Don Colorado ~ Stallion of Earth
Don Colorado ~ Stallion of Earth
For Sale: $175
Link to Purchase Don Colorado on ArtFire.com
Don Colorado started life as a simple plastic horse with skinny legs and a fluffy white mane. A WHOLE lot of paper clay later he had a more Clysdale like stature and weight to him which felt right for a horse who wanted to represent the strata of the Grand Canyon.
While the layers of clay were drying I did a little… um… digging (sorry… I couldn’t resist) and went off to research the actual layers of the Grand Canyon. I can’t say that Don Colorado is an exact match to the layers but research is always a great place for me to start as an artist.
Each of the layers were done one at time (and I am not a patient lady!) by applying a layer of glue and then a layer of sand or rock or both, over and over again until the layer looked “right” and stayed right once it was dry. Then I moved on to the next layer. While the whole horse didn’t take all that long to make in total time, it took many days longer than my other horses have because of the need to slow down and let each layer fully dry before starting on the next. All of the beads in his mane and tail are either stone or bone and are securely anchored to a base of fabric that was crafted ahead of time and glued to the base body.
The final bit was to paint in his facial features which of course meant the Horse who was giving me notes while I worked, really came to front and started “talking” once I finished painting his smile in!
Don Colorado was very clear about the fact that he was made of stone, dry dessert air, high noon, and the very bones of the earth. I can imagine him standing watch on a mountain top, blending in with the rocks around him, watching out for danger and trouble, protecting those he loves, his wife, his children, his people. He is a Stallion and a leader, with the earth in his very bones.
