I'm going to assume I picked the right category. XD I really don't know.

You might think sculpture but the horse is just the canvas and not my work. The painting is where my work is.

In any case, earlier this year I submitted a design for a local public art project called The Mane Event. I was also one of the lucky few that were given the opportunity to paint one of these fiberglass horses.

The theme for the horses was to create a design that celebrates the history of our city or the community. It was kind of a fluke that I decided to do the train and it was pretty last minute.
I guess it goes to show that if you want to do something, whether you believe you have a shot at doing it or not, try anyway. You might find yourself surprised.

I had three months to paint the horse from my submitted design and in those three months I pretty much had to teach myself how to blend acrylics on a large scale. I was afraid to use additional chemicals for fear of ruining the eventual clear coat that goes on each horse.
A lot of what I did I had to learn from scratch. I knew it was going to be hard but I also didn't dive into this project unprepared.

I was, however, working in an unairconditioned back bedroom in the middle of summer with a burnt out fan and no air circulation. That. Sucked. I think I could have done an overall better job on the horse had I not been sitting in a humid, 90 degree bedroom while I worked.


I may have lied to a few people when I said I enjoyed every minute of it, sometimes it really.. really sucked. But as a whole, I really did enjoy it. And I'd leap at the opportunity to do another one. Even in a hot enclosed space. I'm just thrilled that I got to do this one and my sponsors were such nice people.
As a general I'm kind of laid-back if not shy but I imagine I was pretty doe-eye'd when I met them at the sponsor get-together back in April.

If you ever get the opportunity to do one of these (and you have somewhere to put a life size horse), do it! Leap at the chance! It might be hard but it's worth the effort. Having done this really makes me feel like a more accomplished artist.