Introduction written by Toni Rakestraw.
I met Missy Shaw online, saw her in person at the last (and first!) live show I attended before the pandemic hit, and was overjoyed to find out she actually lived in the same town I do. Since then we have gotten to know each other a bit better. I’ve bought some models from her over the years, she helped us out in our recent ice storm by taking in our gecko when our power went out (hers didn’t!), and she’s always happy to answer model horse questions when I have them.
Missy is a wonderful artist with a style all her own. I’m so happy to introduce her here with examples of her amazing work.
Q: How did you get into model horses?
Missy: I have loved horses my whole life, having grown up in a rural town where they surrounded me on all sides of our property. In the early 90’s, a commercial aired featuring a beautiful black horse galloping across an open field—or maybe it was a sand duen. My memory is admittedly a little fuzzy on the details, but the gist is it was a Breyer commercial and it drove home the point like only 90’s toy commercials could, that I HAD TO HAVE ONE. My grandparents presented my first Breyers to me on Christmas morning 1992 (the Classic scale Trakehner Family) and the obsession was born. I bought my first Traditional scale model with my birthday money a couple years later, and soon I got my hands on a Just About Horses magazine and had Breyerfest in my sights. I attended the event for the first time in 1997, started showing in 2000, and finally decided to try my hand at customizing in 2019. It has become an integral part of my life, having introduced me to some of the best friends a gal could ask for, as well as combining my two passions: horses and the arts.
Q: When did you start photo showing?
Missy: I did not start photo showing until the Covid-19 pandemic, spring-summer 2020.
Q: How did you find out about MEPSA?
Missy: I found out about MEPSA the way I find out about most hobby news—from friends on social media who are in the know.
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Q: Tell us a little bit about your life.
Missy: I live in the Pacific Northwest—lifelong Oregonian, University of Oregon alum, go Ducks! I majored in fine arts, with a minor in western art history. I spent my childhood riding my Arabian gelding and volunteering with the equestrian division of the Oregon Special Olympics. I took my horse to college with me, and we spent the weekends exploring the trails of far west Eugene. After I graduated (and married my husband), I decided I wanted to start taking riding lessons again and I joined a hunter jumper barn. After a year leasing a school horse, I bought my second gelding, a Thoroughbred, and enjoyed six years on the local A circuit with him. My husband and I welcomed our son in 2011 and our daughter in 2018, and they enjoy sharing aspects of the model horse hobby with me.
Q: What was your first model horse:
Missy: Breyer’s Classic scale Trakehner Family (#3347)
Q: Do you have hobbies other than model horses?
Missy: I am very much an animal lover, and enjoy caring for my dog, two cats, bearded dragon, crested gecko, and leopard gecko. I also still dabble in photography and love to visit the Oregon Coast with my family.
Q: Do you have any role models?
Missy: Absolutely! My mother is one of the most detailed, organized, and service-oriented people I know, and I strive to emulate her in myriad aspects of my life. I have an entire roster of artists whose work I admire, among them Mel Miller, Kylee Parks, Morgen Kilbourn, Kristen Cermele, Ruth Sheridan, Maggie Jenner-Bennett, and Erika Isbell. I love art that is emotive, genuine, dynamic, and correct, and I am consistently blown away by these artists’ creativity and innovation. I also admire Jennifer Buxton’s establishment of a whole event that has kindled the creativity of hundreds of hobbyists, Kirsten Wellman’s devotion to Thoroughbred bloodlines and general Breyer history, Lesli Kathman’s encyclopedic knowledge of color/pattern genetics, Erin Corbett for getting her master’s degree in business and parlaying that into ownership of Stone Horses, and Sarah Townsend’s ability to remember hobby trivia when I can barely keep my years and months straight. Talk to me long enough and I will tell you everything I love about every friend I have in this hobby.
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Q: When/how did you start customizing?
Missy: Even as an art major, painting was always kind of my white whale. It was not a medium I had a lot of patience for, and as a result I kind of eschewed realistic art as a whole. I lamented this for year for years because customizing looked so fun, but in 2019 my friends Sandra Gibson and Julie Ward pointed out that if I could blend eyeshadow like I did, I could certainly blend pan pastels and earth pigments. I had never even HEARD of pan pastels, but I decided to try. It took some getting used to, like any new skill, but thanks hugely to the tutelage from Stephanie Blaylock, it remains my favorite medium.
Q: Where do you get your ideas/inspiration?
Missy: I like to model my realistic pieces on horses I know or see in real life, and my fantasy pieces are based largely on what I see in nature or the thought process of “what would happen if I tried THIS” —sometimes the best ideas come from just being willing to try something you’ve never done before.
Q: What is your preferred media?
Missy: I prefer pan pastels, but I am shifting into using acrylics more and more. I also love Pearlex and other shimmery pigments—even eyeshadow! My cabinet is full of expired but high-quality eyeshadow palettes and they can make for great decorator under-colors.
Q: How can folks find more of your work?
Missy: I have a Facebook page and an Instagram dedicated to my art, collection, and overall place in the hobby—Mountain Sun Arts is my studio name.
This custom Breyer Classic Stock Horse Gelding below was Missy’s donation to MEPSA. Thank you, Missy!
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