health issues and seeing her attitude gave me a lot of encouragement while I painted Kilimanjaro. I’ve often pictured her as a medieval princess (and have joked she was a little Napoleon lol) so although Django is a stallion, and she was a girl, the mold just felt right and I don’t think she would mind. She passed away about a month after NaMoPaiMo last year and I miss her terribly. ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿฐ

There were many more but these touched me and it would take several blogs to post them all. 





Sunday, February 9, 2020

NaMoPaiMo Minis Painting Minis

This fun side event of NaMoPaiMo is where our action figures paint their own NaMoPaiMo horses. 

Started by Lynne Penner and approved by Jennifer Buxton, this event goes along with NaMo. 


Hello all from DJ and Johnny (and some of their friends)!
After speaking to the lovely Jennifer Bray Buxton , it has been decided that #TeamMinisPaintingMinis can officially be a division of National Model Horse Painting Month, which leaves me absolutely stunned. But my two WWE “mega celebrities”, as they call themselves (humble, much?) say they aren’t surprised at all. It was only just a matter of time, they say. Sure…
In any case, if you would like to sign up for Team Minis Painting Minis, please fill out the google survey below, providing me with the name of your action figure (they’re not toys!! Lol), your name, your address, and what idea your action figure has for their painting project(s). The deadline for registrations is next Wednesday, February 5th.
Address is not mandatory, but it is my intention to send everyone who finishes their project a little token of accomplishment. And the absolutely amazing Maggie Jenner-Bennett is also going to be donating some prizes fit for an action figure’s stature! These will be given out at random to those who complete their projects, much the same as NaMoPaiMo. 
I am absolutely humbled by how many people also seem to love their actions figures. I was just having some silly fun with a couple of mine, and now I’m so stoked for next month for TWO projects instead of one!
Also, totally expect a selfie collage for them as well! 


I signed up BB8 and then of course Jareth the Goblin King wanted to join in too. 



February 1 started the day - Jareth and BB8 were busy. 


 

Jareth was able to get his model prepped and a layer started. Don't ask me how he paints with a crystal and not a brush! 



BB8 had a cheering section from R2-D2 and D-0. His model is prepped and a layer of white starry acrylic added. 

BB8 has been working hard on his horse while R2-D2 entertained D-0 with Jareth's stolen mask!! 

Jareth has also been very busy on his horse. He hasn't seen that R2 stole the mask yet. 

Jareth finished his horse rather quickly and it turned out very nice. 


BB8 had a cheering section but they tended to do less cheering and more annoying I think. I did notice R2 no longer had Jareth's mask. 


D-0 decided to eat Mod Podge that BB8 was sealing his horse with. 


BB8's horse is completed now and looks very nice. 

This was a fun part of NaMoPaiMo and I am glad I decided to participate with Jareth and BB8 - I hope this happens in 2021 too!