A Two-Day Breastcollar

Last Friday and Saturday I pulled off a feat that hasn't happened in years:  A breastcollar was made in only 2 days.  My previous Akhal Teke breastcollars certainly took longer -- remember Brasenose's took an entire month!  This 2-day record is probably previously held by a braided bc back in the dim dark past,... but for now, I'm well pleased by what happens when I really just buckle down.  Very little computer and nothing else happened on Friday the 15th, and the following half day saw it finished.  "It's in me."

Only a few pix were taken during this marathon of concentration.  Here is the first shot, showing the general size and design of the breastcollar, and the buckle and strap.  I was up to the bezel stage at this point (the frames for the jewels).

The bar-shaped metal spots (iron-ons) were already made, and that was a huge help in making the 2-day possible.  But I still had to create all the square plates, cut all the bezels and curl them, and fit them to the plates.  What was new this time was that I tested each tiny circle of bezel to its individual plate's hole, BEFORE they were set (hot glued).  This seems so obvious now, but, I confess, 'twas not always.  I used to really struggle to get bezels to fit after plates were set, cutting and fussing and risking breaking through the leather.  This new way took more patience but went faster in the end.

A tackmaker is always investigating new materials, and I chose to use chamois as an extra layer of padding for the center medallion (or plate).  Having sharpened my knife to where it easily cut garment leather, I ran the risk of shaving too thin, and had to add back.

A stage I had temporarily forgotten about, with the setting of jewels, was the silvering of the holes.  Above you can see that the lower left (8 o'clock position) hole of the central medallion has had silver tape laid in its bottom.  This is to reflect the jewels' light and color.  The third photo (above) shows the silvering of two of the offside holes.

For reasons of reward I chose to hang the drops before the jewels were put in.  This turned out to be all I could do on one day.  Making the rings and hanging Rio Rondo's teeny findings was harder than I'd anticipated.  I made my rings too small at first.

Next day I tackled those rings with more understanding.  I make my own jump rings with a short bar of Aluminum tubing and a piece of stainless steel wire, in this case 24 ga.  Need I mention the work included sharpening my wire cutter... by hand... !!

When the jewels go in they do so in a rush.  It's a smelly process with clear nail polish as the adhesive.  I use Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength.  (There's a certain justice in the fact this polish has actual diamond in it.)  Each sapphire and ruby is chosen for color, clarity and fit.

While the above photo has been PhotoShopped, this one has not.

This shot is included to show the entirety of the tack.  I've left the straps long for the owner to trim as she sees fit.

Now for the fun part!  Alas, it is snowy and cold (and dark) outside, so we must be satisfied with indoor shots.

I have seven Lonesome Glories, but only two glossies, this dun and the black charcoal.  The charcoal is precious and too dark for comfortable tackmaking.  But the drawback to the dun is the white face -!!  Sometimes creative cropping is called for.

These photos show the real color, but it's even better in person.

I will end this post with an interesting photo of every piece and part of Teke tack that has been made so far, for the two Giveaway sets.  The light-colored leather ones include 2 neckpieces, the breastcollar, the cape (crown piece) and the reins.  The dark-colored reins are for AT4.  The unfinished neckpiece at lower left is the extra, made in the course of AT3's two.  Whoever is lucky at BeyerFest can choose the gemstones they want for it.

In future news:

Draw a deep breath people:  Time to push the reset button.

I would very much like to complete AT3, AND at least print out my much-belated Christmas letter, before I start NaMoPaiMo.  Those two are lined up for the remainder of January.  February will bring a combination of work on AT4 and Orlik, with a slight emphasis on the horse!  March will undoubtedly play catchup with finishing AT4 and working on a pair of small-scale harnesses.  

Beyond that, the only thing I'm seeing is a hazy wish to get back into braidwork... possibly another paintjob,... and whatever comes down the pike.  The faintest of wishes are manifesting themselves, as buds beneath the snow: working on my own belt (full scale braidwork), misc Trad headgear, misc harness and horse drawn vehicles (you don't think I could own a Troika and not make the sledge, do you...)!  Thanks go out to certain understanding customers, and encouragement to sculptresses and tackmakers.

Lost and Found

Two intensely personal gifts came home to me today.  Both were from women I admire greatly:  One is a dear friend who is my same age -- and the other is my own beloved mother.  Both gifts have been lost in the mail for much too long... and one of them has been lost for decades!  Mom's envelope of music (AZ) was postmarked December 17 --  my god, exactly a month ago -- while the box with the book in it (VA) was shipped December 21.  Since when does a package take 28 days to travel from VA to PA??  Yeah, they have 2 states in between them -- but it's WV and Maryland at their narrowest....

...while an envelope from Tucson to State College PA usually takes a week.

Part of the explanation is Christmas,... but there's so much more.  I admit, 4 days were added on to each mailpiece by our house decontamination procedures.  Even so, it does not take a rocket scientist to deduce that these items were dangerously close to being lost in the mail.  One of them, sheet music copies, was on the brink of being replaced; in this case, it would've been relatively easy to do again.  Mom is always sending me music.  She is my best source and she's been doing it ever since college.  Sheet music is replaceable, although my Mom's touch is so precious to me... especially now that she's become so frail.

But the book turned out to be dang-near irreplaceable.

It is a matter of debate when I lent that book to Eleanor.  The publish date is 1983.  I acquired it somewhere around 1989.  We tried to work out the lend date and came up with the late 1990s, somewhere between 1996 and 2002.  I remembered lending it but she did not, and it was subsequently lost to history (pardon the pun).  Years, decades went by, and I tried to replace the little paperback, but never could.  The only mentions of it online were scholarly tomes costing upwards of $170;  while I loved the subject, I couldn't justify such a price merely to satisfy one fading memory of a thin little paperback.

As previously mentioned, decontam is causing all my presents to arrive at once.  Eleanor had promised me the mini-me Smart Chic Olena/Smart N Shiney after I told her that I did not own, or desire, any of the mini-me Trads... and that I only collected palomino Stablemates.  It seems Breyer can find a loophole into even in the most defended collector's heart.

Although neither of these is strictly a Christmas present, (since I previously owned or had access to them), this feels like December 25 all over again.  Santa has been good to me.

Akhal Teke 3 Progress

One of the reasons progress has been slow on Akhal Teke presentation set #3 is that I made a mistake.  It is embarrassing to admit, but I didn't detect anything wrong until I reached the bezel stage of the second neckpiece  (which has 3 rows of spots instead of 2).  Without really thinking, I had made it the same length as the first neckpiece.  (The bases were pre-cut.)  A test-fasten revealed that its strap was just a wee bit short.  Oh the sorrow of that wee bit!  DUH, Lonesome Glory's (and every other horse's) neck gets larger the further down it goes, --- and one might just want the second neckpiece to be a bit longer.  Lesson learned!  Play with your tack, before during and after construction!!

Here is a close-up of No. 3's second neckpiece.  No PhotoShopping this time:  This is what it really looks like.

I could figure no way to make the first one longer without serious damage.  The strap (and buckle) is sewn in before the spots are hot-ironed on, so I'd have to peel some spots off to install a longer one, and all the spots are one-time use.  Worse, the neckpiece was the wrong color for AT #4; retrofitting it would mean more sacrifices of the existing jewel plates.  For reasons probably of pride (and possibly of profit), I chose to make a whole new neckpiece.   That is what you see here:  an entire second attempt.  It came out beautifully, thank heavens.

AT#'s pattern is four sapphires and a ruby in the middle, which shows up at the throat.  Here it is on a Lonesome Glory (this body is Goin For Gold, known in my herd as DunRovin):

And here are both neckpieces, a 2-row and a 3-row, for AT #3.  These two are adjusted to the middle of their ranges; their buckles are at the middle hole of their straps.  Although hard to see, note the dark brown Edge Cote;  in person it gives definition and heft, a nice touch for so light a leather color.

The first attempt will probably show up for sale or auction sometime around BreyerFest.

To my two oh-so-patient customers:  Your orders continue to be my first priority, getting the lion's share of my attention, even ahead of Orlik!  Thank you so much for your understanding.

Orlik, By a Nose

My NaMoPaiMo decision is still ongoing.  I have 4 pieces of tack to get through before I can pursue NMPM with a clean and free conscience.  I also have about sixty Christmas letters -- !!  Talk about too much to do...  And she thinks she can paint two horses in a month?!?  Methinks it will be a miracle if I get even one started.

But it's always like that.

I thought you might like to see the galley proofs of the latest Nudie Selfie photo shoot.  By now this pattern is nicely settled in:  This will be my fourth National Model Painting Month.  As is traditional, my husband takes my Nudie Selfies.  Also traditional, I'm standing in the TSII tack shop and pony room, a delightful place (if I say so).  What is Not traditional is the hat.  It's cold out there!!  Fear not, when it's warm again the Tilley will reappear... *

Above: uncropped.  Below, a different shot.  In this case,  Ziggy the carousel horse (behind my right elbow) is less visible.

 To round out the Orlik shots, here is a different perspective of the room.  This is the corner just to the right of the above shot:  The horsiest corner, where the two longest walls of shelves meet.

Why Orlik?

Because he's a bit more attainable, a little more do-able.  He's not a leap off the cliff into something I've never done.  Believe it or not, I'm still healing right now, spiritually if not physically.  I'm recovering from an awful year -- one whose terrors are not over for us, nor likely to be for a while.  Yes, I said I was ready for diversity.  Both dapples and roan will be new for me, although I'm not at all planning on a hair by hair...  :)  Orlik chose his color when I fell in love with this photo.

Another reason for choosing Orlik is the faint, although quite real, vision of a Troika.  I already have two similar horses finished, one with the neck turned --!!  I have long wanted to get back into harness... a 'failing' made apparent by my accepting a harness order...

Ziggy Stardust has not chosen his color to such a detailed depth yet, so that's why it's Orlik by a nose.  But this decision is not cast in stone:  Ziggy is not far behind.  He's closing in, on both a color and a name (gold-point Siamese)(Coney), and I was so comfortable with the idea of painting him that he got some Selfie Nudies too.

The smile is real.

I have not yet signed up for NaMoPaiMo.  But it's only a matter of time.  I thank in advance the tack customers and the letter-readers:  I appreciate your understanding.

* I name my hats.  The silver-and-rawhide Tilley broadbrim is named Coondoondah the 11th (this is an Australian aboriginal word meaning "hat").  The blue-and-purple tassel hat was called an Inca hat and this has rendered down in the family to "Inkerhat."

PhotoShopping Jewels

There has been some progress on Akhal Teke set #3, which features sapphires and rubies.  This short post will be taking a look at two finished parts, the cape and the smaller neckpiece, and exploring what I've done with PhotoShop with them.

For instance, compare the original photo, below, with the one above:

The two might not look all that different.  But compare the red ruby centered on the throat.  Also look at the color of the sapphire closest to the mane on the neckpiece.  Lastly, try and pick out the teeny rubies on the tips of the cape (poll piece).  In each case, I've enhanced the colors for the upper photo.

Why bother?  In the first place, it's proving surprisingly difficult to light and photograph this tack in such a fashion as to bring out the colors.  In the second, I'm falling in love with the skill of PhotoShopping... (as if Laird Hamilton were not warning enough!) ... and it's always looking for a chance to practice.   The skill is self-taught, a perfect twin to my tackmaking.

Here's another view of cape and neckpiece.  The colors are really there, but you need to be holding it in your hand to see them at their best.

And here's its enhanced, or 'retouched' as I'm calling it, version:

This time, the increased light blue and red should be obvious.  The sapphires really are slightly different from each other.

I'm using PhotoShop's eyedropper to choose from both the existing colors and new ones from the Color Picker, then hitting basic Artist Brush and choosing 2 or 3 pixels at a time.  The trick is to deposit them near  existing light areas:  to enhance what's already there.  Then I use some Smear to finish with, but not much.

I'll end this little jaunt with another unretouched view.

One of my 'New Year's Resolutions' should be to try and maintain "Web-Free Wednesday."  I'm discovering that FB simply EATS time and attention, yet produces precious little -- certainly no tack.  Why are humans so hypnotize-able!?  (Could this be the root of all evil?!?)  Can I assert an hour at the bench before even turning on the computer?!  I've tried it before.  Only time will tell.

My 2019 Christmas letter appears to not have been saved digitally, a blow to my pride.  Thank you for your patience while I summon the energy to write, print and mail more than 55 copies of the 2020 one, without even an armature.  :)  I am amazed at the Christmas snail-mail I've received this year.  My heart is warmed and gladdened by the enormous outpouring.  Thank you all so very much!  May your next year go better than this last!!

Keep On Tacking.

My Kilbourn pair, plus Santa

 When I read about the Kilbourn Collector's Corner cover pic contest on FaceBook, I got inspired.  My ideas leapt from blankets to harness to Santa to a certain unfinished Criollo pony.  What a rabbit-hole of a chain!  Who knows where these things wind up?!  I only know I was spurred enough to get out the TSII Red Team Harness and refit it to my matched Kilbourn pair (which took all evening).  I also tried finding other pix of tacked-up Kilbourn horses.  In the process I found something that had been lost for more than 3 years,... and I hadn't even known it was missing!  This was fun.

This story begins in 2018.

There is a blog post on the 2018 acquisition of these matched bay geldings:  The Traditional Loot Shots.
Finnegan, also known as the Copperfox Irish Sport Horse, was first released in 2015.  Loughnatousa Fabio is the name of the solid red bay (also known as Superman, which I think is a stable nickname).  Breyer's Rangoli, the first bay on True North, came out in 2017.  As soon as I saw Rangoli I fell madly in love (and I do mean madly.  I still have plans to etch my own); I only had to wait until Breyer released a regular run bay.   I could hardly believe it when Icabad came out so soon.  Even their stars match!!  Twenty-eighteen was a very good year for me.

 My first thought for a pic of matched Kilbourns was this.   It features what they've got on now,  'wearing around the house,' as you would say.  Dry The Sea, my Icabad, was wearing tack.  I knew from the start I wanted to show off tack.  :)

The rage for digital photo-showing has inspired me to enter two shows so far; then it sank below the surface.  Why does it come bubbling back now?  I can tell the answer is complex; for now, let's just say the Kilbourn contest offered an escape from a probably ridiculous but still perceived expectation of perfection.  I have no photo backgrounds.  This is a driving pair, but I have no vehicle with a pole suitable for light horses (only the Hitch Wagon!).  With the weather the way it was, I couldn't even go outside.  It is too bad that sometimes the amazing artistry of other people's entries is, paradoxically, depressing.  I should know better.  (And, I should let this be an excuse to PhotoShop more...)

Perhaps recovery is merely a function of time... the dip and rise of a heartbeat graph line...

The solid-blue, white-lined blanket that says ""Timaru Star II" is a gift from my generous friend Lynn Martin Isenbarger.  The space-fabric blanket :)  is a beautiful commission from Nichelle Jones of Desktop Stables, specifically for this horse.  Loughnatousa  is correctly pronounced Lock-na-two-sa (it is the name of an Irish stud) , but I keep calling him Loff-na-toosa.  Somehow I haven't found a better name...  Here, the camera makes his head look big.

On the way to what I had in mind, I put them side by side.  It matters how you position them.  Loughnatousa is larger, though not by as much as this shows.

If you put Dry The Sea in front, suddenly they're perfect.  My camera exaggerates the front horse just enough.

The slight difference in color is lost under certain conditions:  See the first and second pix of this post.  If you do notice it, it just makes them more realistic.

Getting out the harness and fitting it was an exquisite pleasure.  I've had this set for 30 years and every needed part is long since made and put right (or so I would like to think!).  It was originally built on a research ship in the middle of the Pacific (I'm not making this up.  Meteorological field experiment TOGA-COARE 1992-3).  Later I replaced most of the hardware with gold filled, which I hadn't known about (or obtained) until about 1995.

I used a clothespin to hold the reins for this session.  Note the bell string around Dry The Sea.  I only have the one string so it goes on the horse closest to the camera.

They're both going at the same speed, a canter.  Think cantering isn't done in harness?  Haven't been to a Combined Driving Event, have you...?!  There are speed elements.  They run.

See the ring around the crossed inside lines?  Put the rein of the horse who carries his head highest on top.  It's not too hard to pick which horse that is.

This is my second-favorite shot.  I was using my left hand to elevate Dry and my right to hold the camera.  Action!!

But none could top this one.   Finally, this is what I was after.  I believe I was inspired by photos I'd seen in Driving Digest magazine.  True to life, the bridles are slightly different; Loughna's has the tandem-wheeler's rings, and somehow their cheek keepers don't match.

The flaw I see is that Loughnatousa's off foreleg appears too small for his size, and unfortunately placed stridewise in comparison to Dry's.  But that's the way it goes.  Without those forearms you'd have a harder time figuring out the molds.  ... Maybe I should just crop it.  OH and what a great opportunity to get rid of that scuffed ear...!

Yeah!! 

Later fixes I see (this must be the ever-critical judge) include moving Dry's neckpad to before his withers, and raising Loughna's mouthpiece a bit.  Both nosebands are a little lower than they should be.

I should stop here.  But I didn't.  I took Dry The Sea (because he's been Horse of the Day for some time now) and put him to the Red Sleigh, using my new doll (still working on a name, Anne!) and my old driver Steve the Cowboy.  Then I dug out my Santa.  Steve decided Chereene (?) should drive.  He also thought his magnificent fur cloak would cover them both, ... which was a bit farfetched.

I'm hoping you don't notice she's dropped a line (I didn't notice either).  Nor that Santa seems to be perched uncomfortably on the back seat, no doubt ready to tumble down the moment Dry hits a bump.  I won't tell you he's pinned in place.  Man I need a better Santa.  It's a good thing Dry's so strong.

What's PhotoShop for, if not to fix a lady's troubles?  Here, I raised that rein for her.  Above, I extended the snow, which started as a piece of white fleece.

 Merry Christmas everybody!!

I mentioned something lost at the beginning of this post.  It was the folder which held the pictures of my unfinished Maxixe wearing the 2016 Pony Hackamore.  I could remember shooting him wearing it, ... but could not find the folder,... which was exasperating, to say the least.  I remembered the blog post about that very Hackamore, which saved me in the end:  it proved I'd taken all those pix.   I finally went over EVERY picture I'd ever taken that fall, and there it was:  I'd somehow stowed the entire folder inside another folder!  "It happens."  But this was my first time with so basic a mistake.

A Pony Hackamore 

I have had real fun with this long shoot, and I am relieved that "photo showing fever" can come back.  I love Morgen Kilbourn sculpts and currently have 5:  True North, Finnegan, Maxixe, Bobby Jo/Sheila and the Baroque Horse Bust.  I am still hoping to get my Christmas letter out before Valentine's :)  and I am so thankful for all the blessings we have enjoyed this year.  Indeed we have been blessed,... 

... still I AM looking forward to 2021...!

A Snow Event

 December 17, 2020.  Fourteen inches as home-measured on our deck (9 last night + 5 this morning).  We haven't had snow like this for several years.  Certainly this was the most of the season so far! -- there have been only a couple of quick dustings since fall began.  I started blazing away before I'd gotten dressed.

You can't see it but there are little stickers on this glass wall marking the record snowfall we got in 1994.  That was twenty-seven inches.  That was before we had so many plants on the deck, too, which kind of spoils the chances of marking that again.  Still, this is a very respectable snow event.

The twin-topped spruce of our neighbor behind was a thing of beauty.  And the light!  As the sun reaches up over Nittany Mountain [behind us, to the south] the light sweeps towards us like something out of Lion King.  I did a zoom on this shot and was very happy with it.

This shot shows how our rear neighbor, in the green house, dug out a Y-shaped space 'for the convenience of' their two dogs.  For some reason the most popular breed around here is the Lhasa Apso.

Reversing the viewpoint, this is the front street scene.  George had dug out the sidewalk last night, but it kept snowing -!

Speaking of digging, by now I had my clothes on and we plunged into the task.  It must have been after breakfast but I honestly don't remember.  

The whole rest of this post is a series of 'before and after' pictures.  Somewhere deep in the files I have a shot of our earlier neighbor's car (in this same location) completely buried.  That would tell me when we last had snow anything like this....

Oh.  I found it.  2014.

Here's the contemporary version, six years later.  The earlier neighbor is gone, having moved to Florida, how about that.

Our other car, the famous Moxie, daughter of Zippy.  Someday I must do a post on Zippy...

Now:  Magic!  Whirling corn shovels!  Flying powder!  Fresh air, exercise, camaraderie and speaking more with my neighbors than I have in ever so long...

It's good for the arm muscles.  I dug the snow out of her exhausts with a spoon (not making this up...)

My preferred weapon is an old plastic house broom.  I get the car roofs;  Geo does the heavy lifting.  This time I did a neighbor's car roof too.

It might look normal to you, all this shoveling.  It is normal.  But somehow I do not want to be taking too much for granted.

Thank you, sweetie.

Bonus story:  Did you know that piled-up snow and ice around her feet will cause the Toyota Hybrid RAV4’s Low Tire Pressure icon to light up?  I thought it was just the cold.  I was sort of right:  The snow interrupts the radio waves [between her brain and her tires].  I checked all her feet with the tire gauge:  Nothing was unusual.  I couldn't reach the spare (in truth, I didn't bother to turn it over [and get to the stem] once I dug down to it).  Only by digging deep in the manual did I discover the incriminating words, "accumulated snow and ice," and then, with even more digging, find the way of resetting the icon.  Oh these sensitive cars.