Fur In The Paint

This spring I went to photograph several rescue horses in preparation for doing a portrait as a fund raiser. This is the horse I chose to do for IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue and Awareness League) as he is so beautiful in both looks and spirit.

Colton is a 7 year blind old Arab gelding. I fell in love with him immediately. He has the sweetest nature and in many ways reminds me of my own horse Chicory.

The following is part of an email to me from Karla Sibert with Colton’s story.

Colton, was brought to IERAL on August 18th, 2007, along with 5 other horses that were abandoned in Lee County, IA. He was six at the time and had never been away from his mother. When he arrived at IERAL foster care facility, we had no idea that he couldn’t see, and we were so taken back that he had never been away from his mother his entire life.

We took two stallions (Colton being one of them) to get gelded that same day. When we picked them both up at the equine clinic Dr. Abraham said “You know this gray is blind don’t you?” I’m like no way he is only 6 years old, what would cause the blindness this early in life? He said, probably moon blindness, which he probably caught some virus that went untreated and so he went blind. That would explain why he never bred his mother I’m sure.

So, he was put back in with a half sister and his mother upon his arrival back to foster care. We adopted out both sister and mother within about three weeks after that, so we brought in a pony to keep him happy. Well, he was lost with out the two mares, but he finally adapted with his pony friend. So, at this point you know the rest of the story. My goal is to get Dr. Abraham out to evaluate his eye sight, and get him referred to ISU for eye surgery.

I had planned on posting something to do more with the art side of things. But as yet my life is still tilted sideways. So you’ll have to make do with one more post showing pretty horse pictures. Another Dr. appointment tomorrow and perhaps it will help to provide me with some clarity.

Cooling Off
This beautiful Freisian was enjoying a cool bath. It was seriously hot and the humidity was breathtaking. Most horses, when done showcasing their stuff at the arena were rushed up the hill and hosed off to keep them from over heating. I find horses being bathing infinately fascinating and took loads of photos.

Yet More Horses
Though the Kentucky Horse Park had horses packed in all every nook and cranny. The other horses at Breyerfest were a select few. (Other meaning other than Alborozo.) The Breyerfest breeds were really either horses that Breyer had made models of in previous years. Or horses that owners were hoping to have Breyer create a model of.

I found that out because I got curious and asked a couple of owners. With the price of gas what would motivated someone to haul their horses half way across the country to attend Breyerfest. Turns out they’re hopping their nice gesture of attending will get their fine examples of various equines to be recreated in plastic.

This beauty (left) is a Gypsy Drum Horse. It is part Gypsy and part Shire (you can really see the Shire.) They had several drum horses that I photographed. But again I felt the need to show some restraint as pretty soon I may have to change my blog name to Pretty Horse Pictures or some such.

This horse was not actually part of Breyerfest but was participating in a competition at another part of the park. I’ve been wanting to paint some horses jumping but never had much opportunity to photograph them. I got a few good shots here but the jumps weren’t all that high so the horse didn’t really project that feeling of effort and power I was looking for. I guess I’ll need to find myself another jumping competition and try again.

Other horses Breyer has created models of.

Oliver
This handsome guy is Fox Valley Oliver, owned by Kathy Whitaker of Flying Feathers Farm in PA. He is a champion ambassador for the Shire breed. Between 2000-2003 he earned several reserve championships in the US and Canada.

He excels in driving but unfortunatelty he came up lame while at the part so we weren’t able to see him in action.

This is DZ Weedo Affectionately known as Odie, he is a 1994 buckskin Appaloosa. Owned by the Schembri’s of Char-O-Lot Ranch in Florida. His honors include 1997 National Champion Trail Horse and 1998 Appaloosa World Champion in the Western Riding Division.

Blugrass Bandit
She is a lovely Tennessee Walking Horse who is owned by the Carrier’s of KY. She was named World Grand Champion in Western Pleasure and was voted the Trail Pleasure Horse of the Year by Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse.

Information resource for Horses that Breyer has created models of: www.BreyerHorses.com

I go to many horse expos and various events and one of the things that I have never done is had my photo taken with a horse. Owners who come to these types of events are so generous with their time and animals and often invite you to be photographed with their horse. I’ve always smiled politely and said “No. . .thank you though.”

I have a horse. I have spent my life around horses and a photo to commemorate the experience of meeting yet another horse has never been something I felt I needed . . . until now.

This is Brigitte Eberl (on the right,) the sculptor of the Breyer Alborozo, and her friend Sondra (left.) They both came over from Germany to attend Breyerfest.

Carol Herden the artist I accompanied to Breyerfest and Brigitte are good friends. We had dinner with them both nights. Unfortunately by the time I actually had a Breyer model to be signed they had already left the state. (followed by the country) Big Bummer. I would have loved to have her signature as well as Avi’s.

When Sondra first asked if I’d photograph her with Alborozo I said of course. When she came back all smiles she offered to take a pic of me. I pondered the whole photo thing for about half a second then said “sure.”

So here I am meeting Alborozo, and I have a photo to prove it. Me and Big Al (thats a pet name I share with him now. You know because we have something special between us.) had a moment here.

Huh . . . I never knew I looked like that with all those fanny packs. I mean I look like a toddler with one of those blow up rubber floaty things around me, heading off to the wadding pool or something. In case your wondering, one is for new film, one for spent film and one for cash. I now realize I would look oh so much cooler with my camera case instead. But it weighs a ton and I always have to keep an eye on it so someone doesn’t run off with it. Hmm . . . Maybe I’ll need to put “So I won’t look so dorky” on the plus side for going digital on my pros and cons list.

The Other First
The Alborozo model was only available at Breyerfest 2008. To make it especially collectable Breyer broke the mold. Something it has never done in its 60years of existence. I had thought about including a pic of the actual Breyer but then I thought “Nah.” You can click through to see Breyer’s model of Alborozo if your curious.

Christmas Comes Early
Isn’t this a lovely photo. Minus the cigarette this could be a heckava painting.

I got my photos back from being developed and it is like Christmas. Carefully opening up the many packages and rifling through all that glossy equestrian goodness. Smelling that hint of developing chemical wafting from the photos.

Breath it in deeply now with me. . . Ahhhh!

Equine Perfection
Just so you know I had to really control myself to get it down to this many photos. Actually as I was writing this I was thinking “Hmmm. . . I wonder if I should split up the photos into 2 or maybe even 3 posts.” (which of course I have done.) After this many weeks I still can’t seem to get enough of this horse. I mean I took well over 400 pics of him. (no kidding!) How can I include photos of him doing the spanish walk (see below) but not him doing a piaffe. (not shown) Not to mention the many and varied wardrobe changes. I need a photo that demonstrates all his glorious hair, but that might mean I would have to exclude a photo of him just being gorgeous. Sigh.

So what is the legal definition of a stalker anyway?
Occasionally a horse grabs me and I just can’t get enough. This time it was Alborozo. For the entire 3 days we were at the Kentucky Horse Park I hid out and waited for the chance to get a few photos. I might be working the booth and the announcer would say that Alborozo was coming up. I’d be like “Gotta Go!” to Carol, grab my camera and make tracks.

Truth is, it wasn’t until the last day that I actually remained in the arena to watch him perform. Otherwise I would be waiting either outside the arena or back at his stall. (all the better get some distance shots and keep clicking away until he got up to the barn.)

I was not alone in my adoration of him, as he was almost constantly surrounded by fans. I however was by far the most tenacious. I am a little embarrassed to say that when it came time to have Avi Cohen (his owner and trainer) sign my Breyer of Alborozo I was a little self conscious. Perhaps he never really noticed being surrounded by all those horse loving women. Perhaps I was just one among a sea of faces. I’d like to think so.

Andalusian or Spanish Horse?
Andalusions were named for the Spanish province of Andalusia from where it originated. What most of the world thinks of as an Andalusion, in spain is refered to as Pura Raza Espanola (PRE) or Pure Spanish Horse. Alborozo is a fine example of the breed for sure.

Note: I find it kinda weird that in some photos he looks very gray while in other he appears far more white. Suppose they actually had two horses? One (a look-a-like) for all those public appearance (white) where little girls stood smiling brightly in front of him as he was forever the patient gentleman. And another (the darker gray) for all the actual demonstrations. Hmmm. . . probably not. Odd though, just the same.

Well, we got rained out again. I can’t express how much water there is. The city we were in was already at flood stage. And then it poured. People who lived along the river were evacuated. So in comparison, my not being able to sell stuff is pretty minor troubles.

My horse safari was also a mixed experience. I did go and photograph some horses, but was unable to get to the Friesian Farm that I scheduled in the afternoon. I am very disappointed, (Heavy Sigh) because they were very nice and offered to do whatever I wanted with the horses. Like run ‘em around and such for great action shots. (Pinch me, I’m in horsey heaven!) Hopefully we can try again next time I’m in that part of the state.

I do however, have some lovely photos of a blind arab gelding named Colton. I fell in love with him and will be painting his portrait and donating it to the Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League. IERAL. They plan on having prints made and selling them as a fund raiser. The original will most likely be auctioned off, also to raise money. I used all 35mm film, so you gotta wait to see any pics until I get them developed. And since I live in the boonies that may be a week or two. It’s great living far from civilization, unless you actually need something.

I will tell you more about Colton and IERAL soon, but today I am draggin butt.

Catch - Water soluble pencil 15 x 18 1/2
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Well the latest issue is out. So, if you just can’t get enough of my writing, check out the latest issue at Applesnoats.com Or if you’d rather get your own hard copy you can always subscribe.

This issue is all about Catch and includes a lot of stuff not mentioned in the blog. Click here to go directly to my article in Applesnoats.

Since we have been talking about creating art that people connect with enough to spend money on. I thought I would share with you my best selling image. Natural Grace has been my highest grossing image in print for the past couple of years.

Natural Grace
Oil Pastel 10 x 30
Copyright by
Mona Majorowicz

Who Knew?
Truth is, it’s not great art. Oil Pastels were still a very new medium to me when I created this piece. I was just kinda playing around and I didn’t try particularly hard with it. I seriously thought of tossing the painting when I was done. My husband had to talk me into making prints of it. (Actually we debated for weeks and he finally just went ahead and did it. Hooray for Mike, that he could see what I could not.)

I started the original at the bargain basement pricing of around $500 and took it, and a couple of prints to an event. People loved it, (or they made horses ass jokes.) I sold several prints and had a few serious lookers at the original. I raised the original painting to $650. Another event more prints sales, more serious lookers at the original. I raised it to $850. This went on for half a season, raising the price to match the interest of the public. I won’t say what it finally sold for, but I am so grateful I didn’t toss the painting. The prints continue to do well. When I create 5-10 more images that do as well, I will be a very happy woman.

The 80/20 Rule.
Often 80% of your sales will be coming from 20% of your work. If you want to increase your sales you need to look at what sells and then do more of it. I’m not saying you need to make duplicates but if you take a gander at the wealthiest print artists in america today (like Thomas Kinkade, Terry Redlin or P. Buckley Moss) you’ll notice that they have one similar painting after another. They have figured out what sells, branded it (meaning just their name alone will trigger an image in your minds eye of what they paint.) and keep producing more. They get a lot of heckling for it, mostly by other artists. But I would think being multi-millionaires really takes the sting out of any bitter remarks.

For myself, I estimate that 7-10 of my prints are making the vast bulk of my print income. While the other 25 images or so sell just enough to keep them in print. I regularly look them over to see what the popular ones have in common.

As a side note.
I have a very dear artist friend, who is quite a good equestrian artist. She has a strong dislike of the Natural Grace image. So for a while after every event when it did well, I would poke her and say “I sold $ of Natural Grace this weekend”. Her usual response was “People have no taste.” I find this hugely funny. Makes me smile still, to think about it. Had anyone else said such a harsh thing to me, I most likely would have felt a little offended, (it takes a lot to hurt my feelings these days) but since it was her, I just find it funny.

I tell this to illustrate my point that even though she is knowledgable about both horses and art, she also would never have guessed Natural Grace would be such a stellar selling image. Friends, artists and collegues are not always right.

The day has finally come when I can turn my boy out onto pasture. Mind you, he has been grazing for some time now. I put him out onto small areas for limited amounts of time to get his gut used to the grass. He has been on hay and grain all winter and in order to avoid colic or founder, as well as to keep an eye on his overall well being, I gradually introduce him to grazing. I do this by penning off small areas for him to graze and start off with one hour graze time. Then gradually extend the grazing time over 7-10 days. Other than a slightly runny nose, he is doing good, so it’s freedom time.

When I did the bale buddy post, Mike said it would have been nice to have some photos to illustrate my story. So this time in preparation for the big event, I take my camera. I would guess from barn to the far end of the pasture, it is close to 3/8 mile distance. I open the gate and he bolts down the lane like a race horse. As he reaches the post indicating entrance to the big pasture, he does a rolling stop (any quarter horse reining professional would have been proud of,) then promptly drops his head and begins to graze. I barely got my camera to my eye and the party was over.

Normally, he gallops happily around the fence. Eventually he gets a little winded and stops. Ponders the meaning of life, then starts bucking, farting and squealing for joy. Followed by another gallop around.

I wait. . .he eats. Hmmm. I come up and try to drive him away. I flail my arms and cluck, he lifts his head trots 5-10 feet and resumes eating. I try again and get the same result. (big surprise there) I try inducing him to run, by jogging away from him. He eyes me from a distance. I wait some more . . . he eats some more.

After about 20 minutes I decide that there will be no great photo shoot of him galloping through the rich green grass. His mane and tail flagging out behind him like burnished copper in the sun. Instead I’ve got a pudgy, dusty (because to add insult to injury he had to roll right after I groomed him, for the big photo op) quite average looking horse, grazing.

As I wander off defeated, I think to myself “I bet he is waiting until I am gone and then he will do something truly spectacular, like the macarena or hula or something.” Harrumph!

Starring Chicory in I Want Out.
Ah . . . Spring. Subtle flute music plays in the background amidst the chirping birdies and fluttering butterflies. The tender green shoots of grass are bursting forth from their earthy slumber. The rains have come and everything smells clean and green.

I stand outside the barn scratching Chicory, who has almost completely shed out, but still has plenty of those crazy-making itchies. Mind you, it wasn’t so very many days ago that we could have knitted some cozy little chihuahua sized sweaters, from the fur I was pulling off him.

We quietly enjoy the warmth of the sunlight and the gentle breezes. He looks wistfully out to the pasture, of which he has been denied access to, since December.

A thought comes to him. (I could see the wheels turning) He looks at me and nickers softly. I look him in the eye, silently questioning. He looks out to the pasture, pauses a moment, then looks back me. I continue to scratch him, but don’t move. He waits for a moment, then swings his head s-l-o-w-l-y back to look at the pasture. He holds a little longer than before, then looks back at me. I smile placidly and continue to pet him. The words, “Whats that Lassie? Timmy’s stuck in the well!” roll through my head.

Chicory sighs deeply, his frustration at my apparent dull-wittedness is obvious. Since I am failing to comprehend what it is that he wants, he decides to take it to the next level with charades. He steps away from me and walks over to the gate. Makes eye contact again, then tosses his head dramatically over the gate leading to the pasture. This time he doesn’t look back at me, but rolls his eye over to see if I am paying attention. I think if he could have pantomimed the unlocking of the gate, he would have.

I walk over and pat him. “Sorry big guy, You’ll have to wait another week or two before I can turn you out.” He drops his head, and again sighs deeply. I would like to think he understands my meaning. But truthfully, I think he is just resigning himself to the fact that his human is a complete and utter idiot.

Catch - Water soluble pencil 15 x 18 1/2
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Catch Penny II
Here is the completed water soluble pencil painting of Catch Penny II. I had been holding off posting it until Carol got her painting. She had been following its progress on the blog, but had wanted the finished painting to be a surprise.

Prints are available, click on Catch’s picture or the title underneath, to view the details.

Catch is a 28 year old Morgan owned by Carol Eilers. He has been a Pony Club horse and has taken three youths to USPC Nationals. Two for eventing (he can jump just about anything.) And one for dressage. He “loves” kids and thoroughly enjoys being fussed over.

He is a dressage school master and still ridden occasionally on trail rides. Carol says, he has a naughty streak and can be ornery, but has a marvelous willing attitude when it really counts.

I may have over romanticized him a little bit in the painting. But Catch has always fancied himself somewhat of a playboy. I like to think Catch would approve of his Fabio like hair-do.