My animal friends at Maple Hill Farm

I was really hoping someone would comment on the goats' names. 

Since nobody did, I guess a little education is in order.

Goat Dear and M-a-a-a are part of the two dogs, five horses, one pig, some geese, lots of chickens, a few cows, a few goats, several sheep and four special cats whose lives are chronicled in Alice and Martin Provensen's 1974 classic picture book, Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm.

I absolutely loved this book. 

Of course, I did. 

It was filled with animals, and I loved animals.

But beyond that, it was filled with really specific animals.

There were no generalizations here.

Even though the pictures were not realistic at all, I knew these animals existed.

I knew they were real.

I also appreciated how honest this book was in regards to matters of life and death.

Some of the stories made my younger self really sad.

But also, I understood the circle of life.

I knew that if I was every lucky enough to have my own Maple Hill Farm, it would also include a quiet graveyard.

Over the years, my model horse herd has included several Maple Hill inspired names, including Ibn Rafferty, Chaos and Ichabod.

Now I have Goat Dear and M-a-a-a, too.

Once upon a time I dreamed of living with all these animals at Maple Hill Farm. Now, I would be content to have the animals of Maple Hill Farm living on my shelves.

Thank you, Alice and Martin, for all these wonderful animals. Even fifty years on, I still love visiting Maple Hill Farm.

In the paint: M-a-a-a

Last November, I finished painting my Lisa Smalley LaMancha goat.

I planned to finish her Nubian sister, too. I got this far before being distracted by the chaos that was December.

I picked her up again during NaMoPaiMo, and this week - finally! - I decided to buckle down and finish her.

I wish the pictures weren't so dark. I haven't been able to get the lighting right since I set up the new photo table in the basement. 

You're just going to have to trust me when I say her face is actually really cute.

Here she is with Goat Dear, both before...

and after.

Life is kind of stressful right now, but I am finding comfort in the paint. Hopefully, I'll have a few more finished things to share before the month is over.

In the paint: Olive

You may have noticed, there's a new Olive in the Garden...

This one was painted by me. 

I started her a couple days before we got the official news at work. At this point she was on her way to being the best - albeit the smallest and flattest - chestnut I'd ever painted.

Then, disaster struck.

Yep, I ended up with one of those glittery cans of Dullcote. Even worse, it took me two separate sprays to figure out why my medallion was getting more and more glittery.

After a quick consultation with Corina, I was able to work through the worst of the issue. In the process of that, Olive ended up a little darker and little less red. I liked her better before, but this is fine. I didn't paint her brand. She's so small, I'm not sure I can do it justice. Plus, I'm not emotionally prepared for another disaster.

The background depicts a crisp, Colorado spring day with both snow and flowers. I had so much fun with this, I painted the sides, too!

All of the Olives!

Of all the collections within my collection, this is one of my favorites. I really hope I'll have a couple more new additions to share sooner rather than later.

Diamonds are forever

When I was ten or eleven, I put a dollars in an envelope and sent it to Breyer Animal Creations.

In return, they sent me four issues of Just About Horses magazine. 

The first introduced me to the concept of remaking.

The second to Kathy Maestas.

I took one look at this picture and was instantly a forever fan.

Over the years, I accumulated a lot of Double Diamond Ranch sales lists...

plus many, many pictures of her work.

Still, I never did manage to score a Diamond of my own.

It's okay. I don't need one anymore, but I still like to see them.

an entry in Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig's A Good Vintage show
BreyerWest 2016

As I was looking at the horses in Karin's custom/resin cabinet and I spied a piece with that Maestas look. I asked, Karin confirmed and then she pulled out the horse so I could get a better look.

Karin told me that she had scored this horse through a $50 buy-it-now deal on eBay. I noted the nifty vintage bridle, and she said, "Wait til you see the saddle it came with!"

The saddle was downstairs in the horse room, so I did have to wait, at least a little bit. In my mind, I was expecting a typical Western Maestas, kind of like one of these.

What I got was an Australian stock saddle.

Wow! That's both historically interesting and also, legitimately good.

The signature on the flap makes it even better. Marney! 1990! I can't quite make out the name of the maker, but I bet someone here can fill in that piece. Sue or Sue, maybe?

What a fun piece of hobby history! I'm so glad I got to see it. Thanks again, Karin!

Zebra delivery

A while back, Karin bought one of Angelo's zebras. On Saturday, Angelo and I drove to Karin's house in Lafayette to make an in-person delivery.

We were greeted enthusiastically by Karin's Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Cali, who's grown up since the last time I saw her.

Sweet girl.

Eventually, we were able to pry ourselves away from the dog, and Karin gave us a tour.

Karin's family has lived in this house for not quite a year, but already, the horses have taken over. Side note: Doesn't every hobby artist keep a can of primer on a shelf by the backdoor?

We admired some of Karin's recent works.

This gorgeous Shamam medallion won second place in Jolt Studio's recent Artistic Alchemy competition.

Cali approved!

Once we'd seen what there was to see upstairs and outside, we headed down to the Karin's basement hobby room/studio.

I've been in lots of hobby rooms and studios, but this is truly one of my favorites.

The size is perfect - somehow it's both spacious and cozy - and everywhere you look, there are amazing things.

Ace of Kale!

Angelo called dibs on this zorse, which was painted by Levi Kroll.

Meanwhile, I was all about the performance shelves.

So many good things to see here!

Karin loves showing harness so there was a lot of that.

So much!

This was her BreyerFest Best Customs Contest Performance entry in 2023.

Other fun items included the Black Stallion...

and a signed copy of The Black Stallion.

Also, Santaur from Shauna McDaniel's 2023 Curated Countdown of Crap for Christmas and Swine Flu from the 2020 Circle C Artist Challenge Paint Your Favorite Microbe.

On the studio side of the room, here's Karin's painting desk.

I love that so many people still use Sara Gifford's shading graphic from the first NaMoPaiMo!

I think I could visit this room a dozen times and still find new things to look at.

I guess that means we'll have to go back.

This was such a fun visit. Thanks again, Karin!