The Forgotten Blog...

Well its 2011 and I think its time to resurrect the art blog again. 


I've been busy prepping plastic ponies, being sick, and dealing with Girl Scout Drama. For the majority of the last week of Feb. 2011 I was dealing with a pretty major sinus infection  with what I'm sure was a double ear infection as well. It meant I slept - a lot - and getting out of bed made things spin quite crazily. Not so good when dealing with plastic expensive ponies that belong to other people, no? So I figured they would stay safely on their shelves, UNDAMAGED, and I would simply pass the time miserable. That plan seemed to work, as no plastic ponies were damaged during the week of weakness. I am now feeling quite better, and ready to start once more. 


And the Girl Scout Drama - well in a nutshell I started out the school year as the leader of my daughters fledgling Brownie Level Troop. Lets just say that I don't play well with PTO/PTA moms. All I had was PTO/PTA moms. Of course right?  


Well my mother was also my girl scout troop leader for nearly a decade, so I figured if SHE could do it, so could I. Not so much... ever heard of the "helicopter mom"? Moms termed because they 'hover'... constantly. I couldn't catch a break, and quite frankly, the control freak in me started to well, freak. Things suddenly were not so happy, and I decided to step down from the Leader Position, and hand the troop over to the mom that seemed to be the most qualified to handle it. 


Now on to the plastic ponies...


I have still to catch up on a lot of orders:


I have the Ruffian and Smarty Jones finished, I just need final pictures taken. The PAM and Classic Arab Family that go to the same owner I have yet to finish. 


Goffert - well he's being a royal pain in the rear right now. Had him all ready to go, and next I know the primer is chipping off. I tried sanding the areas where it was chipping, and it just chipped off worse. So he will need to be stripped and reprimed before he can be mailed off. And I thought he was done....


The BHR Arab and Pyt are going to be sent to a painter here soon for finish work. 


Jade and Jewel are being worked on slowly, as I am resculpting details back into both of them. 


CM'd Lady Phase has a giant crack in her neck that needs to be repaired.


And a few others that I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment. 


So I will continue to be quite busy till March, April! 


I also have a new project arriving in the mail pretty soon... These pictures are the property of a fellow Blabber 'Sweet Defense', and I am only using them because I have no other pictures at the moment.

I probably over paid for him, but something about him was talking to me - no SCREAMING at me. Don't quite know what it is yet, though I have a pretty good rough idea... I am seeing something very different than anything out there yet and I hope I can translate what is in my head to actual clay and design. I will be going back to my polymer clay roots on him, and can't wait to start figuring out concept ideas. 

I don't expect to be getting to him before the school year is out, which means I have plenty of time to plan, figure, prepare, and practice. :D. 

In Progress all the way to Almost Completed

The Halla seen in the last post had some serious cosmetic surgery. The tail was a nearly 5 hour removal process with the dremel, but that time includes the detail work reshaping the leg. The pictures below show the progress of the tail removal from about one hour in, to near completed. After the last picture was taken, he had some very small divots that the dremel created filled back in, and was sanded, and overall just smoothed out. He is now finished.

This last picture shows the carving out and shaping of the ears and nostrils. 

The next project is a Ruffian and Smarty Jones from the same owner as the Halla, tail repairs, and general prep.

Next Project....Coming Up!

Tail to be removed, general clean up, and some drilling needs done. This is now a 'rush' order.

Completed

Nati'ah is finished, save for a tiny, tiny touch up with the primer on that white spot on her nose. She is headed this weekend to a painter that lives here in AZ as well. I can't wait to see her after she gets painted!

Quiet, but not Idle

NO, Idle would NOT be the word. Not with 7 Clients' Boxes of model horses here to be prepped. Idle is the LAST thing I've been lately. However the down side is that with all the work to be done here, doesn't leave much time for playing on the net! 


I've decided to work in batches. Batches of horses that need similar work done. All ear repairs/rebuilds for instance. All the seams will be done at the same time. Etc. I am hoping that this method will speed up the process for me!


So, while I have model horses sitting in Oven Cleaner Baths, others awaiting seam clean up. and yet others awaiting a final sanding before that primer spray, everyone out there can rest easy knowing your models are in good hands. :)

Website!

faraetaildreamsart.yolasite.com

Things are definitely picking up on the prepping side of things. I am now prepping several bodies to be painted by various artists for show donations; one model is being sent from Austrailia that will be a moderate custom job; and a few others that are just basic cleaner'up's! 


My Girl Scout Troop is also starting to get rockin and rollin a bit - can't wait for that to get really going either. 


https://sites.google.com/site/desertcove560/

Don't have any new pictures to post, I figured out what to put on the dragon's wings, just haven't gotten 'round to it yet as my personal projects are now taking a back seat to the prepping jobs I have to finish. 


Soon though, hopefully I'll be able to continue him, there are some neat shows coming up in the next year that he might do well in! 

WIP Shire Drafter Dragon CM: We Have Wings! Part 2

Last nights progress. 

The wings got bulked out with Amazing Sculpt, and then I had the thought to create a thin 'membrane' to sculpt the actual wings over but wasn't sure how to do it. Some digging around in my sculpting box uncovered a brand new package of cheesecloth, so it got picked for the job. 

My hope was that I could squish it into the under bones of the wings, and when the Amazing Sculpt dried, it would be permanently affixed. Which is mostly what it did. About halfway through the curing process I tested it in a corner and found that it was sticking, but with enough force, would lift up. 

So I grabbed my super glue, and ran a thin small line of glue down the long, main bone on each side. That did the final trick, and now that cheesecloth isn't going anywhere. 

Now, I need to figure out what to put over the cheese cloth to make it look even more wing like. I was originally thinking more Amazing Sculpt, but a quick test on that last night proved that it won't stick to the cheese cloth very well at all. Initially it would, but when I started the attempt to smooth it out, it lifted right up. 

So, now I'm thinking maybe liquid latex or something of the sort. I'll have to search around some and see whats out there to use.