HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well the end of 2009 is upon us... and I'm honestly sitting here wondering where the year went - seems like I was sitting here only a few days ago bringing in 2009, let alone saying goodbye to it. From a personal note, it wasn't the best year, but I'm hoping 2010 will bring new things, better things, and the overdue 'good times' to come in for those who I love and cherish.

I hope 2010 brings you all great happiness and success!!

The last thing I'll probably get finished this year was to paint the first copy of my medallion I sculpted (not the first copy, but the first painted copy LOL), and here he is:





He has already being sold - thank you Christine!! I hope you love him!

Unpainted copies are still available for sale if you're interested, they at least make for good painting practice.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Merry Christmas to all!!

Well I hope everyone had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS while I was quiet on the Blog and enjoyed good times, lots of food and merry moments. Unfortunatly I was curled up in bed from the afternoon of my birthday (the 22nd) to pretty much this morning with either a virus or Swine Flu - I'm begining to think it was just some random virus because I've bounced back from it pretty quick and I didn't go downhill that badly, but the Doctor basically said I'd be taking the same medication anyway, so he saved me a bloodtest, which I HATE! (not a needle fan - can you tell?)

Anyway, in the meantime, I sent off my Chickory and Tango resin to a show in South Australia with my awesome Show Proxier down there (thank you Bec!) and was absolutely stoked to hear that DMD Ricardo (my Tango resin) had not only pulled a Champion in his division, but had also won Reserve Overall Supreme Champion of the show! WOO HOO!! Very happy with the results!! He also picked himself up a few more DUN Cards to take home as well for good measure.

Here he is:





Other news in the studio? Well thanks to a full time job, things have slowed right down unfortunatly, but I am finishing up the Flash CM who is going grey, and also finishing up my first painted copy of the medallion I scuplted back at the start of the year for someone - so photo's will come shortly of those guys as well.

Not much else to report! Hope the last few days of 2009 are good for everyone, and that you party hard to bring in the New Year - all the best to everyone in 2010!!! See you in the New Year, if not before!

~Sam

Live Show Results

Well what a week! I was hoping to have more horse's finished (including two comissions) to take with me to show, but with a new job, the real horses, and my freshly broken in stallion, I have little to no time during the week to do anything!

But I did take a small handful of horses with me, and all of them brought home DUN Cards (Qualifying cards for the Down Under Nationals *DUN* of which a Committee is slowly being formed to organise it - exciting huh?). These are the results of the crew I took that I personally painted:

DMD Ricardo (Tango resin shown as a bay roan sabino Spanish Barb)





4th - Other Color Open Workmanship (against all my other roans!)
3rd - Other Breed Arist Resin
3rd - Other Color Artist Resin (again, the class was all my roans! LOL)
1st - Other Breed CM/AR Mini
Reserve Champion Mini CM/AR Breed
1st - Other Color CM/AR Mini

Rayne On Me (Rayne resin shown as grey Thoroughbred - owned by Rondel)





1st - Grey/Chestnut Open Workmanship
4th - Thoroughbred/Sporthorse Artist Resin
2nd - Grey Artist Resin
2nd - Light Breed CM/AR Mini
4th - Grey/Chestnut CM/AR Mini

Kenhurst Kilimanjaro (Custom Huckleberry Bey shown as bay Hackney Horse)





3rd - Black/Bay/Brown Open Workmanship
1st - Other Breed CM
Champion CM Other Breed
1st - Bay/Brown CM
Reserve Champion CM Solid Color
Reserve Grand Champion CM

DMD Scrapey (Chickory resin shown as bay roan Shetland Pony)





5th - Other Color Open Workmanship (all against my other roans)
5th - Pony Breed Artist Resin
2nd - Other Color Artist Resin (against my other roans!)
2nd - Pony Breed CM/AR Mini
4th - Other Color CM/AR Mini

DMD Santiago (Alborozo shown as blue roan Persauvian Paso)





3rd - Other Color Workmanship (against my roans)
1st - Spanish Breed CM Spanish
Reserve Champion CM Stock/Exotic Breed
2nd - Other Color CM (2nd to my other roan in the class)

Makhpia-Sha (Nokota shown as bay roan Quarter Horse - owned by Tracy)





2nd - Other Color Open Workmanship (against my other roans)
2nd - Quarter Horse Breed CM
1st - Other Color CM
Champion CM Broken Color

Caramea Bold Print (Timepiece shown as bay Anglo-Arab Sporthorse - owned by Rachel)





2nd - Thoroughbred/Sporthorse Artist Resin
2nd - Bay/Brown Color Artist Resin
(Yes, I've made two mistakes with his photo - he should have two 2nd ribbons, and two blue Halter DUN cards - silly me!)

Well over all it was a very, very busy day - but a HUGE success. CONGRATES to everyone who attended and proxied (thank you for sending your guys over to our litte show in the West!) and a huge thank you to all our judges (myself, Mel Boynes, Mollie Burton, Jackie Siebel and Carol Warwick) and a huge thank you to our show mistress/master/exrodianaire... Mel Boynes!! And last but not least - mega thanks to everyone who sponsored and donated to the show, without your help we wouldn't have raffle items to help pay for the show!! THANK YOU!!

Phew.. think I'm done! Enjoy the pics - shame the weekened wasn't a day longer! Off to work for me...

~Sam

Sneak Peak;

I just finished this guy Monday morning - he is a Sarah Mink "Tango" resin, and I have to say, I'm just in love!! I could easily, easily have a complete conga line of this guy!! He is such a spunk! Here is a detail shot of some of his sabino markings:





He is resembing a bay roan sabino Spanish Barb stallion :) He'll get shown at West Coast Spring Fling in November and probably be listed for sale afterwards (unless you are a part of my Yahoo Group which is getting first offer on him for a month leading up to the show). *hint hint nudge nudge* LOL

~Sam

Cheeky Bugger!!

Well, walking around outside today, I managed to snap a shot of his cheeky bugger flying over a 1.30m fence set up out the back yard:





LOL - Just kidding!

He is however, a finished comission ready to either be proxied at a show I'm attending in November or sent home with his new stable buddy "Kenhurst Kilimanjaro" (my Huck CM Hackney) - I'm waiting to hear back on base color and the correctness of his lip marking, but otherwise (aside from glossing eyes and hooves) he is done!





I'm so happy with him - he just came alive at the last few strokes of the brush and I have to say I'm in love!

Next on the home straight is a Stormwatch I'm painting for a friend of mine who has being here on comission - you'll see him soon!

Otherwise, enjoy a much clearer, and nicer shot of Mr. Chickory, who will be staying with me for a while to visit a show or two down under :)





Enjoy the last day of the week before the weekend!! (and I can't believe it's OCTOBER already!! Where the heck as the year gone?!?!?!)

~Sam

Chickory Resin;

Some of you may know that Lynn Fraley recently released a new resin to the public, with the first 30 copies being sold via a lottery, the little guy in question is "Chickory", and I was lucky enough to have being picked out of the names entered to grab one of these guys, and this is him:





My photo's just do not do this little guy justice at all! He is a spunk in person :)

He was just a blast to work on! If he stays on long enough to be shown, I think he'll be named "Scrap" because ponies are well known for being garbage cans and eatting anything you put infront of them (including the scraps left behind by everyone else) and it seems to suit him well.

He is though, up for offers on MH$P for a few days with a starting offer of $150 USD ($170 AU) - so please check him out:

http://www.modelhorsesalespages.com/sales/view_details.asp?path=Gallery&id=738505





I have two comissions nearing completion as well which will be posted up soon, and another sales piece in the pipeline - who? I'll just say it's a Mink resin and an old favourite!

Enjoy the weekend!
~Sam

Spring is coming!

Well I've being quiet on my blog, but busy in the studio and busier in the stables - I recently had my stallion (who just turned 5) broken in so that he had plently of time to mature both physically and mentally, and I reckon it's really paid off as his knees, which were HUGE have fully closed and he was more than ready to get broken in and start to have some work put on him. He had some rave reviews from the breaker and his wife, which was absolutely lovely to hear especially since I bred this boy and have handled him all his life. So he is now home after three weeks at the breaker's and loving being home, being worked, having his stable surrounded by his 'mates' (the geldings) and feeling good old spring in the air!

But of course, back to the studio news:

This little girl will be heading home to her owner after being sitting here for awhile and not posted off due to my email and computer generally throwing a hissy fit and not delievering emails. But problem solved thank goodness!





Also speaking of heading home - "Manhattan Mistress" was won by an Australian collector and will be staying down under, but is already on her way to her new home and new owner. I have to say, it was a very sad day to pack her up knowing that she wouldn't be coming home with ribbons from a show, but heading off for good, she had quickly become one of my favourites... but still, she is heading a show home which is always a bonus!

A progress picture of one of my comissions currently in the works is a Timepiece I'm painting as a portrait of a client's late horse (who I will say, looked an absolute spunk!) - he is a lot further along than this photo shows as this was an eariler photo:





And one of my personal works in progress is this Breyer Moody Andalusion rescuplt which I'm working on between pastel layers - Just showing you his face at the moment next to another body to show the difference. I'm loving this guy's spunk and attitude (he's definately saying, "ner ner ner, I can do it better!" as he is mid air through an explosive flying change). Hey, the referrence photo had his tongue hanging out, so I thought why not!?! And it seems my ever-loving other half thinks so as well, since he agreed about the tongue and is now bugging me and coaxing me gently to keep this guy as apart of our own personal collection and not a sales piece (which he was going to be) - so sorry guys, you'll have to blame him for that one! LOL Not that I mind at all of course, I'm giving into his coaxing quite willingly!





I'll post up some photo's during the week as I get a few comissions finished up that are in their final home stretches as we speak!

Alborozo is finally done...

And this will be my last project from the studio for sometime as I have comissions coming in and more knocking on the door, so that will be the main focus for me for a little while.

He is at auction on ebay, please check him out :) His Ebay Auction here!





Off to bed and onto more prepping in the morning! haha! Need to keep my mind off some things which are happening of late, prepping is good therapy amazingly enough...

Oh, and a HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to all our US friends!

~Sam

Melb Live Write-Up;

I haven't had a chance to update you all on Melbourne Live, so I'll keep it quick and short, but I have to say, it was a great show and very well run by everyone! The journey was... interesting! LOL Got to the airport on Friday afternoon here in Perth and our plane ended up running around 45 minutes late because one of the flight attendants got sick and they needed a replacement to fill the legal amount of staff on the plane, but we got going! The hire car pick up was an ultimate drama!! So we ended up hiking across the airport to head to the Holiday Inn where we were staying on the Friday night (or what was now Saturday morning!) before heading down to Mentone where the show was being held. Yes, we got the car the next morning thank god!

So we shopped in Melbourne CBD and I GOT MY STARBUCKS COFFEE!!! woo hoo!! Missed that stuff since I went to the US in September/October 2007 - not fun when you fall in love with it and can't have it! I brought a new jacket and scarf because both myself and my grandmother who made the trip with me were freezing over there! We got to Mentone just fine, unpacked the performance nags and saddled them up and just crashed!

The show itself was great - meeting everyone I think was the best part of the whole day, it was great talking to people face to face especially when I've talked to some of them for close to 14 months now. I think going also boosted people seeing my work in person which was fantastic, the comments were definately lovely - and I don't care who you say you are, but a compliment on your work is definately thrilling and gives you some confidence!

The plastic CM's done well against the resins - "Okie Dokie" pulled a second in a big draft class which I was stoked about for his new owner! I know he's currently jet setting across the ocean now with all his ribbons from LITW and Melb Live. Best of luck in the US to Okie and his new Mum! "Manhattan Mistress" also pulled a 6th out of a HUGE Gaited Class... I was shocked she placed against resins like 2 Strawberry Jams, Lord of the Rings, Standing Ovation and all those hunk o' spunk gaited boys! "Kenhurst Kilimanjaro" won his breed class as well which I was very happy about! "Fuerst Rendition" (my Eberl Absinth repaint) placed in both a massive Warmblood class and Bay color class which I was happy about, the comments about the depth of his color were definately a high moment as well.

Although this girl is my pride and my joy - not only did she win all her classes at Live in the West and pull me a Reserve Champion and a Champion, but she won both her breed and color class at Melb Live and then went on to become Reserve Champion Color with high acolades from the judge in both Champion events. Definately a proud mother! Appaludes to "Hehewuti"!





Photo is copyright to Souix Whitefeather (thank you for taking that shot!).

Other than that, I will have a repainted Breyer Alborozo up for sale very shortly. And I want to let you know that "Kenhurst Kilimanjaro" has being reduced to $200 USD plus postage - if he doesn't sell, he'll simply stay with me and show with me for a bit longer until NAN and Breyerfest are over. "Manhattan Mistress" is also set at $185 USD plus postage as well, and the same applies for her not selling - these are my lowest reduced prizes on these two.

Current comissions I'm working on:
CM Flash - into grey with 'bling' (waiting for primming to set)
CM Goffert - into bay appy (primmed and has first coat on him)
Pebbles Saddlebred - detailing him, updates coming to his Mum very soon!

Enjoy the oncoming weekend!
~Sam

Offers on LSQ Proven CM Bluegrass Bandit

Up for offers on Model Horse $ales Pages!

Show winner & Reserve Champion in Breed - this girl has even won against resins in Workmanship and placed against them in CM/AR divisions at another show - definately proving herself a tough girl against the big guns!

Her MH$P Advert: http://www.modelhorsesalespages.com/sales/view_details.asp?id=703662

I know I'm advertising in US dollars which is a pain in the butt - but if you want to put an offer in in AU dollars, I'll work out the conversion and put it up as well, just let me know, or check out this site to help you:
http://www.xe.com/ucc





Contact me through the MH$P advert!

Cheers guys

Up for sale;

I've offered this guy on my Yahoo Group to my mailing list members first, so if you are interested in him, then please head on over to: DMD Yahoo Group and join up to be apart of that offer.

If no-one from my group takes him home, then he'll be heading to MH$P in 48 hours, but I'll update the blog on that as well.

I will also update with some major pics from Melbourne Live which I attended over the weekend - still need to grab my camera and upload them all, but I will update you soon!

~Sam

I need to learn to update this more often!

Wow has it really being 4 months since my last update?!?! That's horrendeous! Well a LOT has happened - so I'll just stick to the model-related stuff as not to over load you all.

Live in the West 2009 was on and was a raging success - we even had an eastern-states visitor which was fantastic to see! Of course, a huge congrates has to be given to all the Champion & Reserve winners, and the Overall Grand Champion who was owned by Shannon Farn who made the journey over from Victoria.

I had new and old faces - all of them done well, everyone placed and I believe everyone apart from one or two actually won a class between them, so I was super pleased. Some the new faces include these guys:

"Makhpia-Sha" - CM Nokota into a bay roan, shown as a Quarter Horse





"Midnight Marathon" - CM Stone Pebbles, shown as an Appendix





"Renata" - Danzante resin fresh back from America and placing highly against some stiff competition; she was also my Overall Supreme Exhibit from last year's LITW show





"Flash 4 Cash" - CM Flash into a buckskin, shown as an American Sport Pony. This guy also was shown at a Live Show in QLD for a first and a second, seems he likes those two places!





"Rayne on Me" - Rayne resin into a dappled grey, shown as a Thoroughbred. He also went to Vic for Mini Mania and picked up a 2nd and 5th.





"Manhattan Mistress" - CM Bluegrass Bandit into a bay roan sabino, shown as a Tennesse Walking Horse, also got a Reserve Champion in the Custom division





"Hehewuti" - Calamity Jane resin into a blue roan, shown as a Mustang. This girl picked me up a Reserve Champion and a Champion in the Artist Resin and Workmanship Divisions





Phew - what an update huh? Have to say I'm very proud of those guys and how they done!

Another new face which will be following me to Melbourne Live in just 19 days (ACK!) is this new face, a customised Huckleberry Bey body into a high stepping Hackney Horse - he's had quite a bit of rescuplting done which has made some very subtle but striking changes to this guy. And yes, that is a Gem Twist tail he is sporting.

"Kenhurst Kilimanjaro"





Like him? I am taking pre-sale offers on this guy through my Yahoo Group, so if you are a member, all the details will be posted up there shortly.

Other than that - working on comissions, new works and other such things - also putting together a full performance set up in memory of the late "Theodore O'Connor" which has being in the works for around 9 months now - there are a lot of artists involved in this one, which is very exciting. And yes, the full setup will be for sale once I've had a chance to show it off! LOL More information will come soon I promise.

Stay safe all!
~Sam

Valiant on ebay;

Just a quick note while I'm in the house and steering clear of the insane heat and humidity we are having, to say that I have painted the newly released "Valiant" medallion into a gorgeous dappled buckskin! I had a heap of fun painting this guy!



He is also on ebay currently - feel free to check him out here:

http://tinyurl.com/azpds6

Stay safe everyone!

~Sam

Shows, Sales & Showjumping (well the beginning again!)

Slowly keeping with New Year Resolutions - I am back riding, and I feel as if the lacking in tone I've suffered from having two years out of the saddle is beginning to tone back up again! I have two in work at the moment with a greenly broken mare ready on the sidelines; the two in work are Jerry and Wog (yes, he was named 'Wog' because his brand reads W0G and he was nameless when I picked him up from one of those backyard sales where the meat man lurks), both he and Jerry came from there.

Although 'coming back' hasn't being without it's challenges. Both Jerry and Wog got themselves some nice cuts in the new paddock (goodness knows how they done it, you know what horse's are like) - but their fine, and of course, the stallion wanted more attention than he was getting and obviously kicked out in his yard, got caught and has done something to his hock and leg. It's being blown up something cruel for a good three weeks now, he's walking on it though, so that's the best sign.

Back to studio news though - I heard wonderful news about a show in QLD over the weekend as I was proxying two horse's there. The new Flash repaint: "Flash 4 Cash" done me proud:

CM/AR American Pony Breed - 1st
CM/AR Buckskin Color - 2nd

And my Nokota custom ("Tashunke Witko") who is being paid off by his happy owner, done me proud as well:

CM/AR Other Breed - 1st
Champion 'Other Breed'

Looks like he missed his color class as well which was a shame, but he would have being the only one in the Cremello class, so it wasn't a huge loss that he wasn't in the class.

As far as sales, I currently have my first dappled grey on eBay Australia on the Peter Stone Cantering Pebbles (I believe he's a WB/TB/Hunter type of horse) - any critques on this guy are more than welcome, I love hearing feedback!

See the eBay Australia auction here



Hope you all have a great weekend once Friday is over!

~Sam