The piece came back from the framers today. I really like how the fillet sets the piece off. I’m hoping it has put some life into the piece.
Reworking an Old Piece to Make It Marketable
This piece has been for sale for a couple of years and hasn’t sold. I decided to rework it to see if I could make it more marketable. The frame is pricey, too, so I didn’t want to just toss it. I started out by taking the piece out of the frame and choosing some colors I thought would look good.
I used yellows and browns to give it some life and depth. Then, I added some gold leafing.
I needed to make the frame go with the piece, so the first thing I did was tape off some areas to add some gold to the frame.
I selected a product called “Rub and Buff” in a shade of gold that matches the gold solar highlights in the art.
It’s really a messy job.
When I took the masking tape off of the frame, I knew I had achieved the desired affect.
The only thing left was to have the piece remounted. I was able to reuse the matting I had chosen for the original piece, but I really wanted to make the piece “pop”. I chose some gold fillet to frame the artwork inside of the framing I just reworked. I think the end product was worth the extra effort. The piece is at the framer right now. I will post the finished product in the frame as soon as it ready. Below is the piece as it looks on my website.
Entering a Contest at Emerald Downs
Emerald Downs has an art show in July. I have entered it for the last three years, and it’s a really fun one to participate in because you get to go to the race track. The above piece is about halfway finished. I did a series of timed photos, so that you could see how I put it together.
Details…
I find that details are what pull a piece of work together. I’m trying to find the right stain to use on the wood that makes up the cradle of the artwork. Some people leave it the way it comes or they paint it, most people use black. This always really annoys me, because you spend all of that time working on a piece to make it perfect–hours or days it doesn’t matter. And when it comes down to the end of it, some artists don’t care enough to tie-in the rest of the work to make it cohesive. It doesn’t matter what you’re using, I don’t think anything should detract from the work, it should always compliment it.
Love of Horses
My brother, Erich, and his fiance’, Kate, were visiting for a few days this week. We were going through old photos to show Kate what Erich looked like when he was little. I came across this picture of me at Yellowstone, age 4. I really always loved horses, as you can tell from many of my pieces of artwork.
Hope you don’t think this is dorky–I just really wanted to share it with you.
Working Fast 2
Got the pictures off to Scottsdale. I’m supper excited that I finished them on time. It’s always great to set a goal and feel like you accomplished it. I got six pictures framed and seven are unframed. I hope both The Buffalo Collection and you all like them.
Working Fast
Being back from Scottsdale is great–it’s always nice to get back home and sleep in your own bed. I’m working long hours right at the moment.
The manager at The Buffalo Collection has a big weekend coming up on March 23rd. He wants a bunch of my 6″ x 6″ pieces. To get them done, framed and shipped, I have to have them to the framer by tomorrow. I have already been over to the framer and selected the frames–he is working on them, so that we can slip the pieces in and get them shipped.
Yesterday I worked at getting the composition outlined, the colored inks on, and the places waxed that I wanted to protect. Today I have to get the line work finished as well as the metal leafing.
Back from Scottsdale: Great Show
Late last night I arrived back home from my solo show in Scottsdale at The Buffalo Collection. It was a great show–the two pieces above sold while I was there. In addition, I made some really great contacts with designers and magazines, and met some wonderful people.
The Managers at the Buffalo Collection have been great to work with. Last year while I was there, they gave me some really good advise about my work and how to take it to the next level. This year we had a lot of discussions around marketing and how to step that up.
There is nothing like a successful show to feel pumped about your work, don’t ya think?
Albi Equi The Uffington White Horse
The image above is of the Uffington White Horse, or in latin, “Albi Equi”. This is the name I chose in my Art Naming Contest.
The figure dates back to either the Iron Age or the late Bronze Age. Scholars believe this based on the similarity of the horse’s design to comparable figures in Celtic art. It was confirmed following a 1990 excavation in which deposits of fine silt were removed from the horse’s ‘beak and’ were scientifically dated to the late Bronze Age.[2]
The Uffington Horse is the oldest of the white horse figures in Britain, and is a different design from any other prehistoric finds.[3]
Until the late 19th century the horse was scoured every seven years. Without regular cleaning the figure quickly becomes obscure and needs frequent work for the figure to remain visible.
It is located near Swindon in south, central England.
Information obtained from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse
New Equine Art
This is my newest piece of equine art. The horse was an entry at a horse show at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. It was a young colt.
I tried a new technique on this piece. I have been experimenting with how to retain some white on my illustration board or gesso bord. I had one of those candles on my desk that comes in a big jar, and I got the idea to sprinkle and paint the wax on before I use the inks. Then I scrape the wax off and finish the piece. I am pleased with how this one turned out. I’m sure as time goes on, I will be refining this technique.
An additional side benefit of using this wax is that the finished product smells really good. The candle was honeysuckle scented.
