More Xylene...

Lazer transfers of butterfly images
using the Xylene transfer method.

Transferring images to various surfaces remains foremost on my mind. The toxicity of the can of Xylene I purchased also lingers in my thoughts so I have been holding my ideas at bay till I can get them all out in one felt swoop, preferably outside where the fumes from the Xylene can go up and…well, somewhere. I've mentioned it before and will reiterate that this stuff is toxic.

IT'S TOXIC!

If you plan on following my lead and playing with Xylene transfers do not do it without rubber gloves AND a proper vapor respirator. I'm fairly tolerant to all sorts of smells and "dangerous" art supplies and I must admit that many times I've lived on the wild side and thrown caution to the wind with my art supplies, but I've never come face to face with a supply so potent and dangerous as Xylene. It works amazingly, but it hits the senses and produces a headache almost instantaneously. It's dangerous. Thankfully I do have a vapor respirator which I use for dangerous work, but Xylene is way too strange to be dealt with in an enclosed area since the headache seems to happen the MOMENT I've taken the respirator off and leave the room. So any work can not be done in the house.

Colored xeroxes waiting
to be transferred to a surface

Xylene transfer of colored xeroxes: fail

My transfer projects will have to wait for a nice (non windy) day to be let out. Of course, when things go wrong, like they did with the xerox transfer the creative process (the part where I have to ponder what happened and what I could do to remedy it) is put on hold and sometimes creative fires dwindle and die as they did on trying to transfer my little mice images to surfaces.

Right now any reproductive ideas about my mice have dwindled and for that I am sad since I really had great expectations, but I'm sure such ideas will be revisited later on down the road. For now I've gone back to haring the little Maureen Love foal in bay roan and poking about with my new desk Zen Garden. And wouldn't you know it? Even in my new sand garden….a heart!

Maureen Love foal in bay roan
(will be a sales item this week.)

My little desk zen garden

Stone in the garden was yes, a heart

Don't Forget the Chestnuts

"Sheeza resin in roan.
This one had her chestnuts. Im
just showing her off a bit.

"Don't forget the chestnuts! Did you paint them?"

That's what my model horse friends and I were always saying to each other when we would either get together for our painting/pastel parties or when we would share our latest creations via online forum party with one another. There was a 50-50% chance we did forget to paint them. We said it so often to one another that it has become ritual to say it before sending a horse back to it's owner.

But what happens if the chestnuts aren't sculpted on the horse to begin with? This Weather Girl mold was missing her back chestnuts. I noticed it as I went through my check list of "to dos" before the final photo shoot. Even if the horse is complete this technique is fast and easy rendering absolutely no ill effects. All you need is Liquitex Modeling Paste, a brush, and your paints.

Missing the chestnuts

Modeling Paste dries FAST
and adheres strongly.

I only use Liquitex Modeling Paste as it has marble dust in it which seems to make it very strong. It dries fast and can be painted over in acrylics or oils.

Start by scooping out a bit of paste onto a paper palette. Close the jar up immediately. This paste dries very quick. (Also note that if you have been using it often it's best to skim down the sides, remove old or slightly drying paste, and add a bit of water to the top portion of the paste. Let the water just sit on the paste. You can always mix thoroughly when you go to use it again.) If you don't take precautions with the paste each time you use it it will dry up hard as a rock very quick. Trust me. I know. I've ruined many a jar until I worked on skimming walls with my father over the summer. Drywall buckets have to be carefully scraped and protected otherwise the bucket goes bad really fast. Realizing this fast drying issue was the same problem I've always had with my modeling paste, even when I closed the lid tight, I decided to try the drywall method and it's worked beautifully for months.

Load your paint brush with paste and then place the paste in the area you need to fix. (This paste is also excellent for those rogue resin pinholes that seem to pop up when the piece is completed.) Wash your brush out well and then wait about 10 minutes for the area to dry fully. Paint. Done!

Oh, and if you don't like the look of the chestnut or the size the paste can be picked off if it hasn't had about 24 hours to set up fully. It can also be sanded if it has set up.

Add paste with an ordinary paint brush

Finished and ready for the shoot

Horse & Harvest

The horse....

Breyer Remake front

Breyer Remake from the side

...and the harvest is on my mind today.

More Harvest pieces

Thinking Christmas

Photo table

Christmas...

It's hard to think about THAT holiday again, especially when last year's was an abomination, but alas this week I've had Christmas things on the brain. Not by choice, cause I'm still weeping about the pool being closed this weekend and holidays are the LAST thing on my mind, but Im thinkin' Christmas because of the need to complete a JAH cover.

This year's Holiday Horse is a pretty take on the Nutcracker Suite and I've been asked by Breyer to shoot something rather festive. I am so thankful for good friends because if it weren't for my good friend Vanessa the reshoot on this project would have been...well...just torture without a small Christmas tree she was able to procure for me. It was the one request from my editor that I didnt have and I was besides myself on Thursday.

It turns out that that little tree not only saved the photo, but it opened up new doors of ideas for me for future shots with trees in the background. It seems to work nicely in the backgrounds without any decorations. Good ideas flowin and a cover done before the middle of a beautiful Saturday is my kind of perfect day!

The Grind

Sneak Peeks
at up coming things

The summer is over.

After the table is cleared on Labor Day something just happens psychologically. The mind just doesn't want to be in the sun any longer. The body has had enough. The pool is no longer inviting or fun and the urge to hide away in the basement at my desk is strong.

The urge hit me yesterday and my son and I hunkered down to work. He made Christmas ornaments in clay while I chopped away at some stablemate sized horses. It was fun to be working again side by side and to be chopping up critters, letting my mind flow with creativity.

Be sure to join Just About Horses a publication of Breyer Animal Creations to read all about how I transform a stablemate from one pose to another. I believe its safe to say...it's extreme!

Finished Raku bead bracelet
(commission)

Twenty Nine

In my childhood bedroom with my QHF

Twenty nine years ago today I received my very first Breyer. My grandmother returned from a day trip to NYC and purchased the most gorgeous play horses I had never seen from "the big Woolworth's" in Manhattan. Little did I know twenty nine years later I'd still be collecting AND still have the ones I received that day. I never thought I'd be working with Breyer in some fashion nor did I ever think I'd still be enjoying my love of the horse in the form of a little plastic (and now resin) horse statue for this long. Thank you Gramma!

Christmas 1981 and the big haul.

Glazed and Confused

Glaze everywhere!

It's been a week of glazing here. I have so many vessels that need color that I promised myself I wouldn't throw any more clay till I had glazed a good portion of the finished pieces. So, I seriously sat down and dug my heels into the art of glazing.

Glazing is most definetly a very difficult aspect of making pottery for me. I'm not only a clutz when it comes to hand application, I'm so sloppy with my pouring and dipping methods that I'm now rather confused as to what I should try next in order to get better results. I believe I will just have to face the fact that practice is the only answer and in practicing quite a few really nice vessels will be ruined. Of course, the ones that get ruined are always the important ones.

My RESS Sponsor Award 2008

This vase came out fairly well. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% happy with it because the glazing portion just didn't turn out as I had anticipated. This was not the color I was aiming for in the least! But, I guess you can say it has a very "earthy" and "pure potter" feel which is appealing in its own way.

Carefully now....careful!

Between all the glazing and finishing up of last commissions my studio is now in "disaster" mode. I really hate when it gets this way. See? Isn't it a mess?

Messy studio

We have company coming tomorrow and I'll need to clean up down there tonight. People always want to come down into the studio and look around so I have to be ready for it. But first, my attention will be spent on Alboronzo. I was fortunate enough to obtain another copy and have a color selected for this bad boy already. He is prepped and primed and now I just need some quiet time alone to work my color on him. He is going to be amazing!

Quick shot of the soon to be CMed Alboronzo