It’s funny how through my life I’ve flowed from model horses to real horses to models again, like waves on a beach.
Right now, my real horse life is at a low ebb. A few years ago I sold my last real horse, my trailer, a lot of tack, and eventually my truck. Things had reached a point where I no longer had the time or money (or maybe even the heart) to continue my equestrian ambitions. Then when COVID struck at the beginning of 2020, I also gave up riding other people’s horses — at least for now.
But with the loss of my real horses, I’ve found a lot of solace in creating increasingly ambitious custom models.
For me, participating in the MEPSA Makeovers is a great outlet for the part of me that still yearns for horsey competition. I may not be out at the barn at all hours conditioning my gelding, but you’ll find me in the studio every spare minute, tinkering with something.
I love the way this competition is designed — everyone starts with the same raw materials, and we all end up somewhere different. Sometimes VERY different.
I’m thankful to MEPSA for offering such a great creative outlet, and I absolutely plan to keep participating. Heck, maybe I’ll go completely off the rails and enter the tack competition some day!
Appaloosa mule 2020 MEPSA San Domingo Makeover: To be honest, I entered the contest because the prize was a Juggernaut resin and there was literally no other way for me to get my hands on one. But as it turned out, I fell in love with this little mule. And his color pushed me in ways I never would have pushed myself otherwise.
Pinto MFT 2021 MEPSA Big Ben Makeover: This guy was an ambitious project in a completely different way than the San Domingo mule was. In 2020, I moved from my townhouse into a tiny apartment, and then moved from the apartment into a house a couple months later. I had no studio space from September 2020 until January 2021. All of my customizing supplies were in storage. It’s something of a miracle that I finished him at all!
To see more of my work, follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/portmanteauequineart or visit my website, www.portmanteauequineart.com.
Motivation shadow box: There used to be a live show in my area called Card Shark, where one of the theme classes was to use a shark as part of your entry. It’s pretty much impossible for me to do anything halfway, so I created this entire silly micro mini diorama just for that show. It earned me my first and only placing in performance. And yes, I have an idea for a companion piece with LED lights and MORE SHARKS.
Dapple gray custom G3 cantering warmblood: I wanted to include this little custom I named Durmstang on this list because he’s another piece that represents me moving forward as an artist. The thing is, I’m not a mini person. My preferred scale is classic. But I created this little guy as something of a challenge to myself: Could I do drastic customs in smaller scales? It turns out that Stablemates are harder than the big guys in a lot of ways. It’s not just that the painted details are so much smaller, but also that the plastic behaves really differently. What I like about him is that you wouldn’t recognize the base model without being told. That’s almost always my goal with customs — complete transformation.
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