Meghan's BCC entry

I have been publishing two posts a day since I got to Sacramento, but tonight I'm tired.  I don't feel like writing, and fortunately, there's no need. I just found this wonderful guest post by Meghan Namaste of Rogue River Studios in my inbox. Magic! Thank you, Meghan. Your unicorn looks amazing. Good luck in Kentucky!

My BCC Entry

by Meghan Namaste

This piece has been in my head since New Years 2022. However due to a lovely thing I like to call "start paralysis" (i.e. if I don't start it, I can't mess it up), demolition day on the plastic bodies occurred in December 2022.  

In order to finish in time, I had to learn not to fight the process. I had to believe in myself and break through my own barriers and my crippling self doubt. That became my goal with this piece. Keep going, and believe in the end result, even if the path there is full of failure.

I chose two of my favorite Breyer sculpts, Bristol and Hambletonian for this project. Despite the trend of more and more extreme customs, I went a slightly different route. While the underlying models have been extensively resculpted and enhanced, from the scars, skin wrinkles, curled back lips and teeth, layers and layers of flying mane and tail, and (my personal favorite detail as a farrier by trade) the strong but distorted and overgrown hooves. I did so with the intent to honor the original sculptors' work, particularly Sarah Rose's Hambletonian. She has always been my favorite hobby artist, and can no longer sculpt due to physical limitations. It was an honor to bring him to new heights, and something I hope she will be proud of. 

For this piece, I had the vision of a battle worn Mustang unicorn with a Narwhal style horn. I was inspired by Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with precious metals, which also happens to be the name of this piece. 

Each of Kintsugi's scars was Dremeled into the plastic and sculpted in layers, then painted with a rainbow holographic effect to show the magic within him and the beauty of each battle wound shining through. I painted him in my signature brindle with pastels, pigments and hair by hair acrylic detail. Actually the least stressful part of this piece was the paint job! This piece was a chance to play with many different mediums and materials, from wood, to foil, to sheep's wool, metals, and even paper. 

I'm holding off on showing the whole thing so that those who get to see him in Kentucky (either as a finalist if I'm lucky enough, or at the BreyerFest Open Show) can have an element of surprise. I've seen some amazing entries so far so I don't know if this will finally be my year to make finals, but it's out of my hands now and I'm proud of the journey and the lessons learned.