New horse pattern

From the horse show I just went to:

Moose and Kangaroo finished pieces

Horse show

I have been trying to get up to a horse show all summer since I need some new models for horse papercuttings, but all the horse shows had been conflicting with other commitments (or rained out) till today. I went up to the fairgrounds for a little show that was being put on by the local farm bureau. I had forgotten how much I missed being around horses- just being up there made me remember all the fun I used to have with riding lessons. Maybe in my "spare time" I can start that up again some day.. :)

Anyway, there were a bunch of beautiful horses there. A couple that particularly caught my eye: a slim chestnut in the halter class (named Almond Joy I think). She was beautifully put together, moved like a dream, and was a gorgeous color. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a good picture of her since the rail of the fence kept getting in my way... Also there was a huge handsome draft horse that a girl was riding in the English walk/trot class. I haven't seen people riding draft horses in equitation classes before, so it was neat to watch! Not to mention impressive how well this girl (who looked very small on his back) was handling this giant horse... I think she took first in the class too.

Hopefully I will be able to finish up some new patterns modelled off of the gorgeous horses I saw and get at least one ready before my next show in October..

Markhor goat

I just scanned a pattern I made from the Markhor Goat at the Columbus zoo. The Markhor is a beautiful animal- the males have a huge ruff of hair around their neck and chest, and long spiralling horns. They are also apparently notorious for their escaping abilities- the zoo had a video of one of the goats (not sure if it was their goat or just stock Markhor footage) leaping to the top of a chain link fence at least 6 or 7 feet high, landing with one foot on the fence post, then using that to launch himself even higher. I can imagine it take a lot of ingenuity to put together an exhibit that could hold them safely..

Three new pieces

I finally got pictures taken of the three pieces I finished and matted in the past couple weeks- cat playing with string, polar bear, and Aldabra tortoise. All three are 11x14 matted.

Shhh- it's a secret!!!

I have been working in my 'spare time' the last couple months to make up custom work of a couple of family members' dogs for Christmas presents. I am really happy with how the patterns turned out- hopefully the recipients will like them too!! and hopefully I will have time to get all three cut in time for Christmas!


LILY









CHIEF










DAPHNE

Two new patterns

Over the last couple days I finished a couple new patterns from the Columbus zoo trip- the bull moose, and a kangaroo..

Columbus Zoo trip

Today we took a road trip to the Columbus zoo. I had never been there before, so there were a bunch of animals I was looking forward to trying to get pictures of. The day started off really rainy while we were driving down, but it let up around noon so we managed to actually wander the whole zoo in one day- even with my crazy picture-taking habits. I was very impressed- the animal habitats in general seemed to be much more spacious and 'natural' than a lot of the old ones at Cleveland. Though to be fair, Cleveland is upgrading their habitats as they can, and I don't think they have nearly as much space as Columbus does. Maybe Cleveland is an older zoo and the city and neighborhoods just grew up around it?

I ended up with some decent pictures that you will probably be seeing in new patterns on my website and here over the next couple months. I managed to get some decent wolf pictures. And a big bull moose. I took lots of pics of the manatees, but with the water and the tank glass in the way I don't think any of them will be clear enough for me to actually get enough details to use as models- really disappointed about that. :( I got some nice Humboldt penguin shots too. I tried to concentrate most on the animals we don't have locally in our zoo...