C.S.Richmond Studios

2019-07-06T11:07:00.001-04:00

Update on 2019 offerings from CSRichmondStudios

Hi everyone!
Here is an update on the items I am currently working on in the studio. These items will be offered to the public for purchase via the "highest offer" method once completed.

The only other item which will be added will be the lovely "Anise" ... sculpted by the talented Jennifer Scott. She is slated to arrive in the studio sometime after Breyerfest.

The items which are the farthest ahead in production are:
"IKO" aka "Trouble"... a L. Fraley mule with a custom one of a kind base.

"Aerosmith" with his custom sculpted rock wall jump.. the rock wall jump is removable and consists of four pieces.

"Muzeera" medallion...

"Rose Reiner"... I will customize "Reiners" base..

"Levi Dockers"... "Levi" is catching up with the previously mentioned items...I am painting "Levi" to a bright and flashy pintaloosa.

"Latigazo".. he is in the beginning stages .. the tiny sculpted details on this little guy are super fantastic!

Here's some work in progress photos:

"Trouble" https://flic.kr/p/2gso4wN

"Aerosmith" https://flic.kr/p/2gsnYZS

"Muzeera" https://flic.kr/p/2gsofV9

"Levi Dockers" https://flic.kr/p/2gso4SX

"Latigazo" https://flic.kr/p/2gsp3L1

More soon!
Many thanks for your continued interest in my paintwork!
Sandra Hottinger
CSRichmondStudios

CSRichmondStudios is back....

2019-06-30T11:34:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Around July of last year I returned to painting the 3D miniature equine resin sculptures.

Several have asked where I have been... well back in 2012 my husbands and my finances took a dive. Overflow from the 2009 nation wide financial issues. My husband and I did what was necessary to catch up financially. Work in our state was minimal...which meant that we were required to look out of state for work. We traveled to many states on the eastern seaboard and did this for 5 years.

Fast forward to 2018. I returned to painting...I deeply missed painting the horses during those 5 years. Creativity and inspiration is part of my soul.. an overflowing drive to grab a paintbrush and create color is always working like a whirlpool on the inside....just as it is with many artists.

In 2018 I completed a long awaited Blue Bird Studio and CSRichmondStudios collaboration sales piece ...and 2 other sales pieces which were sold.

Current 2019. Several commissions have been completed to date as well as a painted Rose "Hadrian" sales piece, a painted Breyer micro Mini Whinny sales piece, and a painted M. Bennett micro "Blitzen" sales piece.

In the works 2019/2020...

I am working on several public offering pieces... to be sold via highest offer once completed. All of my paintwork is 100% hand painted in professional grade artists oil colors.

The ones closest to completion include:
1) A customized S. Tumlinson "Aerosmith" with a custom hand sculpted removable rock wall jump. "Aerosmith" to a star dappled mulberry rose dappled grey.

2) A wonderful Fraley "IKO" mule to a bright and flashy spotted mule ..."IKO" will include a customized fancy hand painted wood-look and metallic golden bronze base. The colors in the base will go fantastically well with the colors on "IKO".

3) A Rose "Reiner" in mulberry star dappled rose grey... I will slightly customize "Reiners" base....the addition of some white markings may be in the works.

4) Levi "Dockers" sculpted by J. Scott... his color will be very unique, bright.. highly detailed... and he will have splendid blue eyes which will include lots of depth... the kind of blue eyes that reach into your soul when they look at you.

5) "Muzeera" medallion sculpted by Maria Hjerppe... this wonderful medallion is being painted to a mulberry rose dappled grey with a bright chestnut mane which includes some flaxen and sooty tones.

Coming down the pike for highest offer will be Venator, Annihilator, Victrix, Mini Indy, and several more.

I do have a commission waiting list going. The waiting list, as of this writing, is full through the summer of 2019. Questions? Email me thorough CSRichmondStudios@gmail.com

I also have a CSRichmondStudios newsletter which I use to announce up and coming public offerings and my "accepting highest offer" announcements for items currently up for offers.
Here is the link to my newsletter:
CSRichmondStudios Newsletter

Want to see more of my work? Email me at CSRichmondStudios@gmail.com and I can gladly send you links to my photo albums.

Find me on Facebook.. look up my personal page on FB under Sandra Hottinger and send me a friend request or ....search out C.S.Richmond Studios... the C.S.Richmond Studios is my FB studio page.

That's about it for now.
Many many thanks for everyone's continued interest in my paintwork!
Sandra Hottinger
CSRichmondStudios

"Road Tramps"

2013-05-04T19:30:00.000-04:00

The above photo is of the early morning sunrise view at our job. My husband and I are both working on the same job doing industrial electrical work...we also have the good fortune to be able to be "work partners" as well...for safety and productivity in industrial work most construction workers work in pairs.

Above is a photo of my husband Charlie (left) and his look-a-like Bob...Charlie and Bob had worked on a power plant project back in the 70s ....Charlie and Bob were surprised to see each other again after all those years. Bob is working on the job that my husband and I are now working on.

Pictured above in the top photo shows a small section of the pipe Charlie and I installed...we also installed the 4 ft by 3 ft metal "can" or "junction box" there in the ceiling. The bottom two photos show the hydraulic Greenlee pipe bender that we used to bend the EMT (electrical metallic tubing) metal pipes to offset down from the wall into the metal "can". The pipes do not come from the factory pre-bent....industrial electricians bend each pipe to make metal "raceways" for the electrical wires to be placed into once the pipes are installed.

We used 3 inch EMT...each "stick" of pipe is 10 feet long and weighs approx 30 lbs each "stick". Sometimes a whole stick of pipe must be carried up a ladder to be installed..of course two workers share the weight of the stick of pipe. Want to see how much physical effort is involved? Try carrying a 20 lb sack of bird seed up a 10 foot ladder and place it above your head on a shelf.

Studio painting time....not much time for painting for the past two weeks since I started working over time.

Comparison: I've been doing some comparison....comparison between painting full time and working as an industrial electrician. Although the two jobs are completely different in all aspects...and the electrical work is so much more physically and mentally demanding on every level..... the stress is not there for me in electrical work....the biggest stress relief is that I know that at the end of my work week there will be a pay check and that I am contributing the my retirement pension as well. I am also physically active in the highest level doing electrical work.

Painting items specifically for sales items ..in my mind...is such a gamble these days. My calculations for wages earned for an item that I painted, say that I would sell for $1200.00....the hourly wage I made was $4 an hour. I contributed zero to my retirement funds and I have to pay taxes on that $1200.00.

I am itching to continue painting the items I have in my personal resin collection....

Wishing you all a super happy spring!!! Enjoy some time outside in the sunshine!!!

Picking up old tools of the trade

2013-02-06T10:32:00.000-05:00

My early years of work were spent in retail/cashier/sales work. Later in the year 2001 I went back to school for the field of inside journeyman wireman ( industrial/commercial electrician)...the same training that my husband has had.

If you have followed my last blog post you remember that I am putting down my commission brushes and that I am venturing out to locate a "real job"...that phrase always makes me smile...long story there :)

After doing research on the retail cashier wages here at home the wage scale is not what it used to be years ago when I was doing cashier work. Back then the wages here were starting around $11 per hour for experienced applicants...the wages have fallen to around $8 an hour and some are only paying minimum wage....and there is near zero full time work. Seems that the new norm is around 25 to 35 hours part time work for employees.

With that said I have decided to go back to work as an inside journeyman wireman as the local wages are still holding and higher wages are being paid at jobs out of state.

I realized too that it would be a shame for me to have accomplished and completed the most difficult schooling I have ever had in my life and just leave it behind...forgotten....not to mention working in some of the most fascinating work environments that I have ever seen. The two that come to mind are a power plant and a semi conductor plant.

Working on a job in a power plant I was able to see first hand the inside of a house sized turbine and huge conductor cables which were larger in circumference than my arm.

Working in the semi-conductor work environment was like a fiction movie...all computerized controlled working machinery and these little computerized mobile semi-conductor disk carrier cars that ran on tracks in the air everywhere ....all day long there was the "ding-ding-ding" sound of those cars and the censor lights blinking in several different colors. That job was also the most dangerous job I had ever worked on. The chemicals there running through those clear plastic pipes were so dangerous that one micro-drop getting on your skin meant a regiment of treatments for quite a while and probable bone cancer.

The work is very physically demanding and encompasses lifting heavy loads and carrying heavy loads and heavy drilling in ceilings and walls...anything from carrying a 125 lb bundle of EMT metal piping up five flights of steps to carrying a 14 foot wooden ladder up five flights of steps.

We do a huge amount of bending various sizes of pipes and building pipe runs and cable tray runs to run electrical wire and cables through. We work with wire as small as communications wire up to cables as larger than your arm. We work with pipe from 1/2 inch diamiter to 6 inches in diameter. Click here for a photo exapmple of what we do with pipe..click here for photos of cable tray and pipe photos.

Today is my husbands last day at his job.As with all of the electricians jobs all work is temporary...once a job is completed we move on the another new job that is just beginning and do the same all over again.

My husband and I will go on the road to sign work books locally in our state and also to sign books here in the south eastern US..Miami Fl, Augusta Georgia, Norfolk Virginia and D.C. We will sign work books in Ohio,Tennessee, and perhaps N.J. Illinois, and South Dakota/North Dakota.

After the signing is over we sit and wait for our names to be reached on the books....each perspective employee waits his/her turn on the work lists. We might be called in a week or we might be called in a few weeks...depending on the work that is available. If we are lucky we will be able to get work in D.C. or in our state....or perhaps later here through our local work office. Our books here at home have had about a years wait for a job unless a big job comes to town and they need a large workforce. Work around the country will prove to be more promising we are sure.

The studio:
Five completed horses were shipped out yesterday. These were horses that I had posted photos of in previous blog posts.
The Bacchus sales item is nearing completion as well as two of the 2013 commission projects... another speacial sales item is about 50% completed.
Photos soon!
I am digging out items from my stored inventory of personal resins to paint as well....

Have a wonderful day everyone!
C.S.Richmond Studios

The Decisions of the Times....

2013-01-25T10:55:00.000-05:00

C.S.Richmond Studios :Commission Changes
Hi Everyone!
First off I would like once again to thank each and every one of you for your continued interest in my paintwork through the years! This year marks the milestone of my 10th year painting the 3-D equine sculptures!

There will be some changes to my studio operations after the end of this year. I will be discontinuing the availability of my commission slot openings beginning January 1st 2014. My painting full time will end and I will obtain full time employment as soon as possible....my painting time will be limited to my spare time.

My decisions to stop doing commissions are based on the following:

1)The high ratio of customer commission non-payment/cancellations over the past 7 months.

2) Our 20% drop in household income due to my husbands job paying 20% less per hour plus the 2% increase in tax deductions from his pay check.

3)Due to the factories and businesses closing here in our area our small business has suffered due to the lack of people needing our services and the overload of these services offered by others in the current market with a serious lack of consumers.

My 2013 commission customers have graciously agreed to keep their slots and wait the additional time that will be needed to complete their orders. Thank you all! My commission books will be closed until further notice.

This "newsletter" will still be used to offer future sales items painted by C.S.Richmond Studios. I will also be using this blog to post photos and information about my sales items.

Thank you all again so much!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios

Momentum 2013

2013-01-14T11:41:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

Bright brand spanking new year 2013 progress...can you hear the cogs turning? This year marks my 10th year milestone hand painting the miniature 3-D equines...time does fly!!!

This year will be dedicated to more sales items and fewer commissions. My husband and I talked about my past 10 years painting the horses... we agreed that throughout my 10 year 3-D equine painting journey I have sold every single item I have painted that was put up for sale...leaving me not a single painted sculpture in my collection. As I have written in my past blogs I have accumulated many boxes of unpainted resin sculptures...buying them throughout the years when I had the funds when I was working at my "real" job and had the extra funds. As a side note should the need arise I will go out of the house from painting and into the job force to work outside of our home...doing this would cut my painting time 1/2 to 3/4 if not more...one never knows what the future holds in store.

Throughout my painting journey I have always thoroughly disliked auctions...I'm not sure why. Maybe it is the stress that came along with them...I'm not sure.

My husband has made a good point... "how many horses can you paint in a lifetime? How long can you paint before your eyesight makes it more and more difficult to paint?....There is a limit to the number of horses you will produce...at some point there will be no more..that will be it"

Oh I've had the realization of the above words for quite some time :) Turning 54 this year I might have..what..seven more years..maybe 10? Maybe more? Who knows...it is what it is and that's ok.

Conclusion...therefore I will begin building a collection of my own while painting these resins I have stored away.. some of those items in my collection will have a price tag that I will be willing to accept in order to part with them. A set price. Other items that I paint and that I would easier part with, will have a lower set price. These sales items will be visible on my web page sales area and also through my email "sales & commissions" newsletters.

How do I gauge a set price? I have never been good at that either....the main reason for so many past auctions....so I guess the way to gauge a good selling price for the items that are the items I wish to REALLY hold onto would be to base the price on the highest dollar figure that my work has produced via sales/auctions.....adding to that figure the rarity of the resin and the popularity of the resin sculpture and the sculptor....and how much I really DO or DO NOT want to part with the item.

There are also a few collaborations coming up this year between my self and a one or two customizers/sculptors. The sales prices on these items will be based on the contract between the sculptor/customizer and myself and the current market. These offerings will have a set price as well..

OK! Moving on the studio works in progress! All of the following are being hand painted in oil colors....some at later stages will have acrylic details.

"Bacchus" resin...sculpted by the talents of Emilia Kurila ..I acquired this copy via a cancellation/trade..he will be offered as a sales item at a set price....

Ravenhill Revisited in silver dun appaloosa...sculpted by the talents of Stacey Tumlinson and Hilary Hurley. Customized by me, Sandra Hottinger of C.S.Richmond Studios. This copy is marked in the resin material "RR5" and is one of the very first sold via the pre-sales. Ravenhill Revisited was VERY limited run in casting from what I have read. He will be an item retained in my personal collection but he will have a sales price tag as well.

Next up..."Spago" resin. Sculpted by the talented and gifted Brigitte Eberl and some custom work done by Dagmar. This item is a commissioned work in progress...

Last but certainly not least is the ever popular "Rose Reining Horse". This sculpture was brought to life by the super talents of Sarah Rose. For this project I chose the silver dappled dun appaloosa colors. Many hours of fine hair detailing remain on this project.

Have a wonderful day everyone! Wishing you all the very best of the bright new year 2013!!!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Studio progress & wishing everyone a very happy New Year!

2012-12-27T09:45:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Merry Christmas filled with wonderful family and friends!

2012 flew by so quickly and here we are looking at the end of 2012 ...and a bright new beginning with the incoming 2013 year! Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

As always I greatly appreciate each and every one of you for your continued interest in my paintwork! From the bottom of my heart I thank you!

Work continues here in the studio at a good pace...many projects are at the 50% completed stage...some are sales items and some are commissions.

The two commissioned projects here in the studio that are in the 98% paintwork completion stage are the wonderful Elsie and Oliver resins. Elsie and Oliver were both sculpted by the super talents of Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig. Elsie stands approx 6 inches tall and Oliver stands approx 4 3/4 inches tall.

Both are being hand painted in oil colors by me, Sandra Hottinger of C.S.Richmond Studios.

Happy New Year!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2012-12-07T08:35:00.001-05:00

It is the most wonderful time of the year!

Family visits and dinner get togethers...cold air and snow in the air! Bright shining colors and lights everywhere decorate peoples homes for the Christmas Holiday Season..inviting colorful light displays.

Wishing you my very best for a joyful Chirstmas Season!

I had not realized that it had been 30 days since I posted a studio blog post...I've been very busy and time got away from me!

Above are pictured the next batch of items on the painting table...since this photo was taken several of these fantastic sculptures have had two or three coats of paint applied. I have also prepped a wonderful Emilia Kurila "Bacchus" resin ...he is ready for paint. Also a commissioned Carol Williams Valor resin is 95% prepped.

I also completed a commissioned Storm Watch resin...wonderfully sculpted by the super gifted Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig.

My goal and plan for 2013 is to paint several sales items. The items are the resins I spoke of earlier this year...the many wonderful resins that I have purchased over the years. It is time to get these guys painted while my eyesight is still good enough to paint fine details..

My plans are to keep several in my personal collection and to place the balance in sales folders on my web page or on another photo web sight..a photo web page that does not have all of those goofy pop-ups.....perhaps linking my web page sales to the photo page. My web page allows small photos..not large enough for my liking to show the fine details ...I would love to hear suggestions of photo web pages from you all!

Commission books for 2013 have been kept to a minimum...one commission per month. Cancellations of orders and completions of commissions will open up a painting slot.

For those of you not familiar with my commission/sales newsletter...for my studio commissions and sales notices only...here is the form:

C.S.Richmond Studios Commission and Sales Newsletter

That's about it for now!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Prepping in the sunshine.....

2012-11-02T13:49:00.000-04:00

First I would like to send out many thoughts and prayers to those who were in the path of the super storm hurricane Sandy.

Here are the snow/wind/rain totals from NOAA for those who are interested..34 inches of snow in Gatlinburg Tenn and 90 MPH winds in Tomkinsville NJ & Islip NY....

Also:

Per Science News: "Hurricane Sandy has the lowest central pressure ever recorded north of Cape Hatteras, N.C. As of 11 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, Sandy had a minimum central pressure of 943 millibars, breaking the record of 946 millibars from the 1938 “Long Island Express” hurricane."

The amazing power of wind and water!

Yesterday I applied the primer to several prepared resins....I know I've written posts about this before but this time I wanted to included a few more photos to the subject.

About 4 to 6 months ago I began using a new primer. I'm using the Zinsser Bulls Eye Water Based Primer and Sealer....this primer is white, mixes with and cleans up with water, and is sand-able.

I buy the quart can and apply my primer with my super cheap-o air brush.

Here are my supplies I use:

1)Small air compressor

2)latex glove to use on the hand holding the resin I am spraying

3)dust mask....since I am spraying outside and down wind this is the mask I use.If you are spraying sealer or primer in an enclosed area you would need the mask that is used for blocking vapors and dust.

4) cheap air brush

5)air brush bottle

6)spoon or knife to spoon the primer from the can to your bottle and also to stir you water and primer mix

7) water container and water

First I fill my air brush bottle about 1/2 full...

The Bulls Eye is pretty thick so I need to water it down to about 50% primer and 50% water in order for the air brush to be able to spray the primer onto my subject. I also want to apply several thin coats of primer rather than thick coats....drying good between coats as well....

Next I mix my 50% water and 50% primer that is in my air brush bottle...the mixture should be about the thickness of skim milk or low fat milk....

You can see above that the thickness is about like low fat milk....

Next I test the mixture and spray with my air brush to be sure the mixture is thin enough and that my air brush is working properly before I spray my subject...

You can see above that the coverage of the mixture is pretty good. I will need to apply about three coats of primer for that day....I apply one coat and let the sprayed items dry in the sun ( I am working today in 65 degree temps) and go back about an hour later and apply the second coat....wait an hour and then I apply the final coat.

When I finish one of the coat applications I remove my air brush and air brush bottle top from my air brush.bottle ....all in one piece ....and place into my measuring cup of water. This keeps the primer from drying on my equipment while the primer layers are drying on my subjects.

I hold my subject about 12 inches away from my air brush while I am spraying...turning the subject while I spray and spraying in small sweeping motions. Applying the primer this way keeps from applying too much primer in one area and having drips on the subject....

After I've finished my primer session I clean my air brush by running some water through the air brush...I do this by placing my brush and the cap into a small container of water and depressing the button to release air through the device....

Next I allow the primered items to dry for a few days and then go over them under my studio light for places that need to have the primer re-applied and/or sanded. At that point I can apply any other primer I need to apply ( 50/50 water/primer ratio) with a small make up sponge or super soft brush.

That is about it...

Here is a group of resins that are ready to paint...five of these were prepped by others ..Terri Grothpietz and Charlotte Donahue worked their magic for providing me a wonderful smooth "canvas" to paint on....I can not remember who pepped the "Say Hello" resin.....

Among the group is a customized Ravenhill Revisited which is copy #9 out of the first 20 pre sales for Ravenhill Revisited sold...a customized Rose Reining horse..a wonderful AA Donna Chaney Clydesdale removed from its base...and a lovely Spago resin customized by the talents of Dagmar Anderson.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Slow paint drying weather....

2012-10-10T11:49:00.000-04:00

The cooler temperatures are here early this year...temperatures well below the normal...loving the nice fall weather!

Paint drying time has slowed with the cooler temperatures as it does every year....mostly effecting the drying times of the whites.

I have been prepping several resins preparing for the next group of projects. Elsie & Oliver, Valor, Bacchus (2 copies), a customized Ravenhill Revisited, and the customized Rose Reining Horse are all part of the next batch of projects.

Below you see the continuation of the Stormwatch resin...he now is much darker and has dapples and fleabites. Stormy is drying now for about a week before I can proceed with the next painting session...his last coat of paint contained an extensive use of white shades of color.

Another interesting project is the Ravenhill Revisited project....RR is sculpted by the super gifted team of Hillary Hurley and Stacy Tumlinson.

Here I have customized this copy with a new shorter mane and tail to match his soon to be spotted colors....

Happy fall everyone!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Feeling "soul comfort" with a new technique...

2012-10-02T10:59:00.001-04:00

In my last studio blog post I wrote of my experimentation with the use of colored pencils for detail work. When I started painting the Independence resin commission I had in my mind that I wanted the throw something new into my technique. I had purchased two sets of colored pencils about 5 years ago and used them once or twice....giving up when the pencils would not leave any color on my painting surface. At the time I was using a slightly glossy sealer to seal my oil paintwork before moving to the next step of the application of the colored pencils....thus the sealer surface was the reason for the colored pencils not working well.

The two sets I purchased were the Prismacolor Premier Portrait Set and the Derwent Graphtint Set of 24.

With the Indy project I began with an oil color base coat and applied the acrylic and colored pencil detailing directly over the well dried oil colors. I can say without a doubt that this is my "soul comfort" zone of technique...you artists know the feeling ...when you have stumbled upon a new technique that you want to take to a higher level ...to take and improve upon....and that you REALLY REALLY like the look of the end result.

I am also using the chestnut and warm grey colored pencils for adding flea bites to the Stormy commission project....I want to work in some of the white pencil later on for white detailing and highlights...curious to see what the look will be using the white.

Stormy is sculpted by the super popular Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig.

Here below you can see the Derwent white, warm grey, and chestnut pencils that I used on the Indy and that I am using on the Stormwatch resin...

And here are a few photos of the completed Independence resin...Indy is sculpted by the super gifted Sarah Rose...Indy sports the colors of silver bay pintaloosa or Walkaloosa...

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Colored pencils....

2012-09-26T10:39:00.001-04:00

This week I experimented with the use of some colored pencils on the "Independence Project". I love the bit of extra zip that the colored pencils have added to the fine hair detailing....

...and loving the colors in his mane and tail....

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

Decisions on colors...

2012-09-17T09:22:00.000-04:00

For a long while now I've been having difficulty making color choices for the resins I purchase... and have purchased in the past....that I will paint to be sales items. I've been doing commission paintwork for many years now which is painting the customers choice of color...no decision work on my part for color choice not having to choose colors to paint has rendered me "out of color choice practice" so to speak...

Yesterday I realized the factor that was making my color choice for sales items so difficult...it was the idea that I need to paint the most marketable color for sales. I would choose a color for a sales item and start to second guess my color choice as a color that would not sell.

We all know what a gamble these days a sales item can be with the economy being what it is ..we are seeing this from day to day in everything from homes for sale down to the most minute sales item that remains unsold on a store shelf.....this "sales" factor issue was making my choosing the color of my sales items a "HUGE" challenge. Over-thinking a color choice and flip-flopping between colors for me makes weeks go by with no progress on the sales item....

Sooooo...light bulb! Yesterday I realized that I need to be painting for "me"....a color I love and a color that inspires me as I used to do back when I first began painting the equine sculptures....I have realized that I need to paint sales items as if I am painting the item for myself to keep...after all I will have the item here in my personal collection to enjoy until it sells.

So I am thinking I need to forget that there are herds of the same breed color/ pattern on a specific resin out there....I had a customer write to me a few weeks ago about a color they wanted painted on a resin...they already own several of the same color on the same resin that they wanted me to paint...they wrote that they like to see the difference in each artists interpretation of the color in the painting medium and technique that they are using...and that all of the items look different although they are painted the same color...very good point....

My favorite colors to paint in order of favorites are appaloosas/pintaloosas, the dilute colors...the silver bays and other silvers fascinate me..maximum expressed sabinos..and the rose shades of grey and the fleabitten greys! Bay roans are also an inspiring color for me...next are the super dark chestnuts and bays...

Commission progress:
Indy has all of the first coat of details applied...moving on to the next several layers....he will be a silver bay pintaloosa....

Emilia Kurila "Bacchus"... trio seen here in studio...two are commissions and one is my copy...one commission will be silver dappled....

Only three of the 24 "goal to finish by the end of 2012" commissions remain to be prepped and painted.....I am betting that these three will run into completion for the month of February 2013. These last three are to be highly detailed with several hand painted fine hair detailing layers... the Valor sabino and the Fraley Iko and Tee Nah spotted appaloosa ...among my favorite colors to paint and resin favorites too!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Sandra Hottinger

C.S.Richmond Studios

The leaves of summer....

2012-09-04T13:26:00.000-04:00

The leaves of summer green are beginning to change to their fall colors ....the reds are showing on some of the shrubs...a tad early I think.

Fall my favorite time of year!

Progress continues in the studio with the prepping and painting of several commissions and the one Rose Reiner sales item.

Silver dilution coat colors....along with the color dappled grey the silvers are my favorite all time horse colors.

Here is a traditional sized Independence resin I am painting as silver Walkaloosa ...Indy is a commission project. He will have a light silver mane and tail once completed. In this photo Indy is about 35% completed.

The progress on the Rose Reiner sales item is good...I've customized his mane to be tack friendly for a saddle breast collar and reins.....I'm still thinking how to incorporate the base along with this customized Reiner....I've also removed Reiner from his base and I've made him "free standing".

Both the Rose Reiner and the Rose Independence resin were sculpted by the ever popular Sarah Rose.

...last but certainly not least is the wonderful Stormwatch commission....Stormwatch is an amazingly detailed sculpture created by the super gifted Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig.

This copy of Stormwatch is being painted as an elder slightly dappled flea bitten grey...he will have a golden toned mane and tail once completed as well as individually hand painted flea bites. Stormwatch is about 35% completed in these photos....

Have a wonderful day everyone!

C.S.Richmond Studios

Sealer discussion..."Annihilator" shows the difference...

2012-08-25T13:38:00.000-04:00

Several people have asked me what sealer I use. I completed the Annihilator V1 project yesterday so I thought this would be a good time to show the difference sealer makes to my paintwork.

I have mentioned this several times before and I'll mention it again for those who so not know...it is very important not to breath any spray sealant, spray paints, ect. as they can cause all kinds of respiratory issues. Always spray outside and apply your sealer so that the wind is blowing the spray away from you. There is a saying I read once: "If you can smell it you are breathing in the fine particles of the spray".

I am painting in oil colors and I use the Krylon Artists acrylic brands of sealers. I started out in 2003 using the Krylon Matte seen here:

http://www.krylon.com/products/matte_finish/

This sealer will cause a milky-cloudy look to darker painted horses, such as bays and blacks. if used on a humid day or if you apply the sealer too thickly in one spraying session. It will also cause a fine powdery look to dark horses if applied too far away from the surface of your item.

Later I moved on to other textures of sealants ..mostly because I was looking for a sealant that would bring out the fine color quality of the oil colors I use better than the matte sealer.

I moved onto using these two sealants for my work: The Krylon Workable Fixatif

http://www.krylon.com/products/workable_fixatif/

and the Krylon Satin Finish:

http://www.krylon.com/products/satin_finish/

You will notice that all of the above are non-yellowing sealants...using a sealant that does not yellow is, without doubt, very important to preserving the quality of your work. You would not want your white markings or your white horse to become yellow several years down the road.

The Krylon Workable Fixatif is wonderful if you want a more glossy look or a slightly glossy look. Apply the sealant in two or three coats for a more glossy look. For a less glossy look apply the sealer from about 14 inches away from your item and only apply two thin layers.

I like the Krylon Satin to apply to my white or lighter colored horses. Also some customers do not care for the slight gloss look of the fixatif ...it is then that I use the Satin finish.

I have never had an issue with these sealers becoming sticky on the surface of my completed paintwork. The key is to allow your paint work to dry COMPLETELY before applying any sealer. It is also key to allow your primer to dry completely before applying another coat of primer or applying your paint layers. It is also very important to allow your paint to dry very well between layers before applying the next coat of paint.

Now for the photos...on Annihilator V1 I have used the workable fixatif.
Annihilator V1 was sculpted by the super talented Debbi Lermond.

Before sealer:

after sealer

before sealer

I have read that the sprays have a shelf life. I have used cans of the sealer up to about 2 years after purchase.

For glossing hooves and eyes I hand paint a high gloss sealer with a tiny brush. I use the "Deco Art Triple Thick" acrylic and the Delta Ceramcoat gloss acrylic sealer. Both of these clean up with water and are non-toxic.

Well....that is about it for the information on the sealers I use.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Violetta" completed..and a few works in progress....

2012-08-22T08:54:00.001-04:00

Wonderful "Violetta" is completed. "Violetta" is the amazing sculpting handy work of the very talented Brigitte Eberl. "Violetta" is a commissioned item....

Another amazing sculpture I am currently painting is the "Romulus 2"..."Romulus" is sculpted by the talented Mandi Hickman. Here "Romulus" is a work in progress and he is a commissioned item...

...and last but certainly not least is the hulk of anger "Annihilator V1" resin sculpted by the very talented Debbi Lermond...in the photos "Annihilator V1" is 99% completed....I still need to apply his sealer ...the sealer will bring out all the wonderful colors and tones of the oils....."Annihilator V1" is a commissioned item...

Next up are the fantastic Independence resin and the Stormwatch resin both as commissions. Indy will be painted to a highly detailed walkaloosa and Stormy will be an aged flea bitten grey.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Mulinette"

2012-08-14T07:43:00.000-04:00

Sharing some photos of the lovely "Mulinette" commission I've just completed....I love her wonderful wise face!

Wonderful "Mulinette" is sculpted by the ever popular and super talented Brigitte Eberl.

...and here is a close up of the hand painted details....

Nearing completion are the "Violetta" and the "Annihilator V1" commission....looking at the list of commissions that need to be completed before the start of the 2013 season there are 6 left .....these 6 are the balance left out of the 32 commission slots which were booked for the 2010 through 2012 painting season. I seriously need to go back and count how many horses I have painted since 2003....

As always I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your continued interest in my paintwork!

Have a wonderful day!

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Violetta"

2012-08-06T11:02:00.001-04:00

One of my commissioned works in progress is the lovely "Violetta" resin sculpted by the ever popular Brigitte Eberl.

"Violetta" is approximately 80% completed in these photos.

Thank you all for your continued interest in my paintwork!

Have a wonderful day!

C.S.Richmond Studios

Prepping fever...

2012-07-30T08:26:00.000-04:00

Prepping began about 10 days ago on four new projects. Three commissions and one sales item.

One in progress commission is one of my all time favorite mules....a Mulinette mule sculpted by the super talent of Brigitte Eberl....

Next is the without-a-doubt famous Stormwatch resin sculpted by the ever popular Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig...this one is a commissioned item....

...and I am sure everyone is familiar with this next project...the larger-than-life Independence resin sculpted by the talented Sarah Rose of Rose Horse Studios....he is a commissioned item...

Next is the super tough draft ...he is the Romulus 2 resin sculpted by the talents of Mandi Hickman....another commissioned item...

Last but not least is my next sales item...this is the well known Rose Reining horse...another wonderful sculpture by the gifted Sarah Rose of Rose Horse Studios. This copy I plan to customize by the addition of the copper support bar to the bottom of his rear hoof so that he stands on his own without a base. As you can see in the photo below the addition of the bar has almost been completed.....I also want to customize the base so that the new owner can use the base with the resin for display or use the resin in a performance set up or show the resin at a live model horse show without the base if they wish.

I have high hopes of making my idea work...we shall see....

I wanted to pass along a new item idea I've been using for a few months...it is the steel reinforced Epoxy J.B.Weld. My husband introduced this to me one day when he was fixing something. I've used it several times in mending different things around the house...the name plate on the mail box and other stuff....and I've also used the J.B.Weld to fix resin horses that have been sent to me for repairs of ears, legs and tails. It can be sanded just like the Aves brand but it is more liquid so it can not be sculpted until it is dry....and I doubt if you could use it to sculpt an ear tip as it has just too much of a liquidity to it. Using it to mend two broken parts together it works fantastically well! Much better than Super Glue as it does not deteriorate over time.

This is the same product I used in a previous post about the mending of the ceramic frog...also I use a piece of the blue painters masking tape to hold the two broken pieces together while the J.B.Weld is drying.

That's about it for now..more soon!

Enjoy your day everyone!

C.S.Richmond Studios

"Air Diva" & Rose Reining Pintaloosa commission completed...

2012-07-26T08:41:00.000-04:00

All done with the Rose "Affinity" project and one more commission...I added real metal shoes to the "Affinity"..."Affinity" is the project which I've titled "Air Diva"

For those who are interested in the "Air Diva" auction click "here"

I decided to offer the auction as a web page auction for many reasons ... top reasons mostly pertaining to business.

I have also completed a pintaloosa Rose Reining horse commission....the Reining horse is sculpted by the super talent of Sarah Rose.

Here is the Reining horse....

...and here are a few of the photos of "Air Diva"...

...and with shoes below...

Nearing completion are an Eberl Mulinette mule resin, an Eberl Violetta resin, and an Annihilator V1 resin.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

C.S.Richmond Studios

Rose Affinity "Air Diva" project..

2012-07-22T20:15:00.000-04:00

"Air Diva" is almost ready to cross the finish line....a few more finishing touches and she will be completed.

I love the sculpted details in this resin...the eyes and the face...the mouth slightly open gives me the opportunity to paint a hint of pink there hiding in the dark black/brown of the horses mouth.

Here are a few preliminary photos I took this afternoon...the rest of the photos will have to wait for Monday morning.

This item is an auction item to be auctioned off soon via my website. Here is the link:

http://csrichmondstudios.webs.com/auction-block

More information and photos of "Air Diva" soon!

C.S.Richmond Studios

The unusual grey colors....

2012-07-19T10:22:00.001-04:00

I love the colors of grey that are "off the beaten path"..the warm grey tones I love the best....the nice different color of the mane and tail on these two look wonderful to me.

I've been working on two projects here in the studio that are very similar in color and tone...both are about 50% completed.

The Annihilator V1 resin is a commission and the Rose Affinity resin is an up and coming sales or auction item. I've titled the Rose Affinity project "Air Deva"....

I can say that I can visualize several sculptures in this color... I'll be using this color on several future sales items...

Have a wonderful day everyone!

C.S.Richmond Studios

The new Bacchus resin and commission progress....

2012-07-11T08:28:00.001-04:00

You all may have seen the new wonderful Bacchus resin ....Bacchus is sculpted by the talented Emilia Kurila...here is the page of Bacchus photos:

http://destriermodels.webs.com/bacchus.html

Bacchus was released in a small pre-sales number of 20 copies...as of this mornings post there are 2 copies left available for order.

Emilia will be offering Bacchus again soon in a larger lot for purchase....payment in full and there will also be time payments available.

I'll be painting two of these wonderful sculptures that will be sales items...I'll be painting one for myself to keep in my private collection...and I'll also be painting two as 2013 commissions.

As a side note..if you haven't signed up for my C.S.Richmond Studios sales/auction and commission newsletter please do so. The newsletter contains only information on my sales and auction offerings and commission offerings when they come available.....the newsletter is delivered right to your email inbox too! No need to search my web page or other model horse sales areas for information on what is for sale or at auction...or if I'm booking commissions.

Here is the link if you would like to sign up:
http://webs.us5.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=9179e7ff932a6fdb379cb3bdc&id=03e67cd9fe

My newsletter has taken the place of my Yahoo group for announcements on sales, auctions, and commissions. I am enjoying this new tool so much...the newsletter is much more professional looking and I can add photos to my newsletter too! No need to insert links to other photos pages and such as I needed to do with the Yahoo mailings... and the newsletter has, so far, had 100% success in delivery.

Commissions:

Above are, starting at top left: Rose Reining horse resin, Annihilator resin, Mulinette resin, and a Violetta resin.

Lovely Violetta will be a chestnut appaloosa. Violette is sculpted by the talents of Brigitte Eberl.

Annihilator, sculpted by the talented Debbi Lermond, will be painted a very attitude-suitable deep dark dappled grey...in my minds eye I can see that this color will be so stunning on him once completed...

Lovely Mulinette, with her sweet face will be a dark sabino color...Mulinette is sculpted by the super talents of Brigitte Eberl.

And last but surely not least is the Rose Reining Horse sculpted by the ever gifted Sarah Rose...he is, as you can see, a pintaloosa color. Since this photo was taken I've adjusted his facial markings a tad...

More soon! Have a wonderful day everyone!
C.S.Richmond Studios

Sticky oily seepage part 2...

2012-07-09T10:36:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who responded to my last blog post about my sticky oily resin event...I was surprised to learn about how many other artists have come across resins that had this issue....thank you all so much for the helpful info!

Here are some of the wonderful information that was sent to me:

Joanie Berkwitz
Yes, this was a problem 'way back when'. Incompletely mixed resin, where the body and the catalyst hasn't completely fused. My guess it that it is catalyst that is leaking through minute veins of unconsolidated material. (it lies like a thin vein or ribbon running through the cured resin)

The yellowing is probably from the resin being exposed to UV light. It's an aging issue, not a smoking issue. I have resins in the workshop (reference material) that have never been near nicotine. Just like plastics and PVCs will degrade and become brittle from exposure to UV light, so will resins, particularly the older ones.

I poured resins, once upon a time. Pour Horse started out in the resin business. Hated the stuff and developed allergies to it. But the old resin didn't mix as completely. You would end up with, like I said, little fine ribbons of the catalyst (which is thinner and more liquid) running through the resin body. (body, in this case, meaning the actual bulk material that had to have the catalyst to cure) These little streamers of catalyst would remain oily, once the rest of the resin 'kicked off'. There is nothing left for the catalyst to react to. Remember, resin curing is a chemical bonding cure. A reaction cure. As opposed to drying, or being heated, or whatever

In the curing process (which takes only minutes, once the mix is started, up to maybe half an hour typically) heat is created. The heat is the energy being released by the chemical bonding action. The heat varies by type of resin... and also the brittleness or lack of brittleness is a property of the varying heat releases. The newer resins mix better, don't know what they did, but like Betty Crocker puts things into cake mix to make it mix easier, the resin companies must have done something similar. You don't come across that any more. No fix as far as I know, because nothing is going to draw that oily stuff out except capillary action over time. Even a strong primer can only hold it in, not cure it. Eventually it will work its way underneath and flake paint off.

The bottom line is that I never heard of one of these sticky guys being fixed fully, but it was fairly rare to find, and also that the yellowing (and stickiness) didn't have anything to do with smoking. Nicotine can definitely hurt resins and plastics, but not in this way....

A sprue is actually an outlet for air, it's not usually the term used for the pour hole. A sprue might go from the ear tips, tail tip, etc to the outside of the mold so that when you pour the resin in, the air can escape out and let that part fill all the way. I've always said 'pour hole', though resin casters might have a different term. In ceramic, there is also a 'spare' which is an additional piece that fits over the pour hole to make it longer, but resin casters don't use that.

Sprue holes would be much smaller, they are more like little tubes. I have used things like coffee stirrers imbedded in the claying up of the mold to create sprues, also heavy gauge wire. They only need to be big enough to let the air out, but they don't need to be too big or otherwise the resin will come out and leak all over everything. There is a book on the ancient bronze horses of San Marco that talks about their sprues. A very old technique! Bronze is even more viscous than resin, so a bronze casting would have a lot more sprues so that the air can escape and let the bronze in quickly. Otherwise, legs and stuff are like a straw that you put your finger on the end of, and put it in your soda... the straw won't fill with soda until you take your finger off. Same principle. In ceramic, however, the air can go between the edges of the plaster mold (which are never a perfect fit) and also into the pores of the plaster, so ceramic molds don't need sprues.

Sheila Bishop
Joanie is right. It's sometimes caused too if the resin is old or it's being used in a hot area, it kicks too fast and causes the same problem. Also some of the resins can be cooled to make them kick slower but it can also keep them from chemically bonding. Some are very sensitive to cool temps. Normally if it's leaching all over it's a done deal.

Sheila Bishop :

They do sometimes leak from the spru. It's not common if it's all over the horse so it's not a good sign when it's doing this. There are many things that can make it happen. Not drilling a vent hole after casting, resin not mixed well, being exposed to heat (most common cause of oil leaching, especially in older resin), not enough or too much mold release, stripping will do it (resin is very chemical sensitive) and so on.

Try to drill a decent size hole in the resin around the worst area. If there is uncured resin still inside, it can cause that oily stuff to surface. Make sure you clean out any resin goo you find (if any). If that doesn't work drill a few small holes in the oily areas. Let the horse sit in a hot area (not direct sun but outside where it's hot). It will help bring out any oil. Leave it a few days, bring it in, clean it with alcohol and do it again, until it stops. If you get it to stop give it a dry baking soda bath, then clean with comet and hot water. Let it sit in a warm area again. If still clean then fill all but one vent hole and primer. If you use Painter's Touch primer (at Home Depot) it helps since it's made to stick to plastic. Good luck.

Wonderful information ladies thank you so very much!!!

In my case with this resin is that the oily stickies are in many places.....I am very glad that the customer and I decided to alleviate all possible causes by removing all paint, primer, and fillers and starting over from scratch and starting off with using a different primer for the second go round. I am very thankful that the resin had not been shipped to the customer and then developed its issues....

The newer made resins that are shipped to me are light in weight and the surface is very smooth. Some have the texture and feel of fine white marble. I have one older resin here that, before I had her prepped, reminded me of very dark matte antique glass...a fantastic blackish-green volcanic matte glass look and wonderful feel.

I hope my posting my resin event...and the info I received from Joanie and Sheila will be helpful to those who also may have this issue arise.

Have a wonderful day everyone!
C.S.Richmond Studios

A case of sticky oily seepage...

2012-07-05T16:36:00.000-04:00

I thought I would post this issue I had with a resin for the learning purpose for other artists. In this post the resin is an older cast.

I had long read about resins, mostly the older cast resins, becoming sticky and seeping an oily residue onto the surface of the resin...sometimes many years later after they had been cast.

This poor resin, who the customer and I gave every chance to stop his issue, is the first I've encountered with the sticky leaking problem.

There were no signs of issues with the resin whatsoever when he arrived here in the studio....only being very yellowed which I considered what would happen if the resin perhaps was housed in a home where people smoked.

I began my usual prepping routine and completed the prepping over a period of about 6 weeks. I then painted the resin using my usual painting procedure, let him dry, and then applied the sealer...my same routine sealant.

Then the problems began...he became sticky in several areas and I notified the customer and that there were several things I thought might be the problem. The resin itself, my canned primer being a bad batch, my canned sealant being a bad batch, perhaps prior paintwork had been removed using a paint thinner which may be reacting to my primer and oil paints.

We agreed to leave the resin sit for a few months to see if the issue would cure. Sadly it did not....the paint was puckering and lifting from the sticky areas...

After much thought I suggested to the customer that I remove the paint, sealer, primer, and any filling material that was there...watch the resin for a while to see if the issue re-appeared, and if there were no issues, I would then re-paint the item.

It was a very sad moment when I had to remove my paintwork from this poor fellow...almost like a funeral..silly I know...perhaps other artists who are reading this post will understand :)

After removing the paint and waiting the few months I saw no issues...so I went ahead and applied the primer..a different primer.....the Bulls Eye primer that I hand mix and apply with an air brush or apply by hand.

I applied two thin coats and then put the resin on my studio shelf to watch for about 30 days.

Yesterday I checked the resin only to find the same issue had re-appeared...the resin was sticky in the exact same areas as he had been before....the oily areas show up well on the surface of the matte primer....

When touched the areas feel like old cooking oil that has sat for a very long time after being used...the oil will lift off at the touch of a finger but the area that your finger touches is sticky or tacky...the resin material is still hard..not soft.

Hopefully this post will help those artists should you encounter an issue similar to this....I would love to hear any similar stories you all may have...
Have a wonderful day everyone!
C.S.Richmond Studios