For Love of a Gray Horse

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

COMING SOON!

I'm in the process of cleaning out my old workshop which has stood neglected for over six years now but sadly not empty since Steve, my husband, has been using it as his personal storage unit, haha. I'm also converting one of our bedrooms into a very nice studio space for "clean" work such as painting, drawing, and jewelry design. I know that none of those are necessarily what you'd think of as "clean" endeavors but trust me, compared to wood sculpture, they all can very much be described that way.

Still, mess, sawdust and all, I'm eager to start creating wood sculpture once again. My enthusiasm has returned and my creative juices are boiling! There are so many ideas and creatures in my head who are just leaping about trying to get out. Hopefully, the prep work will be done soon and I can start building an inventory, stock my two Etsy stores (Gray Horse Designs & S.Elkins~Folk Art,) finish my new websites (which are coming along nicely...you can see an example in the post below but I've done quite a bit of tweaking since I posted that image; the pages look even better now!), and post some links on here. There will be a directory of the website which you can link to directly from this page just as you can link from any of them to here (Home, Buy, Contact, Blog/News.) There will also be a listing of "brick and mortar" stores and galleries where you can view and buy my work (I'm really excited because I've already been approached by several galleries and I plan on contacting others to see if they are interested in carrying my work.) There will be a listing of LINKS to my other blogs, Facebook pages, other websites and other outlets for my work as in sites like Zazzle and others that sell products branded with my GHD designs.

I'm really excited about all of these changes and I'll announce each one of them here as soon as they are ready to launch.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Preview of New Website

As many of you may have already notice, my website has been down since January. I haven't been in a big hurry to get it running again because I want to not only add new mediums with wood sculpture, paintings and drawings, and hand crafted jewelry but I also plan to revamp the entire site. This blog is a small example of how it will look. Here also is a mockup of the new home page which shows the layout and style of the entire site. There will be four photos representing each medium instead of the single photo shown here but I had to have a photo to get my sizes and layout right. I hope that this new sight and my new online stores will be up and running by the end of July.

Friday, May 4, 2012

SOLD!

It's been a bit of dry spell but a print of this image, Olaf Contemplates, just sold over in my Etsy store, http://www.etsy.com/shop/Grayhorsedesigns.

Danny Turns Two!!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Photo a Day

Well, maybe on the blog, it should just be one a week or the entire blog will be photos ;-).
For this beautiful Spring day, Danny's first run, May 2nd, 2010.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Facebook Updates

Yesterday was a busy day for me. It started with an escaped horse, Mouse (the original gray horse :) and ended with my tax files finally being restored after either my computer or software (still not certain which one to blame) ate an entire days worth of work. Luckily, the receipts were still sorted so I put them into the computer much faster this time and I also remembered to SAVE. In between those two adventures, I managed to design new banners for my Facebook "fan" pages. The new Timeline format allows for a personalized banner or as they call it, cover photo, at the top of each page. Tomorrow, all pages, both personal and fan, will automatically switch over to the new format so I had no time to waste or I'd have an empty spot at the top of my pages.

These are the banners that I came up with for each of my business pages. I'm very pleased with all of them. What do you think?

Gray Horse Designs (my base page, base businesss, that encompasses all of the others):

LINK To page

Sande Elkins (I wanted one that used my name so that those that only know me that way could find me.):

LINK
I love this photo of Django.

S. Elkins ~ Folk Art (When I finally get my workshop and studio space finished, I will be adding any equine sculpture I do to my Gray Horse Designs gallery on Etsy.com but all other sculpture will be going into the S. Elkins ~ Folk Art gallery and will be featured on this Facebook page and accompanying blog.):

LINK
The mermaid worked perfectly for the banner because of her length and I love this funky font I found to do the title. It fits to a capital T.

The Tennessee Equestrian (As many of you know, this project has been in the works for a while. I hope that I can finally bring it to fruition this year with an e-zine and possibly a print version to accompany the already popular Facebook page and group, Tennessee Horse Owners and Businesses.):

LINK

Friday, November 11, 2011

The CARDS ARE READY!

The Christmas cards are in the Etsy.com storefront and ready for purchase.
5x5 inch bifolds with envelope, blank inside, free personalization on the outside if desired, available in three different colors and four different paper types (I prefer the Pearle or Pearle Linen because it glistens:) come in sets of 24 for $36.oo and the shipping is FREE!

Gold...personalized

Green

Blue

Also available is the 5x5inch one-sided card with a scalloped edge and if you like(you can specify your preference for this option as well as color, paper and personalization at check out), a hole for hanging. These cards are available in the same colors and papers as the bi-fold above. They come in sets of 15 for $25.5o and can also be personalized for free with your name printed on the front of the card.

These cards may be purchased through my Etsy.com store, shipping is free and they will be shipped directly from the printer to your door, usually within five business days. As stated above, you have your choice of color and paper (one preference on each per set ordered) and also the option of free personalization and/or, with the one sided, scalloped cards, a hole at the top (as shown in photo) for hanging from a ribbon as a festive decoration.

Just added, this folding card with envelopes and free personalization (as illustrated in this example). 5x7 inches with a horizontal fold these come in sets of 24 for $40.oo with FREE shipping.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Christmas Cards for 2011

Blue

Green (edges are scalloped)

Personalized - Gold

Gold (edge will be scalloped)

My Christmas card design for this year. It is a boutique card, one sided with a die cut, scalloped edge (you can barely see the edge pattern in this mockup...all of the dark edge will be cut away.) It will be one sided with a hole threaded with ribbon for hanging. It comes with envelopes and orders of 25 or more can be personalized(example below.) There will also be a discount for orders of 15 or more of the same variation (color). It is going to the printers today for my preview sample and should be available in my Etsy store by the end of the week.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Photo Shoot!

Just at daybreak on Tuesday morning, I was on the road and headed to a barn in a nearby town where a new foal resides. She's a full blooded Arabian filly, about a month old and gorgeous. I'd taken some photos of her a little over a week before but I was delayed, late and lost my light. Tuesday morning however the light was perfect! I hadn't picked my camera up since Danny's birthday on May 1st and I'd forgotten the joy that being out there in the morning dew and surrounded by horses brings to me especially when one of the horses happens to be a baby. My entire day was brighter and happier because of it. And here are a few of the images that I was lucky enough to capture.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

New Photography Book Available

All profit from the sell of this book will go toward offsetting the expense of writing and publishing The Tennessee Equestrian which offers free listing and advertising to all equine businesses, services and products that are of interest or use to the Tenn. horse owner. So alert all of your horse loving friends today!:)

The Illuminated Horse by The Photography of Sande Jones~Elkins |
This book was created as an entry in the 2011 PBN, Photography Now, Competition sponsored by Blurb.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Top Ten Finish in the Atmosphere Challenge on RedBubble.com

Where You Lead, I will Follow by GrayHorseDesign

Where You Lead, I Will Follow placed in the top 10 of the "Stir it up-Lots of Atmosphere" challenge on Redbubble.com which was also a challenge subject that I was allowed to suggest as the winner of another challenge, "Ghostly Horses" and yes, that is a photo of Danny illustrating the challenge. I wish I could have entered this image because it certainly has more atmosphere!

Shake It, Baby Shake It by GrayHorseDesign

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

All of the music on this video was written and performed by my very talented friend, Nori Bucci, and is used with her permission. Besides being an award winning musician and composer, Nori is also an amazing artist who works in graphite to create incredibly delicate and beautiful art.

All of the photographs and art work on the video are my own.

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.