Bluebird Studio

What would I do without it.....well apart from sleep of course. 3am last night I was at my kitchen table sculpting, I think the school holidays have sent me completely bonkers already and it was only the second day. There is nothing like the complete silence the very early morning brings. The girl now has a blob on the end of her tail, and some little blobs along her neck that will evolve into plaits. Funnily they looked good at 3.30am, but now....... lol , they will be changed! She also, much to my delight, stands on her own! On a side note, Treasure is in the deep freeze! She is so little, just the warmth from my hands is enough to make her sticky and difficult to manage, even with her being made of hard Chavant clay. After endless frustration trying to carve her little legs, she has been banished to the freezer for some time out.

Not sure I am as happy with her now as I was before, but it could also be a case of looking at her too much, so she is now on my side board with a cover for a few days. Poor Whisper, so unloved. And what is under the covers... I have worked on her off side shoulder and outside back leg. Her nearside shoulder has been moved back a touch and both legs have the beginning of their muscle definition. I have also lengthened her head and given her eye some eyelashes.

I am loving this girl! After sorting some leg problems (many more to go!) she is at last beginning to take the shape that I have pictured in my head. I am going for simple, effortless, elegance, the whole reason I have chosen Graylea Whisper as my model source. She will be plaited up and have a pulled tail. Many more hours to go yet, but at least I am making progress. I am working on Treasure tonight, so more updates on her tomorrow. Also the news that my Arabian medallion will be going into production early next week. YAY!At this stage his price will be $30-35aus for the blank resin. Postage will be extra.

Arabs are my 'White Whale'. Every time I am commissioned to do an Arab, my heart flutters and I doubt my ability to see it through. But I was challenged by a glorious photograph taken by AinslieG of a divine Arabian stallion. Ainslie's photo inspired me by it's sheer beauty, I just could not resist, and although daunted, I was determined to do the photo justice. I have finished the fellow off feeling much more confident in my ability do capture these glorious horses. AinslieG is one of my biggest inspirations in equine art, her photographs and artwork are just breathtaking. Her empathy and love for the Arabian horse shines through in her art. It is her passion for her subject that I wish to emulate through my art work, I want people to see my sculpts and feel the same passion and love that I have for our equine friends. I highly recommend a visit to her websites....a feast for the eyes, for any horse lover. http://www.ainsliegartistry.webs.com/ http://www.ainsliegph...

After a few stop-starts, I have begun modelling Whisper. I am really pleased with how she is progressing.

.....is a gorgeous black Australian Stock Horse mare 'Graylea Whisper', owned by my friend Andrea. As well as being completely drool worthy, she is also an extremely successful show pony, winning High point HRCAV Show Horse for the year 2006-07. She has also shown her versatility in cross country and dressage. She is 14.1hh, I am doing her in Classic scale, so she will be around 12 cms at the wither. I am going sculpt her cantering and on the bit, so she should be a lovely little girl for the performance classes. I have begun her today, starting with her armature. Firstly standing to get her measurements spot on. Then bent to her canter.

Golly, did I have her size waaay out. I cannot believe how small Treasure is now! I have found making an armature without the T-join very difficult, might be a case of letting google be my friend for any future endeavours this small, and definitely a smaller gauge of wire. I just cannot get those front legs from wobbling, which in turn, cracks the clay. Here she is about an hour in, un-smoothed. She is just resting on the brass pipe, for size comparison it is the same pipe that was in the 'before' photo.

Well, went to the live model horse show on Sunday, in Mentone, Melbourne. So very glad I did, I was right, it was a real eye opener to see artist resins in real life, the photos I have seen really do many of them no justice. I was also thrilled to recognise a few models done by my favourite artists, Deborah McDermott, Lynn Fraley and Bridgette Eberl. But most of all the size of them! They are huge, and tiny, tiny, tiny. So with this discovery, I am going to redo Treasure to the correct size for a classic scale model. I shall make her 10.1hh, the size my weanling welsh colt is right now, of course 2 inches of that will be hair! LOL. This will make Treasure 8.70cms at the wither. Here she is before her breakdown.

As I am primarily a portrait sculptor, I have decided to set up a second blog to follow my foray into model horse sculpting, and thus keeping them seperate. I have not scuplted a hobby 'model horse' before, ever. In fact I have only ever seen them in boxes, so everything is new and fresh to me. I am attending a Model horse show in Mentone this Sunday, and am fully expecting it to be an eye opener. I have begun my first, she is a Welsh Mountain Pony filly. I am not sure she will make it to the model horse stage due to her size. But she will be cast by Paradoxx, in cold cast bronze.