End of the road

NaMoPaiMo day twenty seven and BreyerWest day four

Today is the twenty seventh day of NaMoPaiMo. There are over three hundred twenty horses in the Winners' Circle. 

Today was also the fourth day - third official - of BreyerWest.

The morning session was dedicated to the Youth and Novice Show.

I was a last minute addition to the judging staff and oversaw a small but very nice Performance division.

After the champions were pinned, I walked around the trade show with my (non-hobby) friends, Trisha and Shawnee.

Temple Grandin photobomb

When I returned to the BreyerWest area, the Stablemate Painting Contest was in full swing.

This was such a fun event. I'll definitely write more about it later, but for now, here's a picture of some of the winners.

Kylee Parks, Christine Jordan, Kenzie Williamson and Amanda Brock

Speaking of winners, today's NaMoPaiMo Champion of the Day is Lynn Cassels-Caldwell. 

Every year, Lynn shares so much of her painting process on the NaMoPaiMo Facebook page. I know I am not the only one who has learned so much about oil painting through her detailed progress photos.

Here's a better look at her 2022 horse, who was finished today.

Congratulations, Lynn and good job to everyone who has worked on their models today. Only one day left. I can't wait to see what we do!

NaMoPaiMo day twenty six and BreyerWest Day three

Today was workshop day at BreyerWest. 

Between that...

and...

and the swap meet, I really didn't have time for NaMoPaiMo.

But I do have time for the NaMoPaiMo Champion of the Day announcement. Beth Kingdon's father passed away on February 4, drastically altering the arc of her month. Despite that, she still managed to finish her horse. 

She writes: I've named this horse "Jack" after the saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" and also because it was my Dad's name.  Dad, who was my biggest supporter in all things,  passed away on February 4, so this horse is also a tribute to him. Dad worked hard all his life, but when he could, he took time off to do things he enjoyed, and had a lot of fun, too.  He was a talented artist in his own right, and is the reason I got into model horses in the first place.

This guy is not perfect. He's got some rough spots here and there. I wish I'd moved the mane to the left side of his neck... but it is what it is. He was very therapeutic for me to work on, and will have a permanent place in my collection. 

Congratulations and my deepest sympathy, Beth. I love your horse. I am so glad you got him done, and I can't wait to see what all of us do tomorrow. 

And with that, I'm going to bed!

NaMoPaiMo day twenty five and BreyerWest day two

Today is the twenty fifth day of NaMoPaiMo. There are now over two hundred models in the Winners' Circle.

Today was also the second day - first official - of BreyerWest.

It has been so long since I attended an event at the National Western Stock Show Complex. How wonderful it was to walk in the doors and see that blue and yellow tent!

Today's main attraction was the Open Show. 

I didn't enter this year, so I spent the day talking with friends and seeing the sights. It was awesome.

I also took a lot of photos, some of my favorites of which feature three members of the NaMoPaiMo Class of 2022. This is Lisa Smalley's Appaloosa looking fabulous in the halter ring,

Stephanie Blaylock's absolutely gorgeous foal crushed it in the Custom halter division, winning big in both breed and workmanship.

Finally, here's Lauren Hoeffer's little zebra. I don't know how she placed in her classes, but she looked absolutely fabulous on the table.

Lauren Hoeffer shared so much of her zebra painting secrets on the NaMoPaiMo Facebook page this year. Eventually, we're going to turn that into a guest post tutorial, and in recognition of that, Lauren Hoeffer is the NaMoPaiMo Champion of the Day.

Congratulations to Lauren and to all my friends who did so well today at the BreyerWest Open Show. I can't wait to see what is in store for all of us tomorrow!

NaMoPaiMo day twenty four and BreyerWest day one

Today there are over one hundred seventy five horses in the NaMoPaiMo Winners' Circle. 

Also today, no less than seven hobby friends braved the cold to come visit Olive.

Olive with Tara Reich, Lindsay Diamond, Teresa Buzzell, Maggie Bennett, Tegan Davis, Fabian Rodriguez and Christine Jordan

It was such a fun day, and I feel like I have material for a dozen blog posts, but not tonight. Tonight, I am tired. I can't wait to see what new adventures tomorrow will bring.

Diary of a NaMoPaiMo horse

Today is the unofficial first day of BreyerWest. I have a couple airport runs on my schedule and Olive has several meet and greets. It's going to be a busy day and a busy weekend. As best as possible, I will keep up with things here, but no promises.

With that in mind, I am not going to wait to name today's NaMoPaiMo Champion of the Day. That honor goes to first time entrant, Jamie Heiberger. This is her NaMoPaiMo story.

Diary of a NaMoPaiMo Horse

by Jamie Heiberger

January 9: After following along with this group last year, I finally pulled the trigger and signed up to paint something along with all you lovely people this year! 

I'm excited and terrified! But I think it's gonna be a lot of fun, and I'll learn a lot. This will be my first go at painting something in Traditional size. Can't wait to see what everybody comes up with!

February 4: OMG, OMG, OMG! I finally kicked hubby and the dogs out and started pastelling my horse. Where have Pan Pastels been all my life? I love having the ability to build up layers in a gentle gradient. The color is so soft. I also LOVE the eraser pencil dapple technique. I have so far to go but I am SO STOKED for tomorrow to come so I can leap out of bed and get back to work! 

Can I also just toot my horn for a minute for my prep job? This guy had pretty awful seams and I was afraid they might pop right out when I started to apply color. So far, so good! I am so glad I joined this group early as a lurker to soak up some knowledge before I started! I love this group!

February 5: I really am loving this guy! Today I sprang out of bed before everybody else, poured coffee down my gullet, and got to work. I built up my shading a little bit and did a bunch of dapples. I got a first coat of sealer on so I can start deepening my black shades. Painting this way is really calming and pleasant, I think. Art therapy! I don't know if I'll be able to display him with his saddle and cover up any of his dappley goodness.

February 6: I *think* I'm done with the pastel portion, but I'm gonna sleep on it. To be honest, he changed into something completely different from my reference, but not in a bad way! I'm still very pleased with him.

I started on the saddle today, so now I can swap back and forth between sealer and whatever. Saddles are hard, I'm a city kid that desperately wants to be a country girl and I don't have too many real examples to look at. I really want that sort of Navajo weaving saddle blanket look. I think the bright colors will pop! And I'm mildly surprised that my acrylic paint pens are working so well.

And, his name occurred to me as well but I'm gonna sleep on that too.

February 11: Tonight Corbin (my dog)and I FINALLY got back into the studio to paint after a long work week! I started painting the bridle and breastcollar, which is nervewracking because it is such fine work and my hands are not as steady as they used to be. I was using an acrylic paint marker because I don't trust my brushwork for such small things. First layer done! Then I went back  in with black pastel to darken some spots where my pen went AWOL. Well, then I needed to add some dapples back in. Then I started to shade the mane and tail a little so I can think about how to tackle them. By my math, I have seventeen days to finish this guy. Things are coming along nicely! Then I can start prepwork on the box of new victims I got this week. NaMoPaiMo has created a monster!!

February 12: Almost there! I think he might be ready for his final coat of sealer. I'll look at him with fresh eyes tomorrow! ❤❤❤

February 14: Everybody, meet "Bottle of Smoke!" I named him after a song by The Pogues. Don't Google that at work, there's swears in it!

I ... just ... can't believe that this is something that I made. I never thought that my first NaMoPaiMo horse would turn out so nice. 

There's some rookie mistakes here and there, and some bobbles of my brush. He looks completely different from my reference photo. But I learned SO MUCH and met so many nice people. It was worth the angsting! I am proud of myself and also of everybody in this group. We are an awesome community and I can't wait to get started on my next horse with some of my new skills I picked up! 

Thank you and congratulations, Jamie. Your enthusiasm is contagious, your horse is beautiful and I absolutely love his name. You are a most worthy champion. I can't wait to see what you paint next!

NaMoPaiMo day twenty three

This is the twenty third day of NaMoPaiMo. The end is in sight and there are just over one hundred fifty models in the Winners' Circle. 

These include several which have already been featured on this blog in various stages of completion. Here's Kirsten Eidsmoe's Bruno,

Kim Brandner's zonkey,

Christine Jordan's Truly Jolie,

Jenn Constantine's Mr. Mxyzptlk,

Tara Reich's Fidget...

and Heather Jackson-Lain's Fidget.

Every year I get deeply invested in the creation of hundreds of models. 

I try to feature as many of them here as I can, but there are limits to my time and energy. Inevitably, someone gets left out.

One of the models who hadn't previously made the blog this year is Janine Metzler's Miss Mattie.

This is one of my favorite members of the NaMoPaiMo class of 2022. She is absolutely beautiful!

Great work, Janine. You are the NaMoPaiMo Champion of the Day.

Congratulations to everyone who has finished their models and good job to everyone who is still working on it. I can't wait to see what we all do tomorrow!