Hubby and I had about 20 minutes to breeze through the Draft Horse Classic this year.
(I wrote about the Draft Horse Classic previously here.)
The Draft Horse Classic is a huge event (huge for us around here…) that draws draft teams – and individuals – from all over the country to compete and show.
The horses are incredible. Awesome. (The braiding, grooming, tack and dedication always captures my eye and inspires me.)
The pulling events are breathtaking.
The teamwork is fascinating.
The mares are so B-I-G.
The studs are magnificent.
The geldings are sweet, gorgeous and goofy.
I love the entire show.
The Budweiser Clydesdales used to show every year but not this year, for some reason.
Sigh.
Anyway…
This year, we couldn’t attend. We had no time.
Drat!
So, instead, we Hubby and I met there after work and raced through the art building to meet up with our good friend, Leslie Anne Webb.
She was showing her new pieces and this one below “Elwood” grabbed me by the heart!
It is 96″ tall! (8 FEET TALL!!)
“Elwood” by Leslie Anne Webb. This painting is 8 feet tall!! It grips you when you walk into the gallery!
OMG. Such a statement.
‘Elwood’ was inspired by Elwood the horse, who actually participates in the Draft Horse Classic every year.
Love that.
Elwood’s story from Leslie’s website.
DEBORAH KUNIC
While there, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to purchase a few items from Deborah Kunic.
All of them made me smile!
Deborah’s booth had Western/Ranch life themed etchings, watercolors, bronzes, tiles, ceramics, line drawing, cards… I couldn’t make up my mind!!
I ended up with two mugs, a tile, a tiny original watercolor (Yay!) and a bronze pig!!!
(The tile didn’t make it into the bag so I need to go back for that…)
I NEVER buy stuff for myself and I was just delighted to have these treats!
But before I show you what I bought for myself, I wanted to give you her website and tell you about her etchings.
I find etching a fascinating process.
To etch, you have to draw – backwards.
Whatever you’ve etched is then flipped over and printed frontways.
Mind boggling for someone like me who can barely draw a straight line…
Here are excerpts from her website about etching:
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MY NEW FINDS!!
While in Deborah’s booth, I grabbed a few new pieces for myself….
The first piece I loved was this mini watercolor of a young donk.
Simple, sweet and affordable.
I thought this was very sweet… an original watercolor – mini sized.
The next pieces that I needed were these one of a kind mugs. She hand paints each one!!! I asked if she had more since there was only one on display and she let me paw through her box in the back of her hand painted designs. I was in HEAVEN! I am a sucker for original art.
Hubby liked the donkey head and I liked the youngster. Both of the mugs had dogs that reminded us of our Dexter so we had to purchase these for our morning coffee!
Hubby picked the donk. I liked the Yearliing mug. Both hand drawn and unique.
Both of the mugs had little Dex-like dogs on the back.
The entire time I was scouring Deborah’s booth, I had been eyeing one of her original bronzes. It was a little pig – the size of my hand.
When Hubby was in the booth, he said, “I like that pig!”.
Uh oh.
That did it.
I asked Deborah to wrap up the pig, too….
Gulp.
But, I love it. Reminds me of my pigs, Fanny and Pearl, who lived to be 18 and 15 respectively.
My new personal pig bronze. Love it! (palm sized)
THANK YOU for letting me sharing my love of Western art… There were many, many more artist there and I only wish I had time to review them all.
Next year…
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
Copyright
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Oh I hope you are correct!!! I’ve heard differently… I will get back to you!
As a resident of St. Louis and HUGE fan of the Budweiser Clydesdales, I rushed to look at the schedule for the touring hitches, hoping that you were incorrect and InBev has NOT discontinued them. WHEW! Nope, the beautiful horses are still out and about. (Didn’t think they were gone, but you scared me) Looks like the West Coast hitch was at the LA County Fair for most of September – they just didn’t go to your event. So, InBev might have cut down the schedule but rest assured, the horses are still very much a part of Budweiser.
Both of those ladies are very talented artists! I love your new mugs and the pig is precious.