"Everything" is in my art.

I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone, but I am extremely sensitive to just about everything.

I'm sensitive to light. Sometimes, when I turn off certain types of lights, I feel an actual physical sense of relief.

I'm sensitive to noise. Certain noises and music feel like being mentally attacked. I often take my earbuds with me to pool league or to the grocery store so I can listen to "my" music instead of whatever ambient music is playing. It calms me.

I'm also sensitive to people's gestures and movements: what they say, how they walk, the look on their faces.

I think all of this sensitivity makes me very observant. I notice little details in my surroundings, how things move, how they interact, and how they're put together. My brain naturally starts connecting those observations and wondering how things work.

Like figuring out in my head how a gas pump works while putting gas in my car. Or how a moving animatronic works at a Disney park. Or how they used to manage FastPasses at Disney parks. Or how the rides themselves work.

I don't actively do these things, I just look at something while I'm standing in line for a ride and my brain is like "we're bored, lets figure out how this works".

Understanding how things I encounter every day work helps me understand how I can make things in miniature.

This was evident in my mecate making.

I have dyscalculia. My brain literally was formed with less grey matter to do math. I can do basic math, most of the time usually by using the 10s method, but complex math- forget it!  Sometimes I add when I should multiply or subtract when I should divide. Sometimes I just blank out on a basic math problem and I reach for the calculator on my phone.

This means that figuring out how to do twists with thread and tension was not going to be solved for me with physics equations. (Although It probably would've been easier!)

It took a long time for me to be able to figure out a method to make a miniature mecate. I didn't even realize what I was learning about thread, sewing and weaving in the past would inform how to make twisted mecates.

I cannot make the mecates by twisting with my hands. My hands are too "wrecked" from decades of typing from working in tech..  If I try to  manually twist thread, my hands hurt and cramp.

 Kumihimo braiding was too complicated for me and my brain to learn.

I eventually ended up being able to make a mecate using a Fringe maker, a vise, and a rock.  I watched mecate making videos on you tube.  I researched the way yarn was made.  I looked at photo after photo after photo of mecates.  Then I think I went through at least 50 different experiments with different materials to land on one that looked the way I wanted it to.

My sensitivity gave me the observational ability to decode tension and torsion. I engineered the mecate through visual-spatial reasoning rather than formulas.

I use the same kind of thinking when I make miniature saddles.

Sometimes I'll see a saddle online and, based on the basic Rio Rondo pattern and everything I've learned from making saddles myself, I'll be able to work out how it's constructed without ever seeing the actual process.

This came in handy when I was making my Californio sets. I couldn't find photographs showing how an authentic old Californio saddle was rigged, so I had to work it out from what I knew about saddles of the time period, how they function, and how their various parts fit together.

Californio 2

Californio 2

Western saddles styles are basically simple when translated to miniature.  Their job is to allow a person sit on a horse.  All saddles have rigging straps and a seat. Different saddles may change those things; taller horn for reining; deeper seat for barrel racing; more rigging and sturdier tree for roping: but they're all basically the same premise.

After looking through a lot of Western collectible catalogs and researching on the internet, I guessed that it would have "center fire" rigging. The Californio saddle is a amalgamation of the Spanish saddles, the Mexican style saddles and the western American saddles of the time.. and most of those were center fire rigged.

Years later, I obtained a copy of "Saddles" by Russell Beattie and lo and behold in there is a photo of a hope tree style saddle that was in use around the same time as the Californio saddles and I guessed the rigging correctly!

I think this is one of the things I've come to understand about myself over time. My brain is constantly taking in information, noticing details, making connections, and trying to understand how things work. I don't necessarily think about it as engineering, but that's often how I approach a problem when I'm making something.

But it's not just about figuring out how to construct something. Everything I encounter in everyday life becomes part of what I make. Things I've seen, things I've learned, things I've wondered about, and even things I probably didn't realize I was paying attention to at the time. They all become part of the knowledge and experience I draw on when I create something in miniature.

I may not be good at math, and I may not always know how something works when I start, but I can observe, make connections, experiment, and figure things out. And all the while, I'm adding to that mental collection of experiences that eventually finds its way into my art.

I suppose that's what I mean when I say everything I see, do, and think goes into my art.

Wow! It's Been Another year!

Life Update & Focus 

Recently, I was diagnosed with ADHD for the second time—and understanding how my brain works has been a complete game-changer. Over the last two months, starting treatment has given me a level of focus I haven’t had in years. Looking back, I realize I’ve been playing life on hard mode for a long time! Reading up on it has given me so much clarity, I’m excited to get more time in the studio!

A quick note on custom orders: I am still unable to accept custom commissions right now, as my schedule requires flexibility. However, I always welcome ideas! If you have a suggestion for a future piece, feel free to drop me a line anytime at tackmaker@gmail.com.

Over on the right, there is a sign up button, to get an email every time I post on this blog. PLEASE join it because this is how I will be announcing sales of miniatures from now on! 

I have also created a line of horse breed coloring books and Horse Breed Specific coloring pages using my own Equine Photography. I have both digital Copies and Paperback copies.  Currently there is an Arabian Coloring Book, An Akhal-Teke Coloring book and a Saddlebred Show Coloring book.  Coming Soon are a racing coloring book and a Friesian coloring book.  Coloring has now become a great way to relax and is very popular!

Preview of what coloring pages are available on etsy- These are all digital:

Current work in progress:

I have always been an admirer of rawhide braidwork there is something about it that is distinctly hand made, and honest.  The reason that I use "off white" thread is becacsue I think it's the closest thing I can find to mimic the look of rawhide in miniature.  A few years ago, I decided that my bosals didn't look "real" enough and I needed to learn to do a proper nosebutton, like the real thing.

I taught myself a basic casa knot.. and it occurred to me that beacuse of the structure of the casa knot, I could learn how to do a real nosebutton!  I have slow since been trying to learn how to interweave those casa knots with the same color.  For me, this is exceptionally difficult.. in fact it's taken me two years to learn how to do! 

First I made a bridle with a brownband.  This bridle is known as "The Culprit".. and I finally finished it after two years of trying in 2023!  Unfortunately because of the timeframe it took to finish that bridle one side is darker than the other from my hands..I am keeping this one to show what I can do. (I very rarely keep my own work.. lol)

The Culprit Finished!

The bridle below however, will be for sale!  I was going to do another browband bridle but, the browband I created started "leaking" dye(?) onto the threads and turning them brown.  I switched to commercially dyed leather and changed to doing "ear pieces" instead.  

This bridle already has braidwork on the check pieces, and on the ear pieces and there are little knots with tassels on the end of the reins.  I am working on putting tiny tassles on the ear pieces and then I intend to also make a breastcollar to match.

This bridle thankfully is going  much faster than the last one.. I don't quite remember when I started it but it was earlier this year.  I'm really in love and proud of the way it looks with the full long knots on the cheek pieces..  It's taken me years to be able to get to this point with braiding these.

Thank you so much for reading and Stay tuned!!

The Studio Chair Saga

If you’ve ever tried to replace a beloved piece of furniture, you know the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on. For me, it’s been a long, exhausting, borderline absurd quest to find a replacement for my 30+ year-old barrel/tub/club-style chair.

The chair. WIth Cover. Far too scary to show the public wihout the cover...

This chair came to me in 1993 as part of a couch and coffee table set, and it’s been with me through everything — sketching, braiding, crying, recovering, eating dinner. It’s the perfect height, the perfect shape, and somehow, despite its age, still more comfortable than anything I’ve sat in in the past year.

What makes it truly irreplaceable is how perfectly it fits my workspace — because I built my workspace to match the height of the chair. My desk mimics a watchmaker’s bench: low, compact, and built for detail work. And this chair is the only one I’ve ever found that’s the right height for it. Everything else is too tall, too deep, too stiff. I just want something comfy, the right width, and the right height. That’s it.

It’s survived countless moves. At one point, when I moved from Shelbyville back to Louisville, I left it behind, thinking I’d easily find a replacement. I couldn’t. After a month of trying every chair in the new house — dining chairs, office chairs, even a folding one — I found I couldn’t. I completely underestimated the importance of this chair in my artwork.

We contacted the new owners of the house we’d sold (with the chair and couch still in it) and asked if we could buy back that one chair. Miraculously, they said yes.

perfect height for my work desk.

already wearing out the cover

There were two chairs originally… and man, I wish I’d bought both.

Over the last five years, I’ve kept an eye out for a new one — hoping something would pop up that felt right. But everything is either close-but-not-quite or wildly off the mark. I took measurements and went to every nearby furniture store that may have this type of chair and measured and measured and none of them were even close.

More to the point, I sit in this chair cross legged sometimes. So the chair has to be big enough for me to do that. Also, sometimes one of my cats INSISTS on supervising my work up close, so there has to be room for me AND a cat. Lol.  But it can't be too big that it takes up my entire space... The height is also VERY important..  I have to be able to reach all of my little cabinets and drawers and be in a perfect spot to see my work on my desk..

Now, my chair is disintegrating. The original cloth is worn down to threads, and it’s been living under a chair cover for years. I even spilled black dye all over it at one point — a permanent badge of usefulness, that no amount of scrubbing could fix. The frame creaks, the cushion sags, and the whole thing feels like it’s held together by hope, willpower, steel springs, and a little arty magic. I don’t even know if I could ask someone to recover it — they’d probably take one look and say, “Ewww… I’m not touching that, lady.”

So for now, the barrel/tub/club chair lives on. A little saggy, a little squeaky, a little stained — but still working.

If anyone out there has found a magical chair that feels like a hug, fits a low desk, and doesn’t cost a small fortune, I’m all ears...

Kelli's Bosalita, Bridle and Reins

 

In December 2023, I held a lottery for a custom bosal slot, and it was won by longtime customer Kelli K. In January, she sent me a beautiful reference photo of a true bridle horse — a horse trained in the Vaquero tradition, where progress is slow, intentional, and deeply respectful of the horse’s development.

A bridle horse is taught over time to eventually “pack a spade” — the iconic spade bit used in traditional western horsemanship. The horse begins its journey in a thick bosal as a youngster, then gradually transitions to thinner bosals as it matures. Some horses stay in bosals their whole lives, while others become full bridle horses like the one in Kelli’s photo. Even though he is a full bridle horse, he still wears a bosalita — not for control, but as a gentle reminder of head position. That detail really resonated with me and shaped the direction of the piece.

Kelli and I exchanged many emails discussing colors, textures, and overall look. She chose dark brown as the accent for the bosalita, with a herringbone interweave on either side and dark brown in the center. The base color was a lovely artificial rawhide from Land of Odds (I think!) — a shade I hadn’t used before, but I was thrilled with how it split and braided up. It had a beautiful finish and gave the piece a warm, authentic feel

My Crude Plan Drawing

Practice things and the start of kelli's reins

one of the attempts at a bosalita. this was too thick.

Kelli and I decided that the no color interweave was best.

bosalita, almost done.  I interwove each side individually and then interwove the middle with the same color thread.

The first attempt turned out too thick, so I had to start over — without any groundwork. (For those unfamiliar, groundwork refers to laying string or rawhide underneath a knot to give it shape and structure.) I was so happy with how the interweave turned out, especially since it was the first time I’d done it in this particular way. Definitely keeping that technique in my back pocket for future use. 

Finished bosalita.. looks a little lopsided here but it's not.. just needed to even out the heel knot.

Finished Bosalita and finished reins

finished matching mecate

The whole set finished! 

I actually started writing this post sometime last year, right after I finished the set. I was so happy when Kelli received it and really liked it! That’s always the most important thing to me — do my customers love what they receive? 

Sunday Sunday Blah Blah

 

As you may or may not have gathered from my other posts, I'm trying to figure out a way to do art full time.  Or maybe part time- and work part time. I am an IT person so part time IT work isn't really a thing.

On my miniatures website, I've been trying to retake "cleaner" photos of the work I do still own.  I am not as good as professional photographer that is practiced in taking photos of products. I'm trying to use the lifetime of experience that I have with photography though to take at least BETTER photos than the phone snaps I've been using with clean backgrounds.

Mostly my website is a portfolio site for my miniatures.  I have a custom domain and since I don't sell over there on that site it's a reasonable fee. I've tried testing out other web hosting providers but using a custom domain makes it a bit more expensive than average and Smugmug is actually the cheapest.

https://www.desertnightcreations.com

I'd like to share a few of the new photos I've taken recently with you:

I am working on a Private project for a customer- The winner of the December Custom Bosal Lottery that I can't share yet so I don't have as much as usual to talk about.  BUT  I am also working on the green show bosal here and there.. and I have finished up,  finally, after years and years.. a friends braided bridle.  She is going to show at Equilocity this year and has offered to show some of my work.

Also I still have the Royal Blue, Black and White Bosal at auction and it ends monday evening (eastern time) SO Grateful for everyone that has bid and that supports my work.. It helps to inspire me to make more!!

Royal BLue, Black and WHite Bosal

I hope you've had a good week and Happy Sunday!

Process of the Royal Blue, White and Black Bosal 2024

If you're like me you love seeing process. Or watching Process. Or reading about someone's process. I find it all fascinating and inspiring.  

This post is for those that are like me and love process.  I hope that it inspires you in some small way.. OR makes you laugh..

In my previous post, about "The Culprit" knot I explained how I wanted to figure out a way to recreate the "solid" braid look on horse gear like this:

 

"The Culprit" knot was the first knot like the knotwork on the tack above that I tried.  Needless to say, that failed and I sort of decided to lay off that idea for a bit until I felt like I could execute it better.  I REALLY should've tried to do something easier first..

This is going to be the long way around so stick with me- Earlier this year I thought about entering the Breyer Custom Tack division at Breyerfest.  I started to pour over western pleasure saddles- particularly the Harris Custom Saddles and Miguel Aguilar saddles. 

I have always sort of "danced" around sheridian "style" tooling on my saddles- in each one of my older western saddles with tooling I see the influence of the sheridan pattern.  I am also inspired by several other mini tackmakers that make sheridan tooling look beautiful in our scale.  I set out to make a fully tooled western pleasure set for the Breyerfest Contest. I started to practice and learn sheridan tooling by watching videos and drawing, and drawing and drawing.  I finally came up with what I thought was a really beautiful pattern and I was so excited about it.  But then I tried to tool it and I found that I had made it waaaayyy too complicated to be able to tool in 1:9 scale. (I could probably do it in 1:6th though).

I was very very disappointed in myself.  I had worked so hard and now I felt pretty deflated.  To "console" myself  I thought "well maybe if I work on the bosal bridle for that set, it'll give me time to heal and get back to it."

Which brought me to the thought of making a black bosal with a black nosebutton that would be interwoven with another color. ( I haven't decided on that yet)

Again, I wanted that "solid" color look but I remember the many lessons from "the culprit" and decided I needed to have more experience of what a long, interwoven button looked like, and "felt" like while I was making it.  Knowing the difference between an interweave string and the "core knot" string is crucial when you are interweaving with the same color thread as your knot. 

The way I learn best is by doing.  Even if that means that I have to do something over and over again to the point of where it would annoy other people.  This is just how I learn. (I have ADHD- I have learned that I am a slow learner but once I learn something I expand on it and know it well)

Again the knot that defeated me loomed in my head.

Then I came up with an idea- what if I made a bosal with a two color interweave, so that I could SEE the interweave and then learn and feel what the knot is like when making it.  A visual representation of how the knot goes with two colors, then maybe I could go back to the same color.  

This lead me to the royal blue, white and black bosal.  I don't know why I keep choosing those colors.. I love blue and it's easy to see and a black interweave just makes sense in my head.

While learning about the long casa knots I learned how I could do "groundwork".  Thats what Gail Hought calls in her books.  That term didn't mean much to me until the last year or so...  I had always thought that in small scale, to do groundwork was impossible or at least something I didn't need to do.

Then I worked on my 1:6 scale bridle and found that I could easily do groundwork in that scale on the reins and while doing that, I figured out how I could possibly do it in 1:9th scale.  I had already started doing groundwork when making the Dk Brown Braided bridle by "puffing" up the ends with a knot underneath using the same color thread.  But this time, with this bosal, I really wanted to mimic the look of a real bosal with the thicker noseband and the rounded side buttons.

I settled on an opposite colored string underneath the knot and wrapped it around the bosal core. Then I made two knots on either end and wove my nosebutton over top.  I used a gazillion part 4 bight casa knot (with 9 Runs)since using the 6 bight "culprit" knot had previously kicked my butt.. lol This gave me the look that I wanted.  

When you interweave a knot, you have to make sure that the base knot is looser than you would have it when it's finished. This is because with the interweave, the knot gets tighter and tighter.  If it gets too tight you can't interweave it anymore.  

I started the royal blue interweave and while I was working on that interweave, I decided (because obviously just doing the one interweave just wasn't hard enough) that I was definitely going to teach myself to add a second interweave. The second interweave proved very challenging, especially on the ends.  It took a few days of trial and error before I was able to complete it. 

I was pretty pleased at this point and my self esteem had been restored!  At first on the side buttons I used a 7 part 6bight turks head knot and double interweaved it.. but it was too bulky so I went back to a 5 part 4 bight knot and double interweaved that instead..  I also used "Groundwork" underneath those knots to give them a rounder look.

Then onto the heel knot! I normally do 8 bight 9part knots here but I went one higher this time and went 10 bight 11part turks head knot.  And it worked out somehow! lol  The first interweave was pretty easy to get in but the second color interweave- well that was harder because the knot got really tight.. but I think it turned out pretty good :)

 

and then to the "hanger" with an "ear loop".  

Unfortunately, the leather that i used at first discolored this little bosal a little bit.  I posted to my heather moreton of desert night creations facebook page and let everyone know that I would need to restart this bosal over.  They assured me  that I was being overly perfectionist and that in real life horse tack gets dirty! They also told me that the discoloration was not noticable and that they would be interested in it anyway!  (I was so happy! Lol)

I remade the leather  hanger and used commercially dyed leather.  Then I put a few matching knots on the sides and on the earloop and then put in a little tassel. I love making the little tassels on the ear pieces because I feel like it's a nice little detail.  On this bosal hanger I also used small watch screws to mimic the "Chicago Screws" sometimes used on tack.  I think it has a nice working tack look but could also be used for "show" if someone wanted to.   I'm always delighted and amazed at what my customers come up with!

Now I am at the point to where I need to make a mecate. My new mecates are made using a fringe maker.  My hands could not take twisting and keeping proper tension of the strings so I needed to go for a mechanical solution.  I use the fringe maker to twist the individual strands and then after the strands have sat twisted for a few days I twist them all together... but here is one of the many hard parts of doing that-  you have to watch tension and the width of all of the strings-  it all has to be same or the thinnest string will "disappear" inside the others.  Last summer I made probably made close to 25 little mecates by trial and error before I came up with some kind of procedure that produced a good mecate twice in a row.  I had some help too from Anthony in that he made me some little tools for it.  I also typed some stream of consciousness notes to so that I could remember all of the little things I needed to do..

 I won't describe exactly how I make my mecates because honestly I'm constantly changing them and they are really difficult for me to do.. let alone explain..  I also have to be VERY awake and focused to make them correctly or all of my hard work will be for nothing and I have to start over... I totally sweat buckets while making them because I'm so worried it'll fail..

When the mecate is done and the Hackamore/Bosal is ready to sell I'll let everyone know on my facebook page and on here!  It will be auctioned off on Model Horse Place  Thanks for reading this far!

The Bridle that Was mean to me- AKA the Culprit

About a two years ago I learned how to make a "Casa knot".  Which is just a longer turks head knot than the 7part 6 bight or 9part 8 bight turks head knots I was used to making.. I was inspired by Tom Hall's More Turks head knots book. I Saw that Susan Bensema Young had used this book to teach herself how to do Casa knots about 10 years ago.  I felt like my bosals needed a "level up" and I needed to learn to make a proper nose button.

After a LOT of trial and error I finally learned how to make a casa knot.  I created several new type pieces (to me) with braidwork on them. Most Notably Sue's Saddle Tan Colored Bridle and A Dk Brown Bridle I made to keep (FOR ONCE! LOL) so that I'd have an example of my work.

I felt like these were a triumph at the time!  Not only did I manage a long knot, I learned to also interweave it! I'm still sort of proud of myself about that.

Although I was/am proud of the above work, I wanted to work on being able to make a knot and get that "solid" knot look.  

So I tried a bunch of things. I tried really complicated casa knots- For instance the bosal below with the brown nosebutton-  that nosebutton is so small, and so complicated, that I can't even see the structure well enough to interweave it.  It will stay plain but the side buttons and heel knot are interwoven.

 I tried looser casa knots with the same color "backgrounding" or Ground work (the green bosal above employs this method).  I am really happy with how that looks but of course, in the back of my head, I decided that I really needed to figure out how to do a same color interweave to mimic the nosebutton on a real life bosal. 

Which lead me to:

THE CULPRIT AKA the Mean Knot

The above bridle I have been working on, on and off for over a year.  The shank/bridle piece on the left, I finished a year ago.  This is a "Giant" casa knot (I can't remember the parts) with 6 bights, interwoven with the same colored thread.  It was so hard.. There is so much to learn with doing such intricate braidwork on a smaller scale on 3/32nds" leather lace with the same color interweave.  I tried over and over and over and over and over again and finally, I was able to make that beautiful knot on the Left.  I loved it! I was so excited!! I daydreamed about all of the tack I could make that way! SO Proud of myself..( ALSO maybe I could eventually interweave it!?)   Then I went to the piece on the right. And there I have been stuck for over a year.  I kept mentally beating myself up because the first one "Came so easy" (ha!) "WHY can't I just duplicate it on the other one!?".  I think I tried for at least a month - every night coming into my studio and trying to make a matching piece.  NO DICE!  Either I missed a string and the whole thing was off or the knot became too tight as I was interweaving.  Also with a knot that tight, the leather beneath it eventually gets destroyed. Not only did I have to CUT the knot off, every 3rd or 4th try I had to redo the leather too.  Since this was a project just for me, so that I could learn, I eventually put it down so that I could move onto other things that I could finish. (And that didn't steal my self-esteem)

At the end of March of this year, I picked it up again to see if I could finish it.  I have had a lot more practice with casa knots and with interweaving so SURELY I could make a matching piece! And I did! Unfortunately it was a 4 bight instead of a 6- because I forgot I had made a six bight one until It was finished.  So again, I cut the knot off and tried again. And again. And Again. And AGAIN, and again until it was in the state it's in now. REALLY Close.. LIKE IT'S REALLY CLOSE!!!! But I had given myself a timeline this time, of two days solid, and again I couldn't finish it.  One of these years, if I ever finish it.. I will keep it forever BECAUSE IT WAS MEAN TO ME! LOLOLOL  Actually I'll keep it because it is SUCH a lesson!! 

Its reins are already braided. Black reins with off white casa knots near the part that connect to the bit that are interwoven with black.  The reins have black tassels on the end as well.  The bit on this was a Rio Rondo prototype bit so it is the only one I have.  It is a snaffle with a star in the middle of it.  It also has matching star buckles.  I'm still excited for this thing but I don't know when I'll ever be able to finish it! Lol 

But I will KEEP trying...........