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Welcome, to the forgotton stable where dreams roam free... and come alive... |
There is something truly magical about the horse. From early dawn the horse has walked beside us, not at our heels like a dog, but by our side, ready to bare us up and away at a momment's whim. Our histories are interwoven, our myths interwined. We could not imagine ourselves apart.
Many have tried to capture this wild spirit and failed. They fail becuase they do not understand the spirit is something that cannot be captured. When we behold the horse, we feel its power, are drawn to it, to be apart of it. And that is the secret - it is not the captureing the horse so much as it is setting ourselves free...
On these pages you will find the horses I have brought to life. From humble beginnings they might have sprung, but now they may now roam proud and magestically!
Here's The Mystic... a handsome Clydesdale Mare. I love draft horses... I think it has something to do with the fact that these giant equines are trimmed with *feathers*~ Gentle and majestic, these wonderful beasts are every bit as archityple as an Arabian. The Mystic here, is a prime example of the breed.
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The Mustang ~ Spirits of the Lost Wilderness... |
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It is a romantic picture, the plains spread wide open below and endless sky, and across that vast openess they come... first a few, and then hundreds of wild horses that stir the dust of memory as they go by.
Alas, those days are far behind us. Their are now fences where there were open fields, paved roads where there was solitude. And of the wild horse? He is but as a ghost of his former self. The mustang, a universal icon of freedom, can be conjured up in three words: horse, wind, and spirit. Be him a shaggy dun or a sleek paint, bay, brown, or appaloosa, that wild spirit is inherent, that anicent wisdom keen. In our hearts he will always be free. These two stallions were origonally from the dollar store, happily re-painted and ready to join thier wild kin between the earth and sky! |  |
Sienna Sunrise
Sienna Sunrise
Champange on Bay
two-year-old colt
sire: Burnt Sienna
dam: Champagne Sunrise
*G* Well, here he is! My first truly "sculpted" horse. In actuallity, I can only take credit for his flowing mane and tail, but (if I may say so myself)it surely does maketh the horse!
Sunrise began as one of those fuzzy horses you see for sale at flea markets, with soft manes and brushable tails. More often then not, the fuzz begins to peel and you are left with a horse suffering from mange of the worst sort! Sunny began just that way. A sad sight, his skin was hanging, and he'd lost his tail. But I was sure thier was a fine colt inside waiting to be let out...
I began first by peeling off all the tacky skin. The plastic underneath was shiney and riddled, so I sanded it slightly and carved away any irregularities. His front leg was badly malformed and had to be sculpted almost entierly. After the model was clean, I began on the hair.
Useing regualr air-drying clay, I began with the mane. I just sort of piled it on, whipped it about, and then was shocked to see that indeed an mane had formed! And how it suited him :) The tail came next, much in the same method and the mane, though a wire strut had to be inserted to keep it at the correct angle untill the clay dried.
A few more touch-ups here and there (he'd had big glass eyes; they were oversized and had to be removed) Sunny was ready to be painted. He had carefully dried overnight and looked the next morning like he was ready to gallop away! The base coat on his body was white; I left the mane and tail unpainted as I new from expirience this kind of clay took paint well. My supplies were artist grade acrylic stock, and, due to a bad cold and bad weather, the only shade of brown within my imeadiate vicinity was burnt sienna. But I didn't want a plain brown horse. So I took to the internet.
Champange referes to horses of a colour characterized by pink skin (most horses have black) hazel eyes (most horses have brown) and a certian gene code that acts to lighten a horse's colour in a most marvolous way. 'Champange on black', and you get a striking steel grey animal, 'champange on chestnut' and you get glowing shades of amber.
Champange on a bright bay and you get... Sunrise! Where as bay would have black points, Sunny is has the lovely hue of siena; it is not an albinoism; his eyes, like a true champagne's eyes, are hazel, not pink.
But enough about equine genetics. I think the colour is truly stunning, don't you? It was a colour I loved even before I new it was an atual colour!
"Champange", the colour, when refering to horses, is a rather uncommon dilution; a dilution is a gene code that acts to lighten a horse's base colour (for instance, the common creme dilution on chestnut produces palomino and cremello).
