Collections Within My Collection: Animal Artistry Customs

When you consider collections within a collection, it is highly likely that a model might fit into several different collections that are within the larger group simply labeled "Model Horse Collection."

My Animal Artistry pieces are the perfect example of that. They can be sorted into these groups:

~ Chinas

~ Circus Horses

~ RubberNedz

~ Animal Artistry

~ Europeanware

~ Scale

~ Resins

~ Models with tack

~ Customs

See what I mean? And as I was wrapping up the second of the customs posts, I realized that every single one of my Animal Artistry pieces was also a custom. Their color, tack, and plumes were all chosen either by me or, in one case, someone else. 

Misty Dawn, 2017

Around ten years ago, Donna Chaney was doing a Limited Edition Rearing Circus Horse  of 25 in bone china.

Knowing what had worked well before, Donna helped me with the color choices.  I ordered silver tack with blue plumes on a grey horse.

She told me the wait would be long, but I was fine with that. A year later, Misty Dawn arrived on my porch. I am so pleased with how it turned out.

Merriment, 2018 

In 2018 I went to a swap meet and discovered this Classic sized resin on a sales table. Painted in 2002 by Lisa Rivera, it is an older piece but still quite lovely and affordable. Home with me it came. Knowing that I would never own the piece in china, I was so excited to have the resin.

At one point after joining my collection, disaster struck this piece. It tipped over and out the open china cabinet door. Despite the carpeting on the floor, I heard it break into pieces as it tumbled onto the ground. Fortunately, a trip to Jenn Danza made this beautiful resin whole again.

Merrilee, 2015 or so

A curio scale Striking Arabian Circus Horse in resin, I asked Donna to paint it in a leopard Appaloosa with gold and red tack and plumes.

Sadly, despite Donna's excellent packing job, a plume broke off while being shipped from England. The piece was also tippy and fell over many times on the shelf. I had it repaired but when it most recently toppled and lost a leg and plume,

I gathered the pieces and put them in an envelope and let the pony rest on the shelf as it was.

Gingerbredz, 2015 

 I had always thought that Donna's RubberNedz were cute, but I am not one for My Little Ponyesque models.

(Photo from Google Images and credited to chestnutridgeblog.com.)

Until I saw a RubberNedz Circus Pony done on her Tagus mold, and accented with Swarovski crystals. Immediately I emailed Donna and asked for a RubberNedz Circus Pony.

Together we came up with a color theme using my favorite color of orange along with gold, accented with Swarovski crystals, on a bay horse.

I fell in love with him and named him Gingerbredz.

Mr. Nedz 2020

Donna was at BreyerFest in 2017 and she and I finally had a chance to chat in person. She had a gorgeous traditional sized rearing Andalusian on display that was either resin or bone china. As I shared with her my love of Gingerbredz, she mentioned that she planned to turn the piece into a RubberNedz Circus Horse.

The cost she quoted was enough that I needed to think about it before buying. And think I did. Later that summer, I wrote Donna and asked if I could purchase one. She was willing to take my order, and agreed to paint it bay with orange and gold tack to match Gingerbredz. I knew it would be a while before I got it; Donna had once written that the RubberNedz were time consuming to make, but I also knew that it would be worth the wait.

When he arrived, I was struck by how heavy he was. Much more than plastic, resin, or china! But he was stunning.

I  named him Mr. Nedz (those of you who remember the TV show, Mr. Ed, will catch the reference) and have had a lot of fun with him. 

Despite the Fabio hair, he has done well in shows. I enjoy setting up scenes with him, not just for shows but simply for fun, too. (The flamingos are a running joke between Anne Field and me; I enjoy sending her performance pics with them.)

Not only is this collection within my collection part of the customs collection, it is also all of my Animal Artistry pieces - this post actually covered two of my collections within my collection.

That ticks off the box for customs on my list of collections to cover. There are more collections to come!

Stay 'tooned!

Circus Time: Animal Artistry

Donna Chaney sculpted a mold that she named the Striking Arabian. It was pretty, but I did not purchase one until she turned it into a circus horse.

She produced these circus horses in china but they were way out of my budget. I was drooling over them online one day and discovered that Donna was also offering the piece as a resin. It was much smaller (curio sized) but it was affordable. Quickly I ordered one.

The plumes on it are very, very fragile and one broke off during shipping while another broke when I took it to a show. (Not Donna's fault - her packing jobs are terrific.)

Of course, I kept going to Donna's web site to see if there were any new circus horses that I could afford. One day, I again got lucky. She was offering a mini version of the rearing Arabian as a circus horse in china. The edition was limited to 25 worldwide, and I was lucky enough to  snag one.

I named it Misty Dawn after a pony I once knew, and while I have taken it to shows a couple of times, it is so delicate that I have decided to keep it at home from now on.

Finally, fast forward to just a few years ago when I went to a swap meet and discovered this full sized resin on a sales table. Painted in 2002 by Lisa Rivera, it is an older piece but still quite lovely and affordable. Home with me it came. Knowing that I would never own the piece in china, I was soooooooo excited to have the china-sized resin.

And then, disaster struck. I was reaching around it in the china cabinet to retrieve another piece. I must've bumped it and it tipped over and out the open cabinet door. Despite the carpeting on the floor, I heard it break into pieces as it tumbled onto the ground.

I couldn't look. I stood frozen, my arm still inside the cabinet and my eyes squeezed shut tight. Craig came rushing into the living room from another part of the house, asking me if I were hurt.

Still not looking, I asked him what he saw on the floor. "It's bad," he said quietly, and I felt my heart shatter, just as the horse had. Craig helped me find all the pieces (one had actually bounced back into the china hutch and was on a shelf - it took forever to find that piece!) and I set the pieces together on my desk.

Fortunately I was able to send him off to Jennifer Danza for repair and he looks as good as new now.

Tomorrow  I'll show you a porcelain piece from a company that was on the east coast. Any guesses as to who that company might be? It isn't Breyer, but it did call New Jersey its home.

Prepare to be amazed!

 

Circus Girls - A Dream Come True

Circus girls! My favorite imaginative game to play as a kid. Leslie and I would pack cardboard suitcases (swiped from our dolls) and get on the circus train (the couch) and  travel to the circus's next destination. (Always the back yard.) There we would put on performances before packing up again and traveling to the next town.

Leslie and I grew out of our game, but we are both very fond of the memories. "Of course I remember Circus Girls!" Leslie responded when I asked. "Those were tremendous memories!" Yep! They sure were.The Circus Girls actually got to go to Baraboo, Wisconsin and meet some real circus horses when we were a little older. That was a treat. (Leslie and me along with our little sister, Jenny.)

Finally, after years and years of thinking about it, I circled  back to my Circus Girl roots. I did some research and asked Donna Chaney to make me a RubberNedz Circus Horse and Anne Field to make me a Circus Girl Doll. 

The end result was just as I'd hoped and imagined it to be. I never had a real horse who looked like Mr. Nedz, but I did have someone who looked like my new doll. 

You see, my elegant new doll is me, Circus Girl Lynn. And she is just as I imagined her, all those years ago.

Thanks so much, Anne, for bringing my dream to life. 

(I'll explain Flamingo Pond tomorrow.)

My New RubberNedz!

Donna Chaney of Animal Artistry  has been making lovely china and resin pieces since 1983. I especially love her circus horses and have several of them:

 A small Striking Arabian Circus Horse in resin,

a Limited Edition Rearing Circus Horse in bone china,

and Tagus done as a RubberNedz Circus Horse. This was my first RubberNedz. But it wasn't my last.

I stopped by Donna's booth at BreyerFest last year and chatted with her. She told me that she had begun making her Rearing Andalusian Stallion as RubberNedz Circus Horses and showed me the one she had brought as a sample. (Sadly, I did not take a photo of it.) It was beautiful, and sure gave me something to think about.

Later that summer, I wrote Donna and asked if I could purchase one. She was willing to take my order, and agreed to paint it bay with orange and gold tack to match my other piece. I knew it would be a while before I got it; Donna once wrote that the RubberNedz were time consuming to make, but I knew it would be worth the wait.

Last month Donna wrote me and said he was nearly done and that she would be mailing him soon. A week or so later I received a tracking number and began watching its slow progress from Herefordshire, England to Indiana.

It took almost three weeks to arrive, and went from New York to Miami before coming to Indiana.

But at last that box arrived.

 And I am thrilled to have him!

Big plans are in the work for this one. More about that in a future post.

A New Rubber Nedz is in the Works

I find Donna Chaney's Rubber Nedz horses charming as well as beautiful. Several years ago I contacted Donna about making me one as a circus pony in bay with orange plumes. Donna did not disappoint.

 Done on her Tagus mold, and accented with Swarovski crystals,

 I think he is beautiful.

After I had let Donna know that he had arrived and how happy I was with him, she gave me some exciting news.

Dear Lynn, l am so  pleased that you are happy with him :)
Later in the year l hope to produce a Rearing Andalusian RubberNed 
circus horse :) He is going to be very handsome :).......he is all 
finished and ready to make the moulds, but it will take a while to get 
him into production. Have a very Happy New Year, Donna.

Another Donna Chaney Rubber Nedz circus pony?? I signed up for one right away! This week I got an email from Donna updating me on the process of my next Rubber Nedz.

Dear Lynn, l hope to have him in progress just before Christmas. l just wanted to check you still want him, before we start painting him :) lf you can send a picture of the one we have done already, that would be very useful, Donna.

I quickly sent her the photos of both sides of my first Rubber Nedz as she had requested plus a close up of his face.

Thank you for the picture :) He is a pretty boy :) and the next one should be very pretty too! l’ll be in touch, Donna.

But then a thought hit me and I suddenly connected a couple of dots. At the Artisans' Gallery at this year's BreyerFest, Donna had had a large, traditional sized rearing circus horse on display. Was that what I had committed to? And not a smaller piece like the one I already had?

Quickly I reviewed my email correspondence with Donna and looked up the mold she had said that my next piece would be done on.

Animal Artistry Rearing Andalusian. Photo from Equine Resin Directory and taken from Google Images.

Lucky me - it was! I had misunderstood the scale of the piece I'd ordered, but that was not Donna's fault. Besides, I much prefer traditional sized models. I am excited as I will be getting even more than I anticipated. 

My New RubberNedz Circus Pony!

Donna Chaney has a fairly new line called RubberNedz which she has said are for the inner child in all of us as well as a way for her to relax and have fun away from the china business. (From her Facebook pages.)

Last August I emailed her and asked if she would do a circus pony for me with my favorite color, orange, for feathers. She agreed, and he arrived today - I was literally blown away at what was in the box!

 I'd only seen a couple of photos of them, so I was expecting something more along the lines of a My Little Pony when it came to realism.

What I got was a beautifully detailed piece for my circus pony collection! The headstall of the bridle even has orange crystals to simulate bridle rosettes!

Donna used her Tagus mold for this piece, and I think he looks wonderful as a circus pony. I am so, so happy with my first RubberNedz.

A Long-Wanted Piece

I love circus ponies. There is something about them prancing around in their feathers, sparkles, and spangles that I find charming, and I have acquired a collection of about twenty-five to thirty of them. Steha, Hagen Renaker, Breyer, Shiken, Metlox, Freeman-Leidy and others are represented in that collection.

A long-wanted piece has been a classic sized Animal Artistry Striking Out Circus Pony. I have a mini resin one, and cannot afford the china version ($900),  so I have admired this piece from afar, never dreaming that one would cross my path.

To my surprise, a resin one was at the Muncie Swap Meet, and at what I thought to be a very affordable price. I snapped him up!

 There is a signature on his belly - he was painted by Lisa Shepard in 2001.

 Isn't he beautiful?

When I showed him to Craig, he smiled and commented, "Look! He's scarlet and grey, my high school colors!" And thus he was named - Scarlet and Grey.

I am thrilled at my good fortune in finding this piece and am so happy to have him on my shelves.