It's been a long time, hasn't it? Are you ready? Our next offering is Hadrian, a thumb-scale Dales Pony, sculpted by Sarah Rose. Hadrian is an adorable little stallion and will be coming out in a shaded bay, with no white markings. This is a typical color for Dales Ponies, they have very little or no white. Choosing this color allows me to try something intriguing, something that Hagen-Renaker has done for years. I am tinting the slip that will be used to cast Hadrian, so he will actually be brown all the way through! This will save time, and will make the horse more consistent. It will also keep his detail as crisp as possible, since the underglaze paint layers will not obscure it. I am excited about this new technology, and pleased to have the perfect horse to use it on. Sarah Rose is a very highly esteemed artist, whose work is sought after in both the resin and china markets. She is one of the most talented artists among us, and a pleasure to work with. She sculpted Hadrian for Pour Horse, and has released him through Horsing Around in resin. Thank you, Sarah! You are receiving a photo of Hadrian with this mailing. Please keep this photo, I printed 350 of them. Do not, however, use it for showing or auctioning purposes, since your own horse will vary. The horse in this photo is a test, he doesn't have quite as much shading as the regular production horses will. You can see how much detail and crispness is coming through. The mane and tail are hand painted, which is unusual for Pour Horses, but comparing the hand painted with the airbrushed manes and tails, everyone preferred the hand painted. Although it will be a little more work, I think the results are worth it. He is 2.75" tall at the eartips, which makes him almost exactly the size of Limerick. His price will be $65.00, shipped in a foam box. Bisques will be $55.00, shipped. For those of you who are new, you are allowed to purchase one glazed piece, which is decorated and finished; and one bisque if you wish. However, the bisque pieces are just white fired ceramic and are undecorated. They are "blank bodies", suitable for customizing. If you don't really want a bisque, you may want to think twice about ordering one. It isn't easy to find someone who will glaze them, and if you have someone paint them with acrylics the paint can't really be removed later. In order to make it fair for everyone, I set a "first day for mailing". This allows everyone, all across the country, to mail in their orders at the same time. I always get a flood of orders almost immediately, so sending in your order on that day doesn't necessarily guarantee that your horse will come quickly! You may NOT email in your order, or call it in. It must come on the enclosed form, by some form of mail. You may send in your order beginning April 1st, 2003. Any order whose postmark is before this date will be rejected. You can mail your order in on Tuesday, April 1st, and not a moment before! You have until May 1st to send it in. This is only one month! Please don't delay, send it in between April 1st and May 1st. I hope to get the Hadrians made in a reasonable time frame, no guesses at this point but I will be really concentrating on them. Usually, I make a large horse and a mini at the same time, but with Hadrian I will just be making him alone. We'll see how that goes. I am anticipating a new eyeglass prescription! When Red Okie Clay came out, there was a box to check if you were interested in a custom. Once again, demand far exceeded expectation, and I received over eighty requests! I can't make eighty customs of Okie, or indeed of anything! I am sorry that more hasn't been done to satisfy that list of people, but it is hard to even think about eighty customs. If you checked a box, and are still interested in an Okie custom, you will eventually receive something in the mail about it. I haven't worked out the logistics of how to offer a limited number of customs to that list, and am still thinking about it. There is of course a new company, Marcher Ware, that I am working on. The idea came out of a trip to England, last October. Mark Farmer (of Alchemy Ceramics) and I decided that we could get together and create a line of very high end horses, limited editions and customs, using the best of each company. Mark is casting the bodies in bone china, which is very strong and fine, and captures more detail and movement than I can with earthenware. Then he ships the blank bodies here, and I paint them in the style of Pour Horse, and glaze them. The result is a horse that has extreme detail, and finely shaded colors. We are producing horses from the very best artists in the hobby, horses that lend themselves to this involved and expensive process. Our first horse has been seen at BOYC, but is not available yet. He is Lirico, an Iberian stallion in a small classic scale. Lirico was sculpted for us by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig. He is the most detailed horse sculpture I have ever seen. The mailing will go out to all of you, when the horses are ready. The mailing will ONLY go out to you, the people on the Pour Horse mailing list, no one can be added at this time. You will receive the mailing and have a chance to enter the lottery drawing for the available horses. Details will be in the mailing, and I don't currently have a timeframe in place for that. You can check out the website at www.marcherware.com and also join the Yahoo group using the button on the first page. The Yahoo group will keep you informed of the progress, but joining it is not necessary. If you received this mailing, you will receive the Marcher Ware mailing for Lirico! You don't need to do anything. This mailing also includes the next issue of Pour Horse Patter, the free newsletter from Pour Horse Pottery. Thank you to Cynthia Gardner, Tara Olsen, and Elizabeth Holm for all of their work on this issue. Their dedication and enthusiasm make it all worthwhile. You will be able to see supplemental photos of this issue, including color photos, on the website at www.pourhorse.com eventually. Join the yahoo group, pourhorsefactory, or visit the website occasionally if you are interested. Finally, it is a good moment to take a pause and thank all of you for your support. When Pour Horse started in 1995, it was hard to see what the future would hold. Now, with 340 people on the mailing list, and something over 2,500 horses produced, it is easy to look back and see the progress. Collectors drive me, they encourage and support me, and give me strength to go on. When production gets repetitive, a call from a longtime collector and friend will give me fresh energy to plunge back in and work again. You are the reason I continue to make horses, and strive to create the highest quality possible. So, on April 1st, you are welcome to mail in your order for Hadrian. I will make a horse for every order that is postmarked between April 1st and May 1st. You can send in your order on the very first day, or wait until the last day, but please keep these dates in mind and don't forget. I hope you like Hadrian, and of course (as always) he is better in person than in the photo! Looking forward to hearing from you all, Joanie |
