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!