A few more NAN photos

I was able to upload a few more photos that, for whatever reason, would not open in my last post. I'm so pleased to be able to share a few more pieces that really excited me at NAN.

I loved these two donkeys, sculpted by Kitty Cantrell and painted by Lauren Hoffer, who is also known as "Ladybrooklyn" on blab.  I always enjoy viewing Lauren's donkeys online, and they continue to impress in person. It appears that Lauren has an extensive knowledge of donkey coat colors and patterns, and her technique with pastels is especially conducive to rendering them. Lucky for me, Lauren and I were seated in the same aisle, so I saw a lot of these two cuties all day long at NAN.  Both the Momma and the Baby won awards in their respective breed classes. Well deserved!

Isn't this a stunning Eberl Pieroshka? The color really pops. I'm sure she is even more lovely in natural lighting. This mare has wonderful dappling capped off by her fancy sabino pattern. I believe she is painted by Sheila Anderson.

Finally we have a micro mini (yes, a micro!) painted by Kingyo Stables.  I have only recently started seeing the work of this artist online, so I believe she is fairly new to customizing, but if she is new to art (or at least this type of art) you would not know it from her detailed pattern work and excellent use of color. 

NAN 2012 Eye Candy

I did not take as many photos as I would have liked at NAN this year, and later I will share why.  I did, however, capture a few real favorites, which I am sharing today. Most of these pieces were new to me. I now realize that I should have also tried to capture some favorites that I had seen before, so I will need to do that next time.  It was fun to identify some of these with much thanks to the NAN photographers who documented the Champions and Reserves on the NAMHSA website. On to the photos...

When I saw this beautiful piece I had to look closer. 

Was he haired? No, but the mane was painted most wonderfully to look like real hair, even up close!  It seems that this horse wowed the judges too. I discovered his photo in the NAN results pages. He took the Grand Championship in CM Workmanship Traditional and Classic Greys.  He is identified as Poetic Justice customized by Sommer Prosser. He is owned by the lucky Betsy Valley. 

I don’t know who painted this horse, or what mold he is (Schleich? Safari?), but the finishwork is wonderfully realistic. Look at all of the colors in the coat!  Can anyone identify the artist or owner?

Here is another dapple grey that is painted in a unique style, falling outside of the manner in which this color us usually depicted. Isn't he soft looking? I would love to know the name of the finishing artist on this piece too. 

This is the very famous Sugar Beet owned and customized by Debra Omel.  Many will know him as the donkey with the incredibly detailed Italian cart. I always wanted to see him unhitched. He is just as cute as I expected. Check the photos on the NAMHSA site to see this donkey taking the Reserve Championship in Harness with his cart.  He also took a top ten in his breed class without it! 

I snapped a couple quick pictures on Tuesday when we stopped by the show hall to pick up our packets. The first is just too fun not to share. Check out these little swimming calves: 

I believe that this prop was made by D’Arry Frank. I have seen some of her other water props involving swimming animals, one with customized stablemate ponies on pony penning day, and another with terriers. D’Arry cuts the little animals in half horizontally before pouring the artificial water around them. 

I fell in love with this Tiffany Purdy custom. Look how tiny she is compared to the traditional horse in the background. Doesn’t she look adorable in her perfect little tack set? 

Steph Michaud paints the most gorgeous, mesmerizing dapples. I was pleased to get a close-up of her work on this Bogucki “Equus Maximus” resin.

I wish I had taken a photo of the whole horse, as the rest of him is just as stunning as the close-up. Visit the Michaud Studios website to see more of him. 

I needed to hurry my forays to the center of the room.  I had the very last table at the far end and it was a long walk to make back and forth as the classes were called. This next photo is a view of the room from my table. Notice how tiny the people look at the far end of the room. 

Next up we have an exquisite Eberl resin painted by Jeannine DeCuir. “Cornelia Marie” took the gold cookie in AR British non-draft class.  I believe this piece took a championship at NAN 2010 too. 

I loved the tail swish on this customized Daffyd resin:

I know this beautiful custom has been around for many years. He may have been painted by Julie Kuiper. 

This piece is one of my all time favorites, and he is aptly named “WOW.” This pony is Morgen Kilbourn’s Flitwick sculptured painted by Carol Huddleston.  He took the silver cookie in his breed class. 

Finally we have one of my favorite examples of finishwork of the day. My photos can’t capture all of the delicious, subtle variations in this Otto sculpture’s coat. I’d love to know who painted this fellow too. 

Chocolate Johann

Who likes chocolate Easter bunnies?  Well how about a chocolate Johann?

Johann in chocolate brown primer. 

I'm taking a break from my NAN reports to share some quick photos of how this Johann sculpture (sculpted by the talented Morgen Kilbourn) has progressed. I usually prime all of my pieces with flat white primer, but since this piece was going to be a solid bay, I went a different route and used chocolate brown (see photo above). He really did look good enough to eat!

Johann is still in progress, but he has come a long way from that solid, milk chocolate stage.  This next photo shows the same piece today (although I didn't get out my light tent, so the flash has added a lot of extra "vibrance" and shine to him).

Johann in progress.  Karen Beeson 2012. 

To reach this point, I started by adding acrylics over the primer to achieve a body color closer to the shade I was aiming for. I have since built up thin glazes of oils to reach the stage shown in today's photo. This piece still needs fine tuning all over, and especially some further work on the leg color and details and the repaired left ear.

Johann is a real favorite of mine.  In my opinion he makes the perfect little "Old Style" Morgan (the breed, rather than the sculptor!) horse. I'm looking forward to making further progress on this alert-looking little fellow.

NAN: The Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Customs

One of the best things about NAN is seeing pieces that you have never seen before, or perhaps haven’t seen for a very long time.   I spent a lot of time running back and forth at NAN, but I did manage to captures photos of a few really wonderful pieces. 

An all-time favorite artist of mine is Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig. Those who are newer to the hobby may only know her for her sculptures and medallions but she started where most hobby artists do, by painting and customizing mass produced sculptures and those by other artists. 

Within our hobby, Sarah’s finishwork remains at the pinnacle of detail and realism. Even Sarah's oldest pieces are still treasures to behold.  I collect pieces painted by Sarah, and since I won’t ever have as many as I would like, I also collect photos of her gorgeous work.  Here are a few beautiful Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig pieces that I photographed at NAN. 

I recognized this little beauty as soon as her owner place her in the ring. 

This is Flower, customized by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig and owned by Beth Lamm.  This year, Flower took home the NAN Championship in her CM SM/LB Overo Patterned class, a very well-deserved win! I know that little Flower claimed a cookie at at least one other NAN too.  It was a pleasure to see her up close and personal!  Flower started out as the Hagen-Renaker miniature Shetland Pony foal. 

At one point in time about ten years ago, Sarah painted and offered at least four finished Oberon sculptures (sculpted by Sarah Rose), including a dapple grey, a chestnut roan (or sabino, or both?), a chestnut tobiano, and a leopard appaloosa. Here is a photo the exquisite dapple grey. 

I had never seen this particular painted piece, but the face tells me that it is a Mink. The sculpture is the Animal Artistry mini Arabian foal resin by Donna Chaney. 

Here is another little one that I had never seen before NAN, but the details of the white markings and face identify the artist. The sculpture is the Breyer G1 standing stablemate foal, originally sculpted by Maureen Love. 

I do remember this beautiful little mare and believe that she dates to the mid-1990’s. The sculpture is the Hagen-Renaker mini Shetland Pony mare sculpted by Maureen Love. 

Finally, we have a traditional scale (classic size) piece from my personal collection. This is Chester. He is a North Light “Cob” sculpture with mane, tail, and finishwork by Sarah. 

As you see, Chester brought home a Top Ten in his CM Tobiano Workmanship class this year!  Chester has several other Top Ten awards and a few cookies under his belt from previous NANs. I first “met” Chester when he was still blank, with his new mane and tail sculpted by Sarah. Sarah had him for sale in her room at one of the earliest Breyerfests as a commission opportunity. I chose my color and waited until the day he arrived at my home. I hadn’t even seen a photo when he arrived. What a thrill it was to open the box!  He is dated 1995. I was very pleased with this old boy’s NAN performance!

More NAN photos and congratulations are to come. If anyone can identify the names or owners of pieces shown please let me know! 

NAN 2012 and Cheval Magnifique

I’m still recovering from 54 hours of insanity with my road trip partner, Chris Wallbruch. We spent 7.5 hours driving down to Kentucky on Tuesday, showed at NAN on Wednesday, and woke up bright and early on Thursday to complete the long trip home by 3:30 pm!  

I brought 43 horses to NAN, including proxies but Chris (who we all know is a little crazy) brought 76!  We were stressed out and had to be on our toes all day at the show, but we had a wonderful time, enjoyed the company of many hobbyists, and came home with some goodies!  I have much to say about NAN, and hope to share that here in upcoming posts, but why not go ahead and start extending some congratulations? 

The best place to start is with Cheval Magnifique, owned by the most lovely Erin Schaefer of Foxboro, MA. Some may know that this horse, after I painted him and before Erin acquired him, had quite a colorful history that I have only recently started to laugh about (rather than to cry!). It was a blessing that he ended up in Erin’s hands, however. I can’t imagine a more loving home for this piece!  Erin has shipped him to me not once, but twice for NAN, and once again, the results did not disappoint. 

Congratulations Erin, and Cheval Magnifique, on winning the Reserve Championship in Traditional and Classic Scale AR Appaloosa Patterned Stallion Workmanship Class!  

Cheval Magnifique
NAN 2012 - National Reserve Champion of Trad/Classic AR Appaloosa Patterned Stallion Workmanship Class
Finishwork by Karen Beeson
Sculpture by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig
Owned by Erin Schafer of Foxboro, MA

Thank you, Erin, for sending your boy so he could compete. This is Cheval Magnifique’s second NAN “cookie” (aka Champ or Reserve plaque), as he also took the 2010 Championship in AR/OS Other Pure/Part/Grade Iberian breed class.  At that show he also earned a top ten in his workmanship class!

I’ll continue to report on NAN wins in upcoming posts. If you think I may have missed a top ten or win by one of my pieces please jot me a note and send a picture if you can! 

Felix Felicis

Sharing a favorite piece I painted in 2007...

Felix Felicis

Silver Dapple Tobiano American Miniature Horse

Oils, Acrylics and Prismacolor. Painted September 2007. 

Sculpture: "Flitwick" on rock wall base, sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn. Horse Size: 4 3/16" front toe to tail tip. 

Finishwork by Karen Beeson. 

Commission for the collection of Kellye Bussey, Cleburne, Texas.

The Equine Tapestry

It is a very exciting, long-awaited day for all of us who study, enjoy and work with horse color.  Today marks the release of the first volume of The Equine Tapestry by Lesli Kathman, an exploration of horse color and “the role color has played, both from a historical perspective and in changing trends of the modern horse world.” 

©Lesli Kathman 2012

The description further explains that by “combining a modern understanding of genetics with a wealth of historical documentation, The Equine Tapestry gives a more complete picture of the founding of the different breeds and shows how this relates to the unusual colors popular in the present day.”

As an ardent fan of Lesli’s art, writing, and research for more than two decades, I can only imagine the riches that will be revealed in this text.  Painting horses is just as much a matter of science (understanding why and how any horse came to be that color) as of aesthetics, skill, and talent, therefore I consider this book a "must" for my own library.  I can't wait to receive it.  I have already ordered my copy!  

Ordering information and preview pages of this volume, as well as further details about Lesli Kathman’s art and research can be found at:  http://www.horsecolor.info/books.htm

Butters and Bella

Butters and Bella say, "Eat something red, white, and blue today!"

Who knows where this fellow is?

I consider myself extremely fortunate to know where nearly all of my pieces reside. I'm sure this is partially a function of my very limited "production" (of my finishwork, which I often wish were not the case!) and also some very devoted collectors of my work.  Still, there are a couple pieces that I have lost track of over the years.

Named for my favorite sculpture at Robert Allerton Park in Piatt County, Illinois, The Sun Singer is one of these "missing" pieces. Does anyone know who this piece currently belongs to? Please jot me a note if you do.  Thank you!

The Sun Singer

Semi-leopard appaloosa patterned Mustang Stallion. 

Spring 2009.  Oils and acrylics. Finishwork by Karen Beeson.  

Sculpture: “Bitty Bosco” sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn. 1/9 scale.