Pony Express, part 1

I took a week off there, for a well-deserved camping vacation, but am now, ahem, back in the saddle.  I'm back working at the maintenance building at Stewart Park during these last few weeks of nice summery weather.  I will sorely miss Julia this fall!

This past week I started on the TENTH HORSE!  We are 1/3 of the way there already!  This particular horse has been the "Pony Express" horse since before Annie painted it.  We decided to keep this one and the Well Fargo horse as part of the history that is constantly being layered onto this public piece of art.  Here's a photo before:

 

"Pony Express" to me implies dashing over the plains, with a generous splash of the pioneer spirit.  To that end, she will become a pinto pony (that's what those "cow spot" horses are called, but I hope mine will look realistically equine rather than bovine) with a quilt for a saddle blanket.  I'm imagining what the pony express rider would have taken with him to keep warm as they ran across the country.

Sadly I don't have a good photo of my progress to show you, because during the afternoon I stopped painting to (drum roll) be interviewed for Time Warner cable news!  And then it was about to rain so we scooted the horses and paint cans all back inside, and I totally forgot to take photos.  This has been a big few weeks of great media coverage and curiosity, and it was rather a thrill to be talking about our humble project on TV.  Also a little nervous-making, my introverted self would rather be quietly painting than be all over the media, but I think I did alright.  If you are a T-W subscriber, you can find the interview on their website.

I want to also thank my Farmers' Market community for their generous contributions in the last few weeks!  The public support for these horses has been amazing.

Also, we have a Facebook page now!  Like us at facebook.com/stewartparkcarousel for quick and easy updates.

-Christi