Kiger painting listed to eBay

I have just listed the original pastel painting "Kiger" to eBay. You can view the listing here. The photo reference for this painting came from the Bureau of Land Management's Burns Oregon facility. For those who aren't familiar with Kigers they are a distinct breed or type of mustang from the Steens Mountain region in Oregon, with bloodlines tracing back to the original Spanish horses. Many of them are dun with primitive markings. This particular horse was adopted and is loved, his new owner telling me that her veterinarian said he has some of the best conformation he has ever seen. He was allowed to remain a stallion to make more pretty horses in the future. I wish they all had such happy endings. 

Fat Tuesday

Fat Tuesday (February 12th) will be the day of Tiny's release, finally! It seemed appropriate that such a large little guy have his big day on Fat Tuesday. My idea for the mold worked and he will be cast all in one piece with the resin being poured into the mold via his left hind leg/tail, so he will be super easy to clean up for shipping with no need to fit the base and deal with hoof pegs or a belly vent. I'm passing this time savings on to my customers by keeping the price at $75.00, even though he is larger than the average stablemate scale horse. He's in scale, he's just a big horse! 

There are a few new mustang paintings, too. I have found a few photographers willing to allow paintings to be done from their photos, as well as BLM photos which are public domain. The more paintings of mustangs I do the more I want to help, even though it will only be in a small way, it all adds up right? A portion of each mustang painting sale will go to mustang charites, starting with a local group that advocates for our local mustangs by raising awareness, purchasing and setting up safe mustang handling corrals and chutes, and working with the Forest Service to eradicate noxious weeds, maintain fences, and keep the watering holes cleaned out. The first three mustang paintings are in the giclee print process pipeline as I type, with my goal being a 2014 calendar this fall, as well as various sizes of prints and possibly other items like note cards being available.

This guy is not quite finished, I need to add his auction tag, but he's one of my favorites. Photo reference provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM):

Branching out to 'on the range' paintings with this one titled "On the Edge". Photo reference provided by TJ Holmes who has a wonderful blog about our local mustangs. This is the stallion "David":

 

Here's the most recent painting, finished just yesterday, "Aspen of Spring Creek Basin" from another one of TJ's great photos:

Obviously this painting thing is becoming an obsession. Painting AND horses AND the west...I think I'm doomed.

Playtime!

Work on the new mini "Tiny" continues, and today he was allowed to play with his pal Doodlebug:

I'm guesstimating it will be two weeks before he is ready to sell.  He still needs veins, some more wrinkles, and other small details added, plus the production mold has to be sorted out. I'd like to cast him as one piece, since his big drafty legs are sturdy and it would be so much easier to not have to fit each casting to the base. He will have steel reinforced back legs just in case. Doodlebug's skinny legs could never have handled that!

The third mustang in my series is mostly finished and I've started a fourth. I've got this wild hair to do 12 of them and have a 2014 calendar. 

This little guy is titled as the BLM described him "#1861 - 1 yr old sorrel gelding, captured August 2011, from Heath Creek HMA, Oregon":

  
Here is the fourth, a work in progress, a saddle trained horse from a prison work program: