*yawn*

Whooo Buddy I'm tired today. Lots of running around the Kentucky Horse park this past week and visiting with model horse friends. I had a wonderful time!

Last Tuesday Susan Young came to visit me and helped me with my interweaves on my knots! I'm so pleased to say that I think I'm learning them quite well! I've already completed four miniature knots with interweaves! I'm so excited that I feel like going on a braided tack "kick".. I'm just obsessed with doing knots!!

I'm having a hard time finding DMC Tatting thread size 80 in brown! You'd think that like their embroidery floss, it would be EVERYWHERE.. but no.. LOL!

Breyerfest Next week!

Yipee! Breyerfest is in two weekends! Breyerfest is a gathering of model horse enthusiasts in Lexington, KY. Lexington is only about an hour away from me so I am privileged enough to be able to go every year. People as far away as Japan, England, Germany, Australia and other countries have gone to Lexington enjoy the Kentucky Horse park and Breyerfest.

I love going every year because I get an opportunity to meet some of my Internet friends and see some faces of those that I've met before as well.

On the Tack front, I have mostly finished my "Californio II" saddle. Now onto the Bridle and bosal. I am lucky enough that Susan Bensema Young will be visiting me next week and has promised to help me with knots and braiding. I also love her company and sharing my reference books with her

Ode to Susan B. Young

Many folks that make miniatures have "mentors" or "Idols" - folks that they look up to that do the same things that they do but seem to do them a little bit better.

One of my miniature tackmaking mentors is Susan Bensema Young. Susan has been making miniatures for 25 years or more and it definitely shows. When I was starting out(even now!) in making miniature tack I would gaze at her website wanting so bad to own one of her pieces. At the time though, I knew I couldn't afford it, so I would just sit with simmering jealousy at her beautiful creations.

Then as I got better and more confident in my craft I actually introduced myself to Susan one year at Breyerfest. We were interrupted by Kathleen Bond who showed Susan how she made a woven star on her Real saddles. I was SO LUCKY to be able to sit there in the midst of two seasoned tackmakers that I just shut my mouth and appreciated what I was seeing.

Another year came at Breyerfest and I was determined to again "visit" with Susan if only to buy her book this time. To my delight, when she saw me again, the first words out of her mouth were 'You've improved!" I was on cloud 9.

Since then susan and I have become fast friends. The more I get to know her, the more I admire her. All of the knots, saddlemaking and silversmithing are just a poor attempt by me to be as good as her. I have found though, that the more I know, the more I realized I have SO MUCH to learn and the more I admire Susan.

This is especially poignant for me right now, while I am teaching myself "interweaves" on a turks head knot.

IF you know susan's work already, you are probably nodding your head by now in agreement. If you don't, I suggest you take a few moments to meander to her website to see the brilliance that is Susan's work. All of those beautiful Knots that you see on her miniature tack are indeed miniature woven knots. Not painted, woven. Her skill is unsurpassed by anyone in the equine miniaturist hobby. Even if you don't much care for or understand the Equine miniaturist hobby, you will appreciate what Susan has accomplished and recognize her influence on my work.

Yesterday, Saturday, I felt better than I have in quite some time. I'm hoping that this good health will continue through today so that I can keep teaching myself woven knots with interweaves. It feels really good to be back in the studio again. I've missed it.

Isn't that always the way?

Well, After banging my head against two spanish ring knots, I found that the book I was using doesn't explain interweaves on a spanish ring knot That I am looking for. (even though it said "Start a second color here") So I ordered another book (braiding the bosal II). If you like braiding or knotting turks heads, or pineapple knots or whatever, then you need to go to http://www.hought.com/brbooks.html Gail is an exceptionally talented artist as well as braider and these books are really easy to follow.

Fortunately, I figured out that this book didn't have what I was looking for so I went onto an interweave knot (second color) on a six bight turks head knot. Only took me two days (and countless times of starting over) before Ifinally made it correctly this afternoon! Now to teach myself to braid it in miniature!

It would be nice to some day make these in large real horse sized.. but thats probably just a daydream at this point since the miniatures keep me so very busy.

Two Days in a Row!

I was able to get up into the Studio this week two days in a row! Last night I taught myself the Spanish Ring knot of two passes.. I am going to have to learn the spanish ring knot of three passes though to acheive the look that I want. I was pleased that I was able to get my brain to understand the two passes..hehehehe

Hopefully I'll be back up there again tonight!

Still sick, little progress

I have still been very sick with frequent Migraines, headaches and shoulder spasms. I've gotten precious little done in the way of tack. I have very short spans of no pain but then the pain comes back. (Like an hour or less). I've been sleeping a lot and my regular job has been keeping me very busy. I'm hoping that I'll be on the mend in a month or two but right now I'm downright miserable.

Bleah..

Trying to Move forward..

I'm actually going to go up to my studio tonight and work - for the first time in a week. I've just been too sick and exhausted to work consistantly. I don't want it to show in my work so I try to only work when I'm feeling ok.. Wish me luck!

Derby Week!

If you don't know what the Kentucky Derby is, or what a party the City of Louisville Turns into during Derby week, serious, you're missing out. It's like a week long mardi gras ending in one of the most famous and most illusive to win horse races in the world. I love Living in Louisville, Ky during derby week. I love that the whole world is looking at our city and that we're doing ourselves proud :-)

I have been very sick and haven't gotten much of anything done on the saddle set. Lots of migraines and nausea has kept me out of the studio.. so nothing new yet!

Finished Mochilla!

Just a quick picture of the finished mochilla. It's dang near impossible to get a good picture of a dk brown object indoors!

Blog Day!

Yay it's friday! Which is starting to become blog day!

To the left is my first attempt to cut a horse head out of 18 gague copper. I did this in my metalsmithing class that I have started to take!

The first day was very encouraging and the instructor is interested in helping me work in miniature! I'm so excited about this!! I learned so much even in the first two hours!

As a side product of the metalsmithing class, it's dawned on me that I won't practice drawing here in the house on my own. Too many other things to do!! So I think I may pursue taking a basic drawing class this year as well. All of these skills can only make my miniatures better as I use metalsmithing and drawing both when I make them.

I have dyed the finished mochilla of my second Californio saddle and I'm working on the seat piece. The tooling is going a lot faster for me this time around. I guess I feel like I have a clue as to what I'm doing so I'm moving ahead more quickly.

Lately, my health has been decent although I've been tired. Course I'm always tired. Not sure what thats about but I'm sure I'm one of millions of folks that don't sleep well.

Next weekend, April 21, there is another Model Horse Show in Lexington, Ky. Funny how one doesn't plan on going to these things and then suddenly one gets a "fever" to compete and wants to go. Happily it's close to home so It would be an opportunity wasted if I didn't.

Wish me luck!

More Photos from the Show

Everyone Sing the blog song!

This past weekend I went to the Model Horse Mania Model Horse Show in Nicholasville, Ky. I really had a wonderful time! I Caravaned/Carpooled with two friends and I knew most of the folks at the show so it made for a very wonderful day! I also came home with some championships for my collection. I also took a TON o pictures.. about 900 in all!

The two friends of mine showed my tack at the show and they both took firsts and seconds in their class, then firsts in their divisions as well as taking an over all champ in Performance using my tack.

I have started my second Californio Style Mother Hubbard Set for the Museum of the West. This one will be mostly chocolate brown. It will have more tooling on it than the first one and the tooling pattern has been changed somewhat. I don't care for doing the same thing twice when it comes to tooling and saddles.

Needless to say, this saddle is going a bit quicker than the last one because I don't have to develop many patterns. I am going to cover the seat, front and back, and the horn this time. I'm also going to teach myself to do two color knots if I find that I have the time.

WISH ME LUCK!!!!

Onward..

I have rolled through my Arabian Show Halter making phase and moved onto mentally making plans for my next "Californio" style mother hubbard saddle. This one will be a chocolate brown. I'm hoping to teach myself how to put a second color in my knots for this saddle. I'm also going to be taking a silversmithing class in April to hopefully further my silver working skills.

This Californio set will be a tad fancier than the last and contain a bit more leather on the seat and on the horn... More places for tooling!

The Other californio Saddle is at the Autry Museum of the American West's Giftshop. I don't know any other details yet but I'm hoping that pricing info and availability info will be forthcoming this week or next.

Der flu

I think that I have come down with the flu. I have a spectacular 24 hour migraine, stomach cramps and the beginnings of a sore throat... Thank goodness for modern medicine that makes some of this stuff not quite so bad to deal with. Happily I can work from bed so that I'm still making money for bills!

I am thrilled to be able to say that I did hear from the museum on Monday! I wrote using my Gmail account instead of my desertnightcreations.com account and received a resounding reply of YES! we want your work! I'm so freaking happy! hA! I was really bummed there for a while and questioning what I was going to do next. I now need to figure out pricing and get the saddle on it's way! Thank you universe for giving me this opportunity!!!

Exhausted... Mentally

I'm exhausted mentally this week. I think it's because my regular job has been more demanding than usual. It's just worn me out this week. Last night, after making yet ANOTHER dang cinch for my mother hubbard/californio saddle, I decided to clean out the studio. I have materials that I always "thought" I would use but never have. I have a VERY bad habit of buying things that LOOK useful. I think thats the earth sign portion of my personality. I very much like useful, practical things. The things that I have accumulated over time sort of mark when I was in my art when I bought them. Some of them are no longer useful to me because I've moved past the point of needing them, or some of the things were bought for a certain idea that now no longer holds interest to me.

I"m going to photograph it and sell anything that my close friends don't want. This should be even more exhausting but will be "Free-ing" to get out of the studio!

The picture I have up is the finished picture of the Mother Hubbard/Californio set. People that understand what I was trying to do really like it, and that makes me happy :-)