For Love of a Gray Horse: January 16th

Friday, January 16, 2009

January 16th

I have a new video/slide show up and this one features Nori Bucci and her song, No Stranger. You can actually view it below! Hope you like it; I can guarantee that you'll love Nori's music. She is amazingly talented and I'm thrilled and honored that she's allowing me to use her music with my photo slide shows.

I just signed up on Face Book yesterday. I know, I know, I've been on the internet for forever or at least over 15 years and I'm just now getting around to joining Face Book?? What's up with me? lol

Anyhow, I'm so excited because I've connected on there with friends I haven't seen since high school...many, many moons ago!! That would be Daryl Lunsford, who happens to be an incredibly talented musician and now lives in Illinois, and Paul Julian, who is also a photographer!! Small world, huh? Actually, for a small school in a small town, we had a lot of creative kids then and still do for that matter. I also connected with two wonderful ladies from my childhood that I have occasionally run into over the last thirty+++ years, Jan Evans...who I always seem to see at the grocery store but now it will be nice to hear from her more often...and Claudia Hines-Tester...who I grew up with and we use to ride our bikes from dawn 'till dusk all through those wonderful long ago summers:-) Jan has lived in Sweetwater, where I grocery shop,lol, for years and Claudia, who was a hometown teacher until just last year, has moved to Florida recently. I know she loves her life down there in the sub-tropical warmth but I will miss seeing her even if it was only occasionally.

I also reconnected with some great friends from my wood carving and show days. Anne Brattan was my best friend for years and she was not only an artist but she also promoted several shows that I did in the Chicago area. We've lost touch since both of us have moved on in other career directions(Anne is now a fine artist rep. and promoter) so it was great to hear from her,too. Then this morning, I got a wonderful surprise when I was "friended" by Anne's middle daughter, Katie. Anne has three great daughters Kristen, who lives and works in Scotland now, Megan, the baby who is studying art in SC, and my sweet Kate:-), who is doing oceanic research. Anne's husband, Tom, is a football coach at Maryland and I got to give a big WhooHoo for their big bowl win over the holidays!!

That is all the news for now. I shouldn't still be sitting here since I'm so far behind on EVERYTHING but I wanted to give a big shout out to all my new-old friends:-)...and I've also been waiting all morning for the Bonnie Raitt tickets to go on sale...Yeh!! Love Bonnie and she is coming to the Tennessee in March. This will be Steve's b'day gift for this year....he turns 55 on Sunday!! Yeh! for that, too.

Take care all and I will post again soon....but I won't promise everyday. ~Sande

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me & Gray Horse Designs

I've always had artistic leanings. I was drawing stick figures before I could talk. Friends recall that I was constantly drawing or painting as a child. I grew up and I did major in art in college but I never could find direction. I kept switching majors and trying so many different things trying to find the one that fit, the one that fulfilled me. I seemed destined for a while to be a lifetime student. Then one day, I found myself out of work, burned out on school, and very depressed because I'd also just suffered a miscarriage. I was alone at home and totally at loose ends when I picked up a piece of wood and began to see a horse in it. The irony of that will become more evident later in this story but the truth was, that as soon as I touched a knife to that block of wood, it was magic. I felt as if I'd come home. From that one piece of scrap wood and a small cheap craft knife, a business grew and took on a life of its own. I started creating whimsical, wood sculptures and I sold my work all over the world. Then one day, at a crafts exhibition in Chicago, I met the head of Enesco's new gift wares section and my career took off in yet another direction. I designed several very successful lines for them over the next five years but after fifteen years in this business, I started slowing down and losing my enthusiasm. I decided that I'd try another medium but like trying to find my direction in life those many years before, this wasn't an easy task.

I knew that I still wanted to be creative but I didn't know what medium I wanted to try next. So, I tried many but no magic, no flashes of inspiration. Then one day, my husband and I were sitting on a Mexican beach relaxing and enjoying the salty breezes and beautiful views. It was his 50th birthday. He told me how much he was enjoying himself and he asked me what I was going to want for my 50th birthday which would be coming around in two years. I didn't even hesitate before I answered him. "A horse!" I said simply and to the point. I'd wanted a horse for as long as I could remember and I knew that if I didn't get one soon, I'd never get one. So, from the moment we touched down on US soil, I began my quest. There were two things that I didn't realize at the time, that my horse would actually arrive soon after my 49th birthday and that she would totally change my life. Everyone told me that at my "advancing" age, I surely needed a gaited horse because their smooth gait was much easier on aging joints. I began my search knowing nothing about horses or even what I really wanted and certainly nothing about what I needed in a horse.

I was lucky because I met two great horse ladies who pointed me in the right direction. The first told me that the horse I wanted was a Missouri Fox Trotter and the second lady, Fran Forester, offered to help me find the perfect MFT for me. She told me about a man she knew who knew more about horses and specifically more about MFTs than anyone she'd ever met. The only problem was, he very seldom agreed to sell one of his horses. Then one day, she contacts me and she is very excited. The man, Huston Jenkins, was selling some of his horses and one of them was the dapple gray that I'd been dreaming of. I'd told everyone that I wanted a dapple gray horse and when I found her, I would call her Mouse. Huston's niece had promised to take some photos of the gray horse and email them to me. They arrived in the middle of the night but I had been waiting for them. I printed them and thumbtacked them to the bathroom wall beside the mirror so that they'd be the first thing my husband, Steve, saw when he got up the next morning. I wrote across the photos, "This is the ONE!!" I'd decided that as soon as I saw her but I was even more convinced that it was fate when I saw her papered name, Mouse's Funny Face. My fate was sealed.

That was over five years ago and that beautiful, dapple gray mare has since become my muse, my inspiration, my teacher and my life. I started doing equine photography and art because of her. I've met so many wonderful people and horses because of her. My herd has grown from one horse to five now. The latest was a gift from Mouse two years ago, our sweet, lovable and beautiful Danny (Traveler's Sensational Flyby.) I have a blog dedicated to Danny called Fly By Danny Boy that tells his story.

For several years, I tried to start a new business doing strictly equine photography but I soon discovered that this is the wrong economic climate for starting a new business of any type but especially one that's primary product is a luxury. I've been doing art my entire life so I'm not ready to give it up. In fact, my solution is to diversify. I plan on cleaning out my workshop and studio and starting to do wood sculpture again as well as painting and drawing and hopefully handcrafted jewelry. My old enthusiasm and creative drive have returned in force. All of the mediums that I'm delving into will be diverse in subject as well but I'd be willing to bet the farm on the fact that the majority of art work will be equine in theme.

Friday, January 16, 2009

January 16th

No comments:

Post a Comment

If I Could Fly