DKL Resin halter, part one

The Buxton plumbing saga goes on and on, so there is still nothing new to report on the tackmaking front. Fortunately, I still have a bunch of photos from the Devilish Kokopelli Live show to share. Today, I'm concentrating on the Resin Halter division.

The Draft division was first. Here's how Dhaulagiri and BFF did in the Percheron/Belgian class.
Jennifer Scott's Scarlett.

This Eberl resin won the Gypsy Cob/North American Spotted Draft class. I think he was painted by Claire Williams.

Another by Claire? This is an Eberl Babette.

Stock horses were next. This Ravenhill Revisited was painted by Sheila Anderson Bishop. I love her roans!

My Ravenhill Revisted painted by Liesl Dalpe was fifth in the Paint class.

Jane Schneider's amazing RRQH1 Ronin won the Paint class.

An Appaloosa Stormwatch.

Marilyn Jensen's Appaloosa Tenorio.

My own WarLord was third in the Mustang class.

Here's a nice Colorado horse. This Sencillo resin was sculpted by Jennifer Scott and painted by Sheila Anderson Bishop.

Hilary Van Asperen Rossow's Matriarch was the Reserve Champion of the Stock Horse division.

The Sport Division was next, and at this point in the show, I had yet to win a single NAN card. That was ok. I don't really expect to win them all, especially not at a big show like DKL. There were a lot of nice models on the table and the judging was both fair and consistent. My horses weren't being overlooked. In fact, they were doing just fine.

And yet, despite all that, I have to admit that I was getting just a wee bit discouraged...

Fortunately, things started to change with the Thoroughbred class. This was a big class that was filled with nice horses. Can you believe this started out as a trotting Romance resin?

Dayle Steinke's Seattle Slew.

Dayle's Venator which was sculpted and painted by Carol Williams.

A really nice grey Victrix. I'm guessing she was painted by Tom Bainbridge.

It was my boy Validator, however, who got top honors.

Validator then went on to win the Sport Breed Reserve Championship.

I would win ten more green NAN cards before the day was through, and you will see some of my other winners in the next post!

The studio is shaking

And not in a good way. I am finding it extremely difficult to concentrate on tackmaking today.

I don't know why, but I just keep getting distracted.

Maybe--hopefully--tomorrow will be better!

Mothers' Day redux

Remember the lovely pair of Gypsy Vanners that I featured here on Mothers' Day ?

Well, it turns out that I wasn't the only one inspired by that series of photos. Artist Sue Kern saw them as well, and she decided to capture the moment in plastic. Believe it or not, these models began life as a Breyer Wintersong and a Breyer Ashley!

In the spirit of Almost Wordless Wednesday, I'm going to let the photos talk for themselves. If you are interested in buying this pair, they are available right now on eBay . Also be sure to stop by Sue's website to see more of her amazing custom work: http://www.sakoriscustoms.com/

Kudos to Sue for creating such a magnificent pair and many thanks for allowing me to post their pictures here!

DKL Western performance pictures, part two

Still more photos from the Western Performance division of the Devilish Kokopelli Live show held last Saturday in Golden, Colorado. First up is Lu Heater's freestyle reining entry. This is a very cool set-up, but word to the wise--if you're showing under judge Christie Partee, you've got to follow proper flag code. The American flag is always held in the doll's right hand. Always.

Annette Dean's Lone Star also showing in reining.

Lu's Monte in trail.

Isn't this cool? The obstacle's name is "Trash Alley."

Continuing with the trash theme... This is Teresa Buzzell's Phoenix resin wearing a beautiful handcarved Western pleasure tack set made by Erin Corbett (and owned by me!).

Lone Star in trail.

Teresa's Phoenix again, this time in Western Pleasure.

Lu's Jasmine resin won the Western Pleasure class.

My future's so bright...

Last but certainly not least was the Other Western class. Even judged against her own high standards, Lu's entry was exceptional.

The documentation that went with it.

Close up of the doll...

and the saddle. Amazing!

I forgot to take pictures of the Champion call backs and awards, but if memory serves correctly, Annette's Lone Star was both Champion Western and Reserve Overall Champion Performance. Lu's Indian costume horse, El Nino, was the Overall Reserve Performance Champion. Both awards were well deserved. None of the performance classes were big but they were all tough. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to Christie Partee for her great judging!

DKL Western performance pictures, part one

The English performance division at the Devilish Kokopelli Live show wrapped up a little before the lunch break. Judge Christie Partee opted not to start the Western classes right away. Instead she gave all the performance showers the entire break to prepare their entries for the Games class.
I had planned on showing my Linda Lima mule resin, Balthazar, in this division, but as I saw the other entries go the table, I started having second thoughts.The set-ups I had planned were all ok, but they were not in the same league as the competition.

Both of these first two entries belong to Lu Heater who is just as good at Western as she is at Native American costume.

This Egg and Spoon Class entry belongs to Annette Dean.

Teresa Buzzell's Some Kinda Flirt in Ride-A-Buck.

Roping was next, and once again there were several really outstanding set-ups. This is Annette's Lone Star.

A better look at the horse and his tack.

Lu's Streetwise chasing a steer.

Wonderful details!

More of the same.

Lone Star in cutting.

Lu's Creata Quarter Horse also in cutting.

Other Stock. Lone Star is bringing home a stray calf.

Reined cow horse.

Lu is a master at getting her dolls positioned just right. That's not an easy thing to do, but it can really make or break an entry. This doll really appears to be moving with her horse.

I took too many pictures for just one post, so you'll have to wait a bit for Reining, Pleasure, Trail and Other!