NaMoPortraitPaiMo

Portrait models are my favorite, and I am fortunate to own a number of them.

This year for NaMoPaiMo, I am painting a portrait model.

I'm not alone. I've already shared Kira Roper's beautiful tribute to Spirit, and there are al lot of others in the works.

These include Hannah Tissue's ode to Amber, an Appaloosa mare rescued by Hannah's friend back in 1997. Hannah says: She was picked me as her person and actually got me more interested in reading and understanding the language of equus!

Here's another beloved Appaloosa from back in the day.

Jill Webb writes: I'm painting a portrait of the Banjo's Sweet Song, barn named Cindy. I owned her from 1981-2005. This will be in her four year old coat, but I have other bodies to use for later stages, eventually. I got her as a three year old the summer after high school graduation. We competed in eventing through training level and jumpers at schooling shows through 3'9".

Elizabeth Bowser is also memorializing a heart horse named Amber, but one that's still with her. She explainss: I’m attempting a portrait model of my heart horse, Amber. She has been with me since high school and has been my happy place through everything life has dealt me. She has taught me so much about myself, and about patience and grace. She is getting older and is at the stage where I don’t know how much time we have left. I want to have a little something of her to keep with me always.

I’m customizing one of the SM paint and play unicorns. I’ve never done any of this before, but Amber has been with me through the unknown before. I hope I can do her justice.

Christine Lewis is painting a portrait of her family's curly Wyoming family mustang

Tumble Honey Drifter. Because I am a Wyoming mustang aficionado, I asked for more deets and learned that he was born in holding from a White Mountains mare. 

In keeping with the family connections, Ceara Conner is attempting a portrait of her mother's horse, Peaches. If it turns out halfway decent, she plans to gift the model to her mom. It looks to me like that's going to happen!

Audrey Dixon's portrait is not a horse that she owns, but instead a therapy horses at The Children's TherAplay Foundation. Audrey writes: Jade is a stunning Pintaloosa mare that spent a lot of her life being a trail horse, before joining our team as a theray horse. Jade's unique coloring with her Overo pattern combined with her less defined blanket appaloosa pattern caught my eye immediately and will make a nice challenge for this years project! The model I will be painting her on is a venti scale "Screamin' Emery" resin scupted by Honey Hill Studio (Brianna Kenney).

Shana Bobbit writes: I am on Team Portrait this year. My friend knew she would have to put her mare down and asked me to do her portrait (I have done a couple others for her). I was able to get reference photos in advance and it will be a nice memorial to her steady parade mare.

Darleen Stoddard is also working on a memorial for a friend. She explains: Mine does not have any paint yet, but will be a portrait of my barn manager/trainer’s first horse who she lost last Spring. His name was Champ, and he had his front teeth removed so his tongue always hung out.

Thank you, friends, for sharing your horses - both real and model - with us this month. I can not wait to see how all of these turn out!