New Studio!

I finally got a chance to set up my new studio this weekend! I've lived in Oregon for over 4 months now and I really haven't spent more than 10 days at a time at home. Last week, however, was my last trip for the foreseeable future so as soon as I got off the plane in Portland I made a beeline for Ikea where I bought some new lighting and a shelf and hurried home to set up this nice little work corner:
You'll recognize the desk and my awesome magnetic board from my studio on Montana. The lights are all new, and I'm hoping to pick up a magnifying light too if I can find a good deal. You'll notice on the shelf that I have a nice little herd. The two traditional Breyers are from the JC Penney stock horse set. I bought it for the Smart Chic Olena body, but I must say he isn't quite body quality. He's the nicest Breyer I've seen in a while! He'll probably last awhile in his OF form, but I do really want to CM one of these. The mold's head carriage really bothers me and I'm thinking of lowering and tucking his head to make him a backing horse. Also on the shelf are two new resins: Sanskrit and Fly by Wire from Mel Miller. These are rough second quality castings that I bought during Mel's recent sale. I'm pleasantly surprised by how gorgeous both of these horses are! It'll probably take me forever to get them prepped (I loathe prepping) but once I do I'm imagining them both in fun pinto colors!

The fifth horse you see on the shelf is one I started almost a year ago. He got put to the side when I moved. I had to paint once I had my desk set up so I whipped him out and got started on his second layer of oils.
He's very red! I honestly can't decide if I like him or not. He's almost too contrasty for my taste, although he does look pretty darn close to my reference photo. I still have at least one more layer to go on him and he'll probably end up a bit darker, especially around the face. The metallic paints I use in my mixes really pop in this color and positively glows! We'll see how he looks after the next session (which hopefully shouldn't be too long from now).

I mentioned a few horses that I finished in my previous post, so I thought I'd post pictures of a few. First up is the red dun paint I started a long time ago. She's a portrait of Scribbles, my favorite horse I rode in Montana. I'm very proud of her blue eye!

Next up is the G3 Friesian I started a long time ago.

I don't know that I've ever mentioned this last guy in this blog. I painted him with the leftover mixes from my Dashing Through the Snow medallion. He's a simple color but he's one of my favorites! I've inadvertently fallen in love with the G3 rearing Andalusian!

And last off is a picture of all my horses who are fit for display (aka not chopped up). There are far too many unpainted horses on this shelf, namely Hazel and Xtara! My goal is to finish both of them by the end of the year. You'll also notice quite a few SMs. I'm having lots of fun coming up with ideas for them! One thing I'm never short of is ideas. I am very short on time!