Unpainted Medallions

No pay, no work. That's my philosophy anyway, so when my primary client is two months late on sending me a paycheck, I got to sculpting, painting, and doing a lot of art work. After all, I may as well be doing what I want to do.

I have been wanting to sculpt medallions for Dottie to paint (https://www.facebook.com/ArtByDottie) for a while, so yesterday I spend all day sculpting these little guys. They are shipping out to Dottie today. She'll put her lovely paint jobs on them and then they will each go up for sale. Keep your eyes posted for them.

Lots of other stuff coming along in the studio too. Keep your eyes on my Facebook page or on the Yahoo group for details.

Holly

Trading Horses

In theory I really like trades. In practice though I have only ended up taking a few. I am much more apt to take trades for my work than for a model. I also sometimes take partial trades since at least I get some money that way.

Today I had a nice girl who wanted to trade for the classic arabian stallion model shown above which I am asking $15 for. Did not really want to trade since I'd be out the postage if I did, and I was just as happy keeping the model as having anything she had to offer, but I finally came up with a trade that I thought would be worth my time. The model I have is a classic sized model in good condition, and I asked for a certain classic body quality model and three body quality stablemates. So I'd be out a $15 model + $10 in shipping and the way I figure it the stablemates are worth $3 or less each (body quality $1-$3 in my book) and the classic horse was worth maybe $10, which means I would be out $25 and get less than $20 worth of stuff. The girl passed on the deal I offered and honestly I am glad. I imagine she did not think it was a good deal since she would be out postage too, but she was the one that wanted to trade, not me.

Another time I had someone wanting to trade for a Pegasus which I was asking $25 + shipping for. She was offering me stablemates. Well, I don't really collect OF anymore, so in my book stablemates are worth $1-$3 unless it is one I really want and once again I would be stuck paying shipping. I think I told her 10 stablemates or something similar, so she passed, and I was glad.

I have had some people offer nice horses in trades that were very fair, but I have passed because I liked the model I was selling as much or more than the item that was being offered. There is no point in taking the risk and spending money on postage unless I really want something offered.

In general I would say if a model I am selling costs less than $20, it really is not worth my time to deal with trades because postage is going to cost me $10 or more. If you want it, buy it. If I want what you have, I will do the same. If anyone is local (Portland, OR) though, I'd be more than happy to swap the little items.

The trades I have taken? I have taken some models in exchange for repairs. Worked because the people were already shipping me a model anyway. One of the people I was doing a  repair exchange with I actually ended up trading another model with as well. We were both already shipping horses and I did not care which I kept, so since there was no cost to me, I went ahead with it. I have also taken models in partial trade for commissions a couple times.

I traded a couple original medallions for a couple models once and while it worked, the other party took a very long time to ship her part and made me very nervous. In the end one of the horses I was trading for got sold to someone else, so I had to pick something else. Not sure I got a good deal in the end with that one. Still want that darn model that got away, and I would have been happy to pay for it.

Interested in trading? Feel free to ask and I would be happy to take a look at the list of what you have available, but don't be surprised if the end answer is no or if the deal I come up with does not seem balanced. Remember, you were the one who asked to trade, not me.

Miffits

Miffits: Fixed, prepped, primed, and ready to go home.

I received an email a while back from a woman who wanted her running mare repaired. She had tried to make the repair herself, but was unhappy with the result. I gave her a quote based on the photos she sent me for a new leg on the mare. She decided to proceed, but it was some time before she was able to mail the mare to me.

Miffits before

Miffits other side- before

The leg that was being replaced.

Other side of the leg that was being replaced.

The tail that ended up getting replaced too.

When I received Miffits, I immediately removed the old leg. While most of the leg popped off easily, the epoxy on the top of the leg remained and had to be ground off with a dremmel. Around the same time I bought a model on eBay that needed stripping and I was experimenting with Simple Green. The Simple Green was taking off some of the epoxy clay along with the paint, so I inquired with Miffits owner whether she intended to keep the horses paint job or would like the horse stripped. She gave the go ahead and I set about trying to strip the mare.

Some of the epoxy clay came off with the paint and the epoxy tail came off as well, so now Miffits needed a new tail as well. Plus once the paint was removed I discovered there were chunks out of her finish as if something had chewed on her.

I sculpted a new leg and tail and set about sanding, sanding, and more sanding (plus a bit of filling too). When she seemed to be getting there, I sprayed with primer then did more sanding. Some of the seams on these older models are so big!

Eventually Miffits got to where I was happy with her (though I think I could prep a horse forever and never be completely satisfied with the finish). Her owner was very happy to receive her back along with another running mare that I had who needed a home. I got paid for the leg plus the owner gave me a couple models to compensate me for the extra work and the extra running mare.

I am looking forward to seeing how Miffits looks when she gets a new coat of paint. She turned into a much bigger job than I originally thought she would be, but she taught me a lot while I worked on her. I really like fixing models.

Live Show Quality?

I have been very lucky that so far every person who has bought a model from me has had nice things to say about the horse when they received it. I hope that is always the case, but I know that the odds are if I stick to painting models long enough eventually I will have a bad customer experience.

I receive emails from MHHR. I initially signed up so I could check out vendors references before completing a sale and mostly skim the emails to watch for scam artists. Most of the posts are transaction related, but once in a while people bad mouth artists because they don't consider the work up to par. These make me sad and I can see how some people no longer want to be part of the hobby if they have to deal with this kind of backlash.

I think people need to be realistic about what they are buying. The top artists who are established in the hobby charge top prices. If you are getting a model for a lower price, it might be very nice, but to compare a $35 model with a $1,000 model just is not fare. If a model I bought for $50 gets beat in a show by a model someone paid the big bucks for, is it really a surprise? Sure, those expensive models get beat too and money does not buy everything, but there is a reason why some artists can charge the big dollars and people will pay. They are that good.

It is also important to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect paint job. No matter how nice the finish is, if you look close enough, there will always be a flaw. Some models might need a magnifying glass to find the flaw, but if you try hard enough, you'll find it.

I recently saw one artist get a post on her Facebook page complaining a model was not Live Show Quality. This was a model that had been mailed back to the artist for repairs once already and the artist had refunded all the shipping. The artist's commission rates are so low that the price of the shipping both ways was as much as she made on the paint job and model combined, so basically if she did anything else on the horse she would be paying the buyer to have the horse. I have bought horse from this artist. Her prices are very low and the quality is good, so I felt awful reading the posts. I went on to Facebook to reply to the post and found her page had been deleted. I do hope that having a difficult customer has not completely soured her on the hobby.

I use to occasionally buy pieces from another artist on eBay. The prices were dirt cheap and the finish quality was very rough, but the artist's ideas were so creative that I loved seeing what she would come up with next. I have not seen any of her work for quite a while now, and I think it is such a shame.

I read on MHHR about another artist who sold a resin and the buyer commissioned her to paint it. When the artist finished the piece she showed it and the model did well, so it was clearly Live Show Quality.Yet when the buyer received the model, she was very unhappy with it and complained incessantly on MHHR. The painter took the model back, sold it, and refunded the buyer's money. The buyer was still not happy because she wanted the resin, just not the paint job. Some people you just can't make happy.

Buyers need to be sure they understand what they are getting when they buy a model, and if they are picky, they should probably discuss return policies with the artists in advance just in case. I hope that all of my buyers are happy with their model, but in case I ever have a problem, here is my general return policy (unless otherwise noted in a sale).

I provide photos of finished horses before I ship them out. I take lots of pictures so the buyer can look them over and see if they are happy with the horse or not. If there are any problems noted by the buyer, I will do my best to fix them and send revised photos. If I cannot make a model satisfactory for a buyer, I will sell it to another customer and refund any deposits unless they were specifically stated as non-refundable.

Once the horse ships, the buyer can still return the horse but the post office has the money from shipping, so I do not refund shipping. The buyer should look the horse over right away and let me know immediately if there are any problems. Once the buyer confirms the horse arrives and is satisfactory, the transaction is finished. If there is any reason the buyer wants to return the horse for changes, they are welcome to do so, but they are responsible for all of the shipping. Buyers seeking a refund on models for any reason need to return the model to me. If the buyer keeps the model, I don't refund the money.

I ordinarily ship insured (unless it is International or very low end) just in case a model is damaged or lost in shipping. If an insured model is damaged or lost the buyer will get money refunded once the post office pays the claim and not before. The buyer will be required to fill out any required documents for the claim. If the model is not insured, it is generally discussed before I ship the model out that the model is shipped at the buyers risk. If a model breaks before or after the buyer receives it, I am happy repair it for free (within reason), but the buyer is responsible for paying all the shipping. 

The one potential complication that I have not quite figured out how to deal with is when a person commissions me to paint a body they provide. If I can't make them happy with the finish work, it gets a little more complicated. If it is a common body, I suppose I could just offer to buy the model from them and be done with it. However, if it is a rare or expensive body, what then? My thought is that if we cannot get the finish to a place where all parties are happy, and I cannot or do not want to buy the model from them, I charge a $15 fee, and spray a coat of primer over the paint job or strip the model. Any other money would be refunded. Don't really like the idea though, so I hope it never happens.

So back to Live Show Quality. Are my models Live Show Quality? That depends. You can show any model as long as there is a class for them. Whether or not they will win really depends on the competition. I've only shown a couple times and only had a couple horses with my paint jobs with me at the time. My little mini Ziyrab got sixth in her class and it was pretty large.

If you show any of my models, let me know how they do!

Pegasus

This is Adonis, my newest Pegasus. Pegasus are wonderful because they combine two of the things I love, birds (or at least wings) and horses.

When I was sculpting in ceramics I use to sculpt all sorts of birds, like this owl. Sculpting wings on my model horses was a natural way to combine the wings I enjoyed sculpting so much on the birds with the horses I enjoy customizing.

Sculpting the wings on the models is very time consuming. For most of the horses I start with a wire and do one feather on each side at a time as I need the feathers to support each other. I am using epoxy clay. I have tried making Sculpty wings on one horse which was simpler and went quicker. That horse is not quite finished yet due to other anatomical issues.

You can see progress shots of several of my horses on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.287063537981207.69956.106447766042786&type=3.

My finished Pegasuses and other fantasy models can be seen on my web-site at http://hollylenz.com/modelhorsesfantasy.html. I currently have two for sale.

Photographing Model Horses

Every day that I browse the Model Horse Sales Pages and eBay, I see ads with dark or fuzzy photos that make distinguishing the horse difficult. There are also pictures that were taken to far away or have obstructions. Then there are the photos that just plain make the horse look bad. I feel sorry for the people posting the photos because they are trying to sell a horse or services and without better photos, it's going to be near impossible to do so.

I've been guilty of taking bad photos myself. My pictures are not perfect now, but I am getting better. I often do multiple photos shoots of models until I get photos I like. Different lighting and backgrounds make a world of difference.

Part of the reason my photos have improved is due to my SLR camera which I love. It makes it so much easier. Little models are very difficult to get photos of with the auto focus on regular cameras as the camera always wants to focus on something in the background. The SLR makes it so much easier. Photoshop can also be very helpful, though I often post my photos directly from the camera to save time.

I remember back when I first started selling models. I use to snap photos with my 35 mm and wait for them to develop. Then I scanned the photo on the computer. Before eBay people use to mail out little catalogs or put ads in Just About Horses, but I was not selling back then. My first horses were sold on eBay back in their early days.

My first Digital Camera helped me a lot. Now I could take as many photos as I needed until I got one that was good. I took photos indoors and outdoors trying for the best shots. My husband bought me a little mini photo studio which has been very useful for taking photos of little horses. I still use it sometimes.

If anyone needs assistance with taking photographs of their horses, I am happy to help. If you are in Portland, send me a note and maybe we can meet up and take pictures together. Let's try to make those dark fuzzy photos a thing of the past.

Repairing Broken Models

Meet the leg-less wonder. What was I thinking? I saw this mess on the model horse sales pages and for some reason I felt the need to buy him. When I got him in the mail, I just shook my head at myself. This guy was worse than a rough casting. He was a disaster.

Recognize him? He is a mini arabian resin by Carlee Balling. I guess part of me thought that with a bit of work, he could be something special. I really do like making something out of nothing, which is part of the reason I am always buying broken models.

Here is a more recent photo of him. He has legs! I drilled holes, put in wire, and sculpted new legs using an epoxy clay. With a bit of sanding and carving, things start to come together.

I took him outside recently and sprayed him with a coat of brown primer. He still needs more sanding and priming, but soon he will be ready to paint. Look out world, here he comes.

If you want to see more of my repair work, check out my Facebook page (Holly Lenz Fine Art).

Update May 28: He is painted and just needs matte spray and eye gloss. Have not done the final photo shoot yet, but here are some pictures. He is currently up for sale on the Model Horse Sales Pages.