Vixen and Imp Resins in Appaloosa

Serendipity and Jax

 At long last, I finally got around to taking a few pictures this weekend. These two are part of my personal collection. Serendipity was finished this spring and Jax was finished a few years ago. Do you see any changes in my painting style between the two?

Jax
Imp Resin by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig
Finished by Danielle Feldman

Serendipity
Vixen Resin by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig
Finished by Danielle Feldman

Restocking DVDs!!

With my job working at a Big 4 accounting firm, I really didn't think I would have time to keep up with orders, so I had let my DVDs all run out of stock. I thought surely I had sold enough over the years that demand would be pretty much gone. I was surprised by how many people asked if I would be restocking them! After a year with the firm, I think I can manage mailing out the occasional order, so I checked with my production company and it's a go! I am placing an order to restock all titles in my DVD series. They are available to pre-order now on my website:

http://feldmanstudio.com/store/page3.html

Thanks to everyone who has ordered in the past and for those who have expressed their enjoyment of them. It makes me so happy to know my little project has helped out so many people in their artistic endeavors. Happy painting!

Southern New England Winter Round Up 2012

Audrey with Rose
Top Ten CM Breed & Top Ten CM Workmanship
Southern NE Winter Round Up 2012
CM Breyer Pony by Danielle Feldman

We finally made it our first show in Region X! There were many, many nice horses and equally important, many, many nice people. We had a great time at Southern New England Winter Round Up and give kudos to Brenda Bednar for hosting a great show. 

I consider it a small miracle that I was able to make it a show during busy season and even more so that I was able to finish 2 minis to show, both of which earned a NAN card. Of course, their photos turned out blurry, so I'll have to post pictures of them another day.

Azulito
Top Ten AR Workmanship
Southern NE Winter Round Up 2012
Constantine Resin by Kristina Lucas Francis
Painted by Danielle Feldman

Showing in Region X is a little different than the shows I attended in the midwest. Instead of champions of each subdivision, they awarded a top ten and champion and reserve over the entire division. We were tickled to earn a top ten in resin workmanship and both a top ten in breed and workmanship in the custom division. I give credit to Audrey for her breed research and documentation to help with the winnings.

We had a great time and are already looking forward to the next show!

As Handsome Does earns his first NAN card!
Ahab resin by Sarah Rose
Painted by Danielle Feldman

How I choose a performance horse...

Tomobí
Stormwatch resin by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig
Painted by Danielle Feldman
Tack by Jessica Swaney

So, Anne Field started a series of posts on choosing a versatile performance horse on her blog, Jen Buxton then made a post about selecting a performance horse on her blog, then Tiffany Purdy posted on her blog about her method of choosing a performance horse. I thought I'd join the party and make my own post!

My style is much like Tiffany's, though she has quite the knack for working with customs and I tend to stick with resins. I have an ample supply of plastic bodies, but find resin easier to work with. Anyway, I love to customize a bit to make a horse more performance friendly or find a way to, like with Stormy above, show more challenging sculptures in performance. I may not be as daring as some (nod to Sir Sproing!), but I like my horses to be able to cross over from the halter class to the performance ring.

Castañateo
Brioso Resin by Sarah Rose
Painted by Danielle Feldman
Bull by Carol Herden
Tack by Susan Bensema-Young

I gave this set up a whirl many years ago, but the double bridle on a Brioso was alot of work with his mane and small head, so I'm still trying to find a replacement horse to wear the tack. Much like Tiffany, sometimes you just gotta find/make the horse to go with the tack! Other times, I indulge and get tack to fit the horse, like this Working Girl custom I started awhile back. I managed to snag an amazing Sm scale hunt set from Anna Kirby and can't wait to sculpt tiny braids, paint the horse and show it off.

And I've got this Western version, for whom I still *need* a tack set. :)

So many projects, so little time.

The illusive gold cookie

Loreleia at NAN 2004
Infinity Resin by Kathleen Moody
Customized and Painted by Danielle Feldman
Doll by Sheri Wirtz, Tack by Emma Harrison
Dogs, props, scenery by Danielle Feldman

This was my first and only cookie that I've earned in performance. It was my first NAN and the allure of a gold performance cookie keeps me wanting to go back again and again! I just learned that NAN cards from 2011-2012 have been extended, so I might need to see if a trip to Harrisburg might be a possibility after all. (Of course, work and family plans will probably interfere regardless :D).

Performance Showing

Friendly Skies at NAN 2004
Extreme Justice resin by Sommer Prosser
Painted by Danielle Feldman
Tack by Susan Doolittle
Cross Country 'Rooftop Jump' by Danielle Feldman

Jen's recent post on her blog about performance showing got me excited to think about an upcoming performance show in April. It has been more than 2 years since I have made it to a live show. I know this because I have no current NAN cards, which was a very disappointing realization since NAN will be within a day's drive this year! And sadly, my new career has kept me from getting to any of the shows in my new region, so I am not making plans to go to Harrisburg.

I enjoy performance showing as much as any other aspect of the hobby. I love making props and collecting beautiful works of tack art. Maybe I can find the time to show you some of my prop projects and tack collection one of these days... and maybe I'll make it to that performance show in a couple months with some new projects to show...

Progress on Panache

Panache was started at an AAEA workshop taught by Kathleen Friedenberg in the summer of 2011 (click on the link to see the blog postings showing his progress at that time). It has been a year and half since I did any work on the sculpture. (never mind the time stamp, my son got a hold of the camera) With a week off work for the holidays, I set up shop at the end of the kitchen table and dabbled a little more on him. There is still much to be done - like his face and ears (which were stuck on last minute for photos) and refining his pasterns, fetlocks and hooves, smoothing, details, and on and on. Still, I'm pretty happy with his progress over the last few days.  Feel free to leave constructive criticism for me in the comments. After busy season at work, I hope to revisit him. Maybe 2013 will be his year? By the way...

Happy New Year!