Head & Shoulders

There's a Brighty under there somewhere...

Classic...

I wanted to sell this guy, now I can't bring myself to do it. Heather (who prepped him) has changed her tune, too and wants him to hang around--in her own collection, of course.

He's staying around now until Breyerwest or until one my menagerie inevitably needs vet care. Smart money is on the dogs who ate an entire chicken carcass.

His name is Picaresque. I was on a Decemberists kick this summer. I'm still in process of fussing with him, so he's not totally done.

(Click to embiggen)

Karen Grimm

I'm really at a loss of what to say here, but I just wanted to pass on this information for anyone who hasn't seen it:

Link

Karen is an elite class in this hobby. Few people have influenced the hobby as much as she has and there is no corner of it she hasn't touched. Please send your prayers to her and her family in this difficult time.

A Theme is Chosen

Sham!

I've been obscessed with the story of the Godolphin Arabian since a young age. The book is a highly, highly fictionalized version of his real life story and very little is actually known about the stallion's origins. Whether or not he was even an Arabian is a topic of much debate.

I've been doing research on the real horse behind the story for several years. At this point, I feel I have a reasonable handle on him and what he would looked like. The difference between the two is stark. One is a golden bay, elegant, mid-20th century Arabian. The other is a cresty, compact, brown your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine stud from an era that predates most modern breeds.

However, for this donation, I'm going to be leaning on Marguerite Henry/Wesley Dennis' depiction. I feel this is the version we all grew up with and they way most people picture him.

NAN Donation Suggestions

I am at a loss of what to do this year except that I'd like to do another drastic custom. I'm considering doing something in the two arenas that I'm told I'm known for (if I'm known for anything): racehorses or spanish horses.

I literally have a stack of Alborozos hanging around. He's very popular and I think he would be a nice draw.

...but, on the other hand, I wouldn't want to resculpt one to the point where he wouldn't be recognizable. I rather dig into my fugly body box for that. And yes, I organize my Breyer bodies by levels of fugly.

Nope, don't feel comfortable hacking up this mold at all.

Since it's in Kentucky, a race horse would be nice, considering this year's auction doesn't have a theme. I've wanted to create another John Henry portrait of his in his later years from the actual Breyer John Henry (currently sitting in my fugly box) but--to be honest--I wanted to keep this one for myself. Cigar and Funny Cide are options I'm considering as well.

Synergy!

I'm trying to think if I've used the word synergy since my college media classes...nope.

Are you reading Showing 101? It's the little sibling to this blog, by which I mean this blog gets jealous when I've spending too much time with the new baby blog.

Showing 101's focus is on the unspoken rules, tips, tricks, and drama of live showing. You should come check it out.

Road Trip! (Part 2)

Somehow on Sunday, Heather managed to stuff everything we brought plus several impulsive purchases, horses for fellow NW hobbyists, Gala, and two prize models. The car was bursting on the way there and I'd only managed to sell one horse. I have no idea how she did it, but I suspect witchcraft.

See? I told you she's a witch. She even associates with the Devil!

We jumped in the car and my iPod shuffled to "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson. This happened numerous during the trip--clearly a sign that my iPod became self aware before shuffling off its mortal coil and going to the Great-Apple-Store-in-the-Sky.

We decided we couldn't leave Kentucky without a quick detour to Churchill Downs. Outside the museum, Heather and I finally got to lay our eyes on the great Barbaro statue. We noticed something amiss:

"Since when was Barbaro a gelding?"

I walked into the store looking for a Cult of Barbaro™ shot glass and left with a Black Gold poster. We jumped back in the car and aimed toward Deadwood, South Dakota. Heather tolerated two hours of me ranting about Barbaro and making castration jokes until I finally passed out, leaving her to drive in peace.

We arrived in Deadwood sometime after 11pm. We were exhausted and had long since given up my "always unpack the car" road trip rule. Having once had a car broken into the night of a horse show, I'm usually entirely too paranoid to leave valuable models in a car overnight. Then again, my friends will probably tell you I'm entirely too paranoid in general.

Heather was barely able to crawl down the bar in the basement for a beer and I had too little energy to hit on the cute bartender messing with the jukebox (probably a first.) We retired to our room:

Totally worth skipping the Best Western

I'm a giant fan of both Deadwood the TV show and Old West history in general, but I honestly didn't know what to expect. I would never have guessed "Legions of Grandmas taking tours about prostitutes...and bikers." We ate at the Gem and I took the opportunity to try buffalo for the first time.

The town had a Virginia City meets Reno kind of feel. Not as authentic as I'd hoped, but little less cheesy than I actually expected. Just when Heather had had enough of my "I don't gamble" stick-in-the-mud-edness, we drove up to Mount Mariah Cemetary. Heather went with me as far Bill and Calamity's final resting place, but declared me insane when I insisted on walking a mile up hill to the graves of Seth and Martha Bullock. But the view was worth it:

Of course, my geek-tour of the western plains wouldn't be completely without a stop at the Museum of the Rockies! Heather was a good sport through all of this, but suspect she was more looking forward to getting out of the car then the fossils themselves.

Grrr. Arrg.

It's just like a giant killer chicken. Exactly the same.

Fossilized scales. How cool is that? (Not really? Too bad, my blog.)

After Montana, the only thing of note is that Idaho has better rest stops them most restaurants. Most *nice* restaurants.

Since this is a model horse blog and not just a "random rantings of crazy woman" blog, here's an obligatory horse photo. This is my Seattle Slew portrait with his recently refreshed finish. His paint is the same, but for models that travel a lot, I find they occasionally need to be resprayed with a clear finish to maintain an even appearance.

Road Trip! (Part 1)

First off: Still alive over here. My time has not been my own as of late, and other responsibilities have pushed blogging to the bottom of my list. I'm currently (at least of the next few weeks...no guarantees) in a position that is allowing me just enough time for blogging. My current supervisor told me to use the internet when I ran out things to do, so here it goes:

Way, way belated post here. Random photos from our extensive road trip and Breyerfest from Seattle to Kentucky. We made it in less than three days (not that I recommend it) and took our time on the way back.

The way there

Somewhere in Missouri?

Yup, that was the only photo we managed to take on the way there. We were in a hurry, drove day and night, and ended up arriving a day early. We collapsed somewhere between Lincoln and Kansas City and then drove straight through to Lexington.

In KY

Since we arrived a day early, we had an amazing opportunity tour Winstar--in the middle of the night. Photo conditions were not ideal.

Stallion Tiznow's Breeder's Cup Blanket

Winstar has, by far, the fattest barn cat I've ever seen. We got to tour the grounds and pet the full brother of this year's Dubai Cup winner, Well Armed. Sadly, he would not fit in the car on way back, so we decided against smuggling him out.

Of course, this was the night before Breyerfest Live. We got back from the farm just in time to pack the car (so much for sleep.) Lauren thought we were nuts. She's probably right.

After a minor metal break down from me (at this point, I'd been up for at least 24 hours straight and hadn't had a full 8 hours in weeks) we managed to make it to the live show...mostly alive.

The Hall of Sham

My "brilliant" plan for my collector's class set-up never came together and I was forced to improvise. Alas.

My flash conga will miss you

The reserve overall prize for this year. I have a theory that the cooler the prize, the less likely I am to win it. Glass half empty.

On the plus side, I got to see a few previous customs of mine! This guy was one of the last airbrush dapple greys I've done and the inspiration for the piece below:

"Susans in May" - Rachel Alexandra portrait

So I didn't come away completely empty handed. Given more time, I actually feel pretty good about how I did, but there was no telling that to me at that moment. By this point I'd been awake for 36 hours.

"I M FAM" by Tiffany Purdy

Can you believe this guy started life as a Family Arabian Mare? He was created by the super talented Tiffany Purdy, who was also generous enough to swap me my Indian Pony for her Idocus.

Friday evening memories are kinda blurry from here on. I passed out eventually, but not after hours of romping about the Hilton Inn North like a 3rd grader on a Pixy stix.

Gala!!!

After too many trips through the SR line, Lady Brooklyn aka Lauren Tapley aka My Hero managed to snag me a Gala! I would have never been able to afford him second-hand.

Upon receiving Gala, Heather and I finally crawled out of bed and returned to the land of the living. We pranced off to the Kentucky Horse Park and got a little snap happy:

The Old Man

Cigar getting his foot duct taped

The elusive Funny Cide makes an appearance.

I'll conclude tomorrow with commentary from Deadwood, heretical mockery of Barbaro, and photos of dinosaurs.

Minor face lift

The small with the posting column was making me nutters. I couldn't fit my "standard" size photos with a width of 500--no bueno. Photos will often still link (as before) to high res versions.

RXR Donation Pics

Short post for now...lengthy Breyerfest/road trip recaps, editorial rants, and tutorials all to come in the upcoming weeks!

This guy will be available by raffle this weekend. To buy tickets, please check out Region X Regional's site.

All photos are clickable to embiggin.

Hippogriff -- Finished Photos

More photos are in his eBay listing.

Update: The Fwuffy Bouncer is once again available and is relisted on MH$P.

Fwuffy Pony: Now in Color!

Quite a speedy turn around for me, too. I only started him in--what--February?

ETA: On Hold.

Offers: Hazards of Love

There's a bit of a story behind her name. "The Hazards of Love" is the latest album from indie rockers, The Decemberists. If you're into retro, indie, Pink Floyd-esque rock operas, I highly recommend you check it out.

More photos of Hazards can be seen in her MH$P ad.