Gettysburg!

These pictures were taken off of a reproduction of the Cyclorama at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum. I didn't even try to take pictures of the original without the flash, but I probably should have tried. It was very impressive in person, not only in size, but also in detail and emotion. Unfortunately, these are dark and the only ones that came out clear. My camera gets blurry when I turn the flash off.

There is a nice drive around the battlefields and numerous monuments have been erected. These bronze reliefs were on monuments for some of the cavalry corps. The cavalry played a significant role in the Battle of Gettysburg.



Inside the museum, there was a nice display honoring the "Horse Soldiers". Here are several shots of the display. I was thinking of all you great tack makers out there when I took these.

In Progress Customs

These are several of the pieces I have been working on lately. I've been posting daily updates of sorts on Facebook of what I've been doing in the studio during my interim time between working and the move. Normally, I would wait until these were completely done and prepped to share, but they are as far as they're going to get before the move. And they will likely wait months after we move until they get any more attention. The one above is a mini Working Girl by Sarah Rose into a hunter-type. She still needs braids.

This is a Carol Williams' Valor resin with a Brigitte Eberl Replay head. Love this guy! The Valor head went on a headless Victrix body, but it's still too scary to share.

Another Working Girl in a western pleasure headset. This one is a trade commission with Holly McFarland. I am so excited to finally get some of Kevin's work!

Another Sarah Rose sculpture, Lonestar, with a new neck and mane/tail. I've been wanting to make a portrait of the horse I had in high school, Bookaboo. Of course, he was not a show horse, so I'm on the fence whether or not to paint this one like Boo or not. The body type is the closest I've seen, so I might go ahead anyway. Boo was a pale grey and I have a Darla Curtis WP doll in lavender I've never even used...

Brigitte Eberl's Lina pony with a new look.

Another Eberl pony, Austri. He will be a child's mount and still needs his braids. Jennifer Buxton has made him a bridle to go with a Parklane saddle. It will be so cute!

Rose's Miss America into a country pleasure type. You might recognize her from the Customizing DVD. I decided to give her a lower tail set and add a forelock.

Eberl's Large Trakehner with a new "do". Gave him a nice cresty neck with braids. I plan to paint him as a leopard Knabstrupper.

And of course, there are a few more that aren't this far along. Most of which will (knock on wood) be featured in the second customizing DVD. It covers all new topics, like head transplants and creating necks from the wire up. It still has a long way to go before it will be ready. My focus now is on finishing up the commissions, hopefully before we move in 2 weeks!

Let There Be Light!

The long-awaited, lantern-style fences have been finished (well, the one I'm keeping didn't get finished, but I figure that doesn't count). These were incredibly tricky to engineer. I went through a couple different assemblies before it dawned on me how to put them together. First there was getting the columns attached to the walls, then there was getting the lanterns into the columns since I couldn't remove the base without damaging the wire, then how to get the column toppers around the lantern pole. I've always believed that problem-solving is inherent in creativity and this cements it.


Only 3 fences were made in this style - the grey stone (top & bottom), the neutral stucco (above) and a red brick (for me). The grey stone has already found a new home, but the stucco is available for $150, plus postage. All the unsold fences will be getting packed up shortly to make the trip to Connecticut. So speak up now if you want one right away.

The grey stone has alternating finials and lanterns. I have a ton of finials left, but not sure I have the energy to make any more fences...