Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Big Red - Not Just A Horse







































"Big Red" Not Just a Horse . . . "
Secretariat also known as "Big Red" was not 'just a horse' but he was the fastest horse of his time.  He was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and in 1973 became a U.S. Triple Crown champion.  He is considered to be one of the greatest thoroughbreds of all time.

This assemblage came together after I watched a youTUBE video about Little Red with my little grand baby. The cartoon video has a catchy tune, that stuck in my head for days. . . . (I dare you to watch the video  . . .  and see what happens)

I had this wooden carousel horse in my studio for over a year. The wooden form was beautiful, but it was a bit too big, and he had a few too many curves, so it just sat there.  Eventually, and with the help of the 'catchy' tune, he found his way to the front of the line, and I started working on him.

The carousel horse came on the round platform you see in the images above. I added a lazy-susan  under the base to give the horse the ability to move and rotate. And in my usual style, I embellished the wooden form with bits and bling, until it couldn't take any more.

But the 'pièce de résistance' (the best part) is his eye. If you look closely you will see that I was able to drill a hole straight through and insert a brass 'peep hole' normally used on a front door of a house, allowing the person inside the security of seeing outside without opening the door.

Oh yes, check out his horse shoes, foils from my favorite Sonoma County wines.
He is fabulous!

 UPDATE: Today 3/27/12 while gallery sitting at the Sebastopol Gallery, where I show my work . . .  the lovely Ms. JustineToms came in telling me she had been in a couple of days before and had to come back and take "Big Red" home with her.  Yey!  He has a new home.
I happened to have my camera with me and I insisted on taking a final photo!  Thank you Justine!  What fun we had today. I hope Big Red puts a Big smile one your face everyday!


13 comments:

  1. Great piece, thanks for pointing out what the eye was. ( I had missed that) !

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  2. He is beatiful and fun... exactly how a carousel horse should be! and the eye is brilliant!!

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    1. Very fun, isn't he! And the fact that Big Red was a legendary horse . . . well, i'm just sayin' . . .

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  3. yes rebeca - he is fabulous! so much to see - yes - thanks for pointing out his unique eye!

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  4. Excellent Rebeca! That's a lot of work there. Love it! You know...a few years back I drew a horse on wood and cut it out with my scroll saw. Gave it a quick paint and hung it up in my patio. It's a plain horse, but now you've given me an idea. Thank you for the inspiration. Love your horse and post.

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    1. great to hear Glo that you are thinking about working on your own amazing horse. i cannot wait to see it. . . a plain horse can always be make amazing with a little bling!

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  5. un cheval qui porte ces outils de réparation... comme une voiture..:))

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    1. bien, vous savez Elfi, . . . les chevaux ne se décomposent parfois.

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  6. I never wanted a pony, but I would love yours and take good care of it!

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    1. barbara! i had a pony. and it is a wonderful memory.
      thanks for stopping by.

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  7. What a fabulous idea for the eye! If you look one way, everything will be big, and if you look through the other way everything will look small! lol love that. This is truly an amazing work of art. I'm your newest follower too. I'm looking forward to seeing what new things you make.Michelle x

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    1. thank you Michelle! I love the 'eye' too! i try to put in a little somthin' somthin' unexpected in each of my assemblages and this peep-hole was just the thing.
      thanks again for stopping by and for following!

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