BreyerFest Diorama Contest entries, part three

With everyone working from the same pool of photos, it's not surprising that many artists chose the same inspirational artwork for their BreyerFest Diorama Contests entries. In today's first post, we're going to look at some of the "twins" and "triplets".

Missy Shaw isn't the only one who chose Rosa Bonheur's beloved painting, The Horse Fair, for her diorama. Here's Michelle Montensano's take on it.

She calls this The Fighting Stallion Goes to the Horse Fair.

Here's another version by Crisandra Tephabock.

The Horses of Anahita was another popular choice.

Yesterday, I showed you Robyn White's interpretation. Here's Jodie_Havens'.

I especially love the side view. 

Emily Gillis' version is less a copy and more a reimagination. 

She calls this Breakaway.

Our next piece of inspirational art is The Return of Neptune.

Here's Shannon Ball's recreation.

I love that she took her photos at the beach!

Karon Radzik Aplin also tackled this piece.

She writes: I must have torn it apart and rebuilt it about a half dozen times. I've always loved the story about Neptune and his connection to horses.

Had I been allowed to enter this contest, it's likely I'd have chosen to recreate The Farrier's Shop.

Fortunately, at least two other people were able to do this lovely scene justice. The first is Amanda Stevens. She writes: I wanted to use Theo, so I had to put him inside to make everything fit into a twelve inch cube. 

There is a forge that lights up, as well as a chimney. Farriers tools are displayed, and the horse can move from facing in or out. This took more time than I care to admit. The roof itself was the hardest part. All stones are hand drawn. All accessories are by Breyer. 

Autumn Lopez-Esce's version is similar, but different. 

I really like how the grey tones match the original work.

Unicorns are perpetually popular, so it's no surprise the multiple entrants choses a tapestry called The Unicorn Rests in the Garde as their inspiration. 

Zoe Bee, was one of them. She writes: I drastically customized (my first drastic! shoutout to everyone in the NaMoPaiMo group who helped me) the rearing Andalusian into a lying down unicorn with a shimmery coat, beard, tail and huge horn to mimic the tapestry. It’s far from perfect, but hey, I’m thirteen so I’m still very happy with how it turned out!

Here's Mary Beth Shew's take.

She writes: I did the elements by digital vector trace/point edits and some vector drawing, then cut all the pieces out of colored paper with my craft paper cutter (a Silhouette Cameo 4 machine - like a Cricut). I colored the paper where needed with crayons and colored pencil. Tiny little paper pieces to assemble, but it was a lot of fun!  It felt like tack making!  Ha!

Tara Haskins' version is considerably more complicated. She calls this The Tapestry.

She writes: I've been obsessed with the Unicorn Tapestries since I was young and it was only amplified when I saw The Last Unicorn. The Tapestry embodies The Unicorn Rests In The Garden from the Unicorn Tapestry series made during the Middle Ages. My idea for this diorama was to pay tribute to this amazing work of art, with small details, textures and colors. The unicorn rests in the garden, within The Tapestry within the garden. 

The background is hundreds of hand-drawn wildflowers in Prisma color pencils over metallic watercolor pigments to mimic the threads in the tapestry. 

The Tapestry himself, is a clearware Breyer Andalusian Stallion also painted in watercolor pigments with hand-drawn wildflowers in Prisma color pencils. The Unicorn resting in the garden, along with other tapestry elements (hounds, stag, flowers, flag) inside the horse are a mixed media of watercolor and Prisma color pencils on a Shrinky-dink type plastic. There is a gold foil overlay framing the unicorn and tapestry elements inside of the horse as well. 

I also added twinkle lights to showcase the horse and the unicorn details. The base and fence are all handmade with wildflowers, grasses and the tall palm tree that is in the actual tapestry.

Congratulations, Michelle, Emily, Shannon, Karen, Amanda, Autumn, Zoe, Mary Beth and Tara. I am so impressed with the way you were able to take these popular pieces of art and make them your own. Good job and good luck at BreyerFest!

BreyerFest Diorama Contest entries, part two

The theme of the 2021 BreyerFest Diorama Contest is Horses Throughout Art History. Participants were asked inspired by a piece of public domain/open access art. Many entrants - including the always amazing Erika Isbell -used paintings. 

Emily Oakes' entry depicts Frederic Remington's paintings and sculpture coming to life in a museum setting. So fun!

Della Valenzuela was inspired by a fountain. She writes: For my diorama, I chose Francesco Fontebasso's (ca. 1740-60) architectural drawing for his "Design for a Fountain with Neptune in his Chariot" and created it to look as though it had been created in concrete. The scene depicts Neptune, two naiad (nymphs), a putto on a dolphin, and 4 mighty hippocampoi pulling Neptune's Chariot. I used three G2 Stablemates (the Clydesdale, Arabian and Morgan) and the M1 Marigold Arabian to create my hippocampoi and poured resin for the first time. It was a fun experience even if my plan to have running water didn’t quite work as I had planned.

Jasmine Lay's entry is a weather vane. She writes: It took me absolutely forever to decide on an art piece but this weather vane just spoke to me! 

She used a Mini Whinny to create the vane.

The barn it's attached to is based on a New England style barn from around the 1860s, which is appropriate since the original weather vane was created in Massachusetts in 1860. 

Laura Rock-Smith's inspirations was a piece of jewelry from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, entitled "Pendant Shaped as a Horseman". 

Laura calls hers "Pendant with Prancing Horse". She writes: While the original had a rider, I chose to simplify the design and use just the streamer. A Stablemate Croi was used to create the horse. The pendant was crafted from wire and expoy. The whole thing was painted in gold and with white stippled over it to emulate the enamel over the gold of the original. Displayed as if it was on displayed at a museum.

Madison Rigney used a copy of her chosen art to create her diorama.

Let me tell, she writes. Papier-mâché is not easy to do on round ponies.

Museums are filled with pottery, so it's no surprise that someone - in this case, Jay Linds - was inspired by a pot.

Jay writes: I got super frustrated with this one because I'm not a sculptor or a potter, and I couldn't get it to be the right shape. But I am really happy with how it turned out... even though painting all those little birds was the worst.

Sara Roche has been wanting/meaning to enter the Diorama Contest since 2005. This year - finally! - the stars aligned and she was able to enter.  She writes: Mine is based on the fragments left from the ancient world, in particular the Cypriot horse head. 

For the scene, I built a museum for him to live in with other antiquities.

I just love all these extra details. Great job, Sara!

And great job also to Erika, Emily, Della, Jasmine, Laura, Madison and Jay. I love your dioramas. Good luck at BreyerFest!

BreyerFest Diorama Contest entries, part one

The theme for this year's BreyerFest Diorama Contest is Horses Throughout Art History. Entrants were challenged to create a diorama, using at least one Breyer, which recreates a horse in art. The horses could be any scale, but the entire diorama needs to fit within a twelve inch cube. Additionally, the inspiration had to be a public domain/open access work of art chosen from one of several specific sites. The deadline for entry was this past weekend, and since then, my Facebook feed has been flooded with dioramas, all of which are absolutely stunning. Today, we're looking at some of these entries, starting with Danielle Feldman's A Horse Affrighted at a Lion.

Inspired by a George Stubbs' work of the same name, Danielle created this piece using a Breyer Beautiful Breeds Warmblood Ornament for the horse and a Breyer Companion Animal Beagle for the lion.

Carly Kudalis calls her entry, The Colt Starter.

It was inspired by Frederic Remington's The Bronco Buster.

The horse is a customized Breyer Wyatt. The tack and rider were made by Carly.

From the American West to ancient Egypt, here's Kristen Cermele's entry.

The bold lines and colors of the original are a perfect match for her vibrant palette. 

Lisa Esping's diorama is based on Toulouse-Lautrec’s circus pieces. It includes her first ever completed tack pieces and customized dolls.

The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur is one of the world's most iconic horse paintings.

Here it is in Stablemate scale by Missy Shaw.

Robyn White's entry is titled, "The Blank Canvas."  

It was inspired by The Horses of Anahita.

Robyn writes: As someone who has always loved creating things, I have really enjoyed this year’s Breyerfest theme. Every artist throughout history has started with a blank canvas or lump of clay or cave wall upon which they attempt to bring their vision to life. The artist in this piece is envisioning all of the possibilities that a blank canvas provides.  In the vision of the artist, it is as if the horses have literally sprung to life and leaped off the canvas.

This was Sha Scholtens first time entering the diorama contest. Sha Scholtens. She writes: When I saw Two Horses I was immediately inspired. I could imagine going back in time to see these horses in the seventeenth century Japanese countryside with the cherry blossoms coming out early and a fresh dusting of snow on the ground. 

I constructed the base out of multiple layers of foam and carving it to create the hill. I made the cherry tree out of wire, tape, and modeling texture, and the blossoms are made from real dried babies breath flowers. I also sculpted a traditional Japanese lantern, tōrō, which was popularized in Japan just before the 17th century. Using Stablemates, I recreated the look of the horses from the painting and now they are right where I envisioned them.

Donna Houchins' piece is a 3-D "ink drawing".

The horse started out as the Freedom Series Morgan, and the chickens are CollectA. She added the brush so the horse could be looking not only at the chicken, but also at the illustration of his world.

Here's the original.

Last but certainly not least, here's Kristin Arendt's entry.

She writes: I don't know why, but I was just drawn to this piece. 

I made a little vignette around its potential creation. 

I employed mixed media, breyer playset tack and found pieces in my diorama, even my son’s kinetic sand. Enjoy the sheer weirdness!

Congratulations, Danielle, Carly, Kristen, Lisa, Missy, Robyn, Sha, Donna and Kristin. Your dioramas are amazing. Good luck at BreyerFest!