Appaloosa Painting Workshop!

Do you want to push your art to a new level?

Join me for an eight hour workshop on

Saturday, October 27, 2012 8 am - 5 pm (with a one hour noon lunch break)

in St. Charles, Illinois

to 

Paint a Black Leopard Appaloosa in Acrylics and Pastels

My appaloosa patterned pieces have won several NAN Championships and Reserves. Learn how I approach the appaloosa, and work along side me to create your own at the workshop.  Then apply this knowledge to all of your future works! 

Start where you are - this class is designed for artists who want to kick their work up a notch, as well as those who are just starting out.

In a small group setting we will work through all of the steps of painting a black leopard appaloosa, from applying a smooth base coat, through adding spots and skin pinking, to the final steps of painting eyes, and hooves and sealing your work. At the end of the day, you will have a completed horse, ready to take to your next show, and tips and techniques to carry with you on your artistic journey! 

Please e-mail me at karbee9@aol.com for details, including list of required supplies, workshop price, and list of topics to be covered. 

I hope to see you there!

Puppy Party!

We attended a puppy party this weekend!  These are seven week old Vizsla puppies at JNEK Vizslas in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Paul and Pup

We were just visiting, but all of the other (lucky!!) guests will be taking one of these puppies home with them next weekend.  This is a litter of nine, so there were puppies everywhere!

This sweet older girl, Ellie, was "baby-sitting" while Mommy took a break.

After a while all of the babies became very sleepy, and we all got to have some cuddling time. My husband David loved this part!

We all did!

Meows Chinas and Around the Show Hall

The eye candy at Meows continued into the china rings with many wonderful Animal Artistry pieces,

Hagen-Renakers, 

and others.

We recently recovered a box of models that had been "lost" at my parents' house for many years since the multiple moves I made right after college.  One of the models from that box claimed a blue ribbon plus some swag for my son Paul!

The swag factor added extra excitement to the show this year. Each judge had a box of ribbons to award, plus a variety of nifty items to award to any entry, at their discretion!  

Now what could this be...

Those disembodied walking legs (plus the circular base that goes with them) are part of a full "system" of LB scale doll body parts sculpted and marketed by D'Arry Frank. Brilliant!  This next photo shows some of D'Arry's random body parts plus an assembled doll that I came across on Jennifer Lambert's table. 

Meows and Minis has so many "perks" for those who attend. The class list offers a variety of "fun" classes for mini scale animals. I spotted this entry on D'Arry's table. Look closely for the frog...

DeeAnn Kjelshus brought models of all of her real cats for the cat class. You will recognize one or two as Breyer cats that she has painted, but not the others, because she sculpted them herself!

DeeAnn also sculpted and painted these gorgeous medallions.

Thank you again to Meows and Minis host, Chris Wallbruch, for creating this extraordinary event that is also the largest annual fundraiser for Cat Guardians! 

Meows and Minis 2012 - CM and AR

I took a large number of photos at Meows and Minis with the intention of sharing them here on the blog. Today's post will focus on my favorites from the CM and AR divisions.

Let's start with this darling HR mini custom by D'Arry Frank. Such a sweet little thing. Her coloring and expression bring to mind one of our pet rats, Sarah, who has now crossed over the bridge. I regret that I didn't snap up this pony for my personal collection when D'Arry first made her. She is now owned by the (very lucky!) Marilou Mol!

My Paul was actually wearing the shirt we made with Sarah's picture on the day of the show!  The shirt has seen a lot of wear, and seen better days, but that just shows how much love we had for our little pet.

Back to the horses, Tiffany Purdy brought a lot of brand new work.  I like this new little Breyer resin in his OF form, but I think that the sculptural changes that Tiff made, along with this lovely color, bring him to a brand new level!

Here are a few more from the Purdy herd:

  I'm uncertain of who owns or painted the following horses, but I certainly enjoyed seeing them.

The black tablecloths really tested my photography skills. I could not correct the color sufficiently to be true, but I hope that the above photo does convey that the little Morgan was an absolute jewel in a coat of the most luminous bay.

Here is another photo with coloring less true than I hoped, but the horse itself is so worth sharing here on the blog.  Vicky Smith used multiple models to create this beautiful custom. It was a wonderful surprise to see the SM Morgan standing for a change!

I get very excited when my dear friend DeeAnn Kjelshus makes it to a show. Not only is it a rare chance for us to catch up, but she is always pushing the limits of the various media to do things that are new and different, not just within her own work, but as far as I know, within the whole hobby!   This Appaloosa Sporthorse is a longtime favorite of mine. Like above, I just could not adjust this photo to show his true richness. I hope DeeAnn makes herself another Sporthorse in the near future, so perhaps this one can come live with me....

This is an older piece of DeeAnn's work, now owned by another shower who was at Meows.   He is DeeAnn's own "Diego" resin sculpture that she painted as a dramatically dappled Kladrubber.

This was the first time out showing for DeeAnn's pinto Working Girl.

I believe that this appaloosa Little Lonestar was painted by the talented Mindy Berg.

This beautiful fellow has a special place in my heart. Kerri Johnson doesn't get out to the shows much these days because she has two little ones at home, but she did make it to Meows and brought this treasured portrait of her real paint horse, "Drummer."  Kerri was there at Drummer's birth, and has been his "Mom" ever since. He has to be well over ten years old by now.  What a lucky horse with a great life!  This wonderful portrait was painted by another friend, who I so wish still lived nearby, Danielle Feldman. 

Brenda Metcalf treated us all to a rare viewing of her Pamela du Boulay horse and scene, which I believe has a proper title including the word "Bedouin."  Perhaps there is someone reading this who can share the official name of this sculpture in the notes. I have never really formulated a "grail" list, but if I did, this piece would most certainly be on it!

This was just a tiny sampling of the models in the CM and AR rings. I was pleased that some of my own horses picked up some nice awards and titles. This is "Allure," a vintage (1995, I believe) Lesli Kathman custom from my personal collection. Lesli's work was (and still is) so ahead of its time, that this old girl claimed the Overall Grand Championship of the CM division!

It can be a most pleasant surprise to see what catches a judge's fancy. This little one named "Ahdanna" is a vintage piece of my own work from the 90's. She claimed the reserve champ award in the CM Light Breeds division.

My little "Cap'n Crunch" took the foal champ in the AR division.

Finally, a piece that I'm tickled to call my own, the dramatic "Torchbearer," painted by Katie Younger-Gehrt, went Overall Grand in the AR rings!

Want to Learn to Prep Models for Painting?

Join me on Saturday, September 22, 2012, at my home in St. Charles, Illinois for a two-hour class, at which you will learn to prep models for painting. Bring a few unprepped models so you can try out all of the tools and materials required to fill divots and smooth the model, through the final steps of priming. Leave with the confidence and knowledge to do your own prepping at home!

Jot me a note at karbee9@aol.com for further details and registration information. Registration deadline: Wednesday 9/19.

Arabian Halter and Collar Sets

Lelio
Tack by Karen Beeson
Sculpture by Ed Gonzales, Finishwork by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig

Nazeem
Tack by Karen Beeson
Sculpture by Vicki Keeling, Finishwork by Julie Kuiper

Meows and Minis 2012 - Performance

My son Paul and I attended the wonderful Meows and Minis benefit show this past weekend. What is Meows and Minis? From the show website,

"Meows and Minis Live is a fund-raiser. We will hold an auction and raffle on the day of the show to benefit Cat Guardians, our local no-kill cat shelter. Since 1989, Cat Guardians has found homes for hundreds of cats. Many of the cats at the shelter are permanent residents due to medical conditions or unsuitable personalities, and these are given loving care by the volunteers. The shelter is not-for-profit and operates on donations. The profits from the auction and raffle will all be donated 100% to the shelter. Last year we raised many $ for the shelter, which took care of many vet bills! To learn more about this wonderful shelter, please go to www.catguardians.org."

The totals are in, and this year Meows and Minis raised OVER THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS for the cats!!!  Congratulations to my dear friend and Meows and Minis host, Chris Wallbruch!  The shelter will be able to house more cats, and many cats will have much better lives, all thanks to Chris and her hard work putting together this benefit! 

The competition is fierce at Meows and Minis. I spent much of the day marveling over the wonderful, tiny performance entries, and I'm going to share some of them with you here. 

We will start with D'Arry Jone Frank's wonderful harness entry. Look at the little Jack Russell Terrier carrying the tiny glove!  D'Arry created the beautiful paint from Breyer's new "Breeds of the World" stock horse resin. 

Next up is Carrie Sloan Meyer's beautiful chariot scene. 

I don't recall the owners of these next two costume entries, but I certainly enjoyed seeing them. 

Here is another gorgeous "Breeds of the World" stock horse, this one customized by Tiffany Purdy. 

This is Jennifer Lambert's mule "Good Golly Miss Molly" in parade.

Here we have D'Arry's pinto again. As you see, I couldn't get enough of him! This time he is competing in the showmanship class.

I loved this draft harness entry.

This is yet another "Breeds of the World" stock horse, that has been transformed by D'Arry and presented as a beautifully turned-out sidesaddle entry. The doll was sculpted by D'Arry too!

This is just a simple bareback entry, but I thought it was extra special with this exquisite horse and elegant bridle. 

I worked with Clydesdales and learned to drive during my college years, so I always get excited about seeing them in harness. Here are a few views of a fantastic Budweiser entry.

My son and I both got a kick out of this little mule doing his farm chores.

Finally we have a chubby-wubby pony that shows up at Meows and Minis in the performance division every year. He always has brand new scenes and set-ups. I don't know if his owner shows his elsewhere throughout the year. What I do know is that she certainly is creative! The description card explained that the carrot was needed to encourage this little guy to jump!  Does anyone know what brand/company he is made by?  I wouldn't mind adding one of these fellows to my personal collection. 

In an upcoming post I'll share my photos from the halter divisions of this show.