"Little Angels in the Field"
Graphite, Watercolor and Acrylics on Watercolor paper.

What Do You Do?

A very large showhall.
Sometimes they are a little smaller than this.
"So, what exactly do you do?"

Time and again I am asked this question and each time it seems difficult to try and explain what I do to fill my days. Today I thought it might be helpful to take some photographs during a recent model horse show.

Ok, so you have miniature railroad enthusiasts who collect and set up trains and houses and little train stations with little people. There are some railroad hobbyists who play with their trains all throughout the year, not just during Christmas. Well, imagine that mode of thinking, but with horses. There are all types of breeds, saddles, bridles, stables, riders, and equipment. If the real equine industry has it, so does the model horse industry and we play with our miniatures all throughout the year as well.

Our favorite past time with them is taking them all out to shows and showing them off like a big dog or cat or horse show. I cater to this industry by offering painting services and I also fix show horses when they break.


Horses lined up and
ready for the classes.
Some set ups get very intricate
like this handmade wagon.
The straps, buckles and
even the little numbers are all hand made.
And just like the real shows
ours includes big ol ribbons.
A Peter Stone Arab
who didn't make it into the ring today.
But sometimes the show horses break either on their way to the show or during the show and that is where I come in. I set up shop right at the live show and offer repair to any one who needs it. I fix scratches, breaks, and rubs and pretty much anything else that happens to the show horses. In most cases the pieces can be fixed on the spot and they go back into the ring to show that day. Some pieces, like the broken Arab need a little more TLC and they wind up coming home with me into my studio.

And so, that is what I do when I am not doing the other art stuff I like to do.

Ready For The Show

"A Stolen Moment"
Graphite, Watercolor, and Acrylics on paper.
I'm all packed and ready to do repair at tomorrow's live model horse show. Everything was packed, even my glasses when this image came to me. Using whatever was left near my desk I quickly sketched it out. Yes, my little mice love pizza. Don't you?

Memory Lane

My (old) Dog "Doodles"
There are sketchbooks everywhere in my house. In the office, in the downstairs studio, in my den, in my kitchen and even in my attic. I grab sketchbooks and go and then toss them about when I return.

I came across a fairly old one this past week and had forgotten all about the drawings inside. It was almost like looking at an old diary or journal. I soon remembered places I visited and people and animals I saw along the way that intrigued me enough to draw them. It was a fun trip down memory lane. I thought it would be cool to share some of my favorite drawings from the sketchbook with you.

I lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
My roommate had a cat. She was mean, but fun to draw.

LOVED the way
her hand was resting. Captured it.
Straight ink on paper. Boom.

Ive always
loved to draw horses.
This was a more successful sketch that year.
A hot dog
making serious headway on the city streets.
The corner deli
in Park Slope.
The pickle and egg
jars you couldn't pay me
to touch in that deli.
Waiting for the show
at the NYC Aquarium.
One of the seals captured
in pen on paper. Boom.
Where I lived
in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
A beautiful woman on the train
traveling on the Q from Manhattan into Brooklyn.
Doodling things while watching the baseball game.
The Mets were loosing...obviously.
My mom's cat
"Bonkers"
That year the cicadas were LOUD!
Beauty in decay along the city streets.
Had to draw it!
Doodling a rabbit
character. Never finished that idea.


And the most wonderful of all sketches in this entire sketchbook. A sketch I forget I even made. A sketch I could never ever make again no matter how much I wanted. A sketch of my grandmother's living room. When someone passes on and their things are long gone from your immediate memory you forget all the details. That is, until something like this brings all those wonderful memories flooding in. For a moment, I was back in the house I loved with one of the most wonderful women in the world; my grandma.


My grandmother's living room.

Live Show Repair

I like name tags.
Live show repair this time at the Finger Lakes Open Classic Live in Horseheads, NY.

Repair.

Lots of it.

During the mayhem I couldn't resist having a little fun. Now, time to forget about model horses at least for the next 24 hours.

"A Kiss In Fall"
Graphite, Watercolor, Acrylic and Decoupage on Watercolor Paper.
"Even so she kist his brow, his cheek, his chin,
And where she ends she doth anew begin."

~Venus and Adonis

Tonight

Tonight on the desk? A Morgen Kilbourne resin going dun. Took a quick shot. Thought it would be fun to share.

A Kilbourne resin slowly getting
a dun colored coat.

Fun shot of his palette.