Reflections

So... there's a lot going on at Brightly Hude Studio!  Not only is my 10 year anniversary of being in business coming up next week (the 10th!), but many projects are (*hopefully*) being completed because... we're packing up and moving!  Yep, my darling hubby is transferring his job down to the Portland area, so Brightly Hude will soon be an Oregon business!   I'm pretty excited- I do enjoy it up here on the Olympic Peninsula, but it will be nice to be closer to a little more civilization- with a little more to do and see.  Of course, one of the main projects I'd like to get done before we leave is the paint job on this dappled fellow:

"Who's that pretty horse in the mirror, there?"

It has been a joy to work on this sculpt of Sarah MB's. He still needs bit more work- but I'm hoping to get the mane, tail and details done this week.  And maybe mess with the dapples a wee bit more...  (Btw- he lives in the largely unused guest bath, because there is a cupboard there in which he is safest- hence the locale of this shot!).

Now that I've been at this professional art thing for a decade, I've been reflecting lately on my journey- the highs and lows- the milestones along the way.  I plan on doing a special edition blog post on the 10th to get into this a little more.  But as I was packing & cleaning the other day, I came across a box that dates way back beyond the start of Velasquez Artistry...  I almost hesitate to share (Joanie B. would call it "blackmail material," in her joking way), but I thought it was good for a laugh, so here you go.  Some of my very first horse sculptures:

"Horse Shaped Objects"

I don't 100% recall when these were produced- I think the two on the left were at age 14, and yes- they both were made of air-dry clay over a wooden skewer armature! (I am amazed they are this much in tact!  There are a fair number of cracks; especially in the legs).  The other is a sculpy & epoxy unfinished foal- I must have been 16 when I started this one.  I know it was after I met Kristina Lucas-Francis, for she was a great inspiration to me as I was starting.  This must have been the foal I abandoned before taking up oil-clay to do my first ceramic piece, "Sweet Kate."  I didn't realize I still had these pieces- not sure I need to keep them now that they've been archived, but it was a fun trip down memory lane.  Ah, memories...!