I have a Writing Blog Now

Kristian, of Five Paws Studio, and I now have a writing blog called Parcae Writers. You'll find all types of things including poetry, which is my favorite type of writing. Check it out!

I Went to the Zoo!

ZooAmerica is a North American wildlife zoo, so it only has animals that range from Canada to Mexico. I was able to get some really awesome pictures. My favorite animals to photograph will always be birds of prey (if you can't tell).

Ask me in the comments for random animal facts. I went to ZooCamp for eleven years!

Many of these pictures will end up on Society6 in the coming weeks.  

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Some Pictures from Chincoteague and Assateague

I have put some of these pictures up on Society6. I'm adding more today if anyone is interested.

Some Pictures from Chincoteague and Assateague

Pretty sure this is a Piping Plover

Snow Goose

Blue Moon!

Happy New Year!

So many awesome things happened this year. I officially opened my Etsy shop, I attended Pony Penning, and last but certainly not least, I began college at Moore College of Art & Design as an Art Ed major.

And while 2015 was an awesome year, I plan on making 2016 even better! I go back to college in two weeks and begin my intro to Art Ed. course. I also am organizing an art show at my high school to show off the talent of the art department.

I have made several resolutions this year but the one I want to share with is art related. Sometimes when I'm at college, it is hard to make my own art. I just do the projects assigned to me and that causes a minor burnout. So this year I'm challenging myself to create at least one piece of art for myself each month. And I'm inviting you to join me!

Each month has a theme. Where you take the theme is up to you:

January - The Ancient World
February - Dreamlike
March - New Life
April - Growth
May - Animals
June - Mythology
July - Feathers
August - The Future
September - Knowledge
October - Remembrance
November - The Modern World
December - Winter

Every month I will post a brief introduction to the theme and some examples that I feel fit the theme (or in the case of January, some art from the cultures being explored). These pieces can be created in any medium, from colored pencil to text. I will be posting my in-progress and finished pieces on here and on instagram using the hashtag #GFSYearofArt. If you participate and post your piece on instagram tag me @gyrfalconstudios and/or use #GFSYearofArt so I can see what you've created! I may even repost my favorites.

More info for this month's theme will be posted tomorrow.

So when I go back to college I won't be able to work much on models, but rest assured there will be other art and life oriented posts! Let me know if you want me to talk about anything specifically.

I'm Back From Chincoteague!

As always, Chincoteague was a wonderful experience! I'm always so relaxed when I'm there. This year I attended both the Feather Fund Auction and the Pony Penning Auction.  As a gift for graduation my mom had donated in my name to the Chincoteague Legacy Group. This group was formed to buy one of Surfer Dude's buyback foals. We made history! We broke the record of the highest priced buyback at $25,000.

My mom was able to take a selfie with her.

  On a more somber note, this Pony Penning marked the passing of one of my favorite yearlings, Soul Surfer. He was diagnosed with intestinal cancer and had to be put down. He was full brother to Riptide and the son of Surfer Dude. He will always have a special place in my heart.

Just a reminder my books are now CLOSED. Once I become used to the rhythm of college life, they may open again.

A Week Ago Today (An Almost Wordless Wednesday)

Last Wednesday I graduated from high school. It still doesn't feel real. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the graduation ceremony.

All of the pictures were taken from my mom's Facebook.

I'm looking forward to this summer and the years to come!

Some Updates

Hi everyone! I know I've been MIA lately - senior year has been slightly insane. Even as I'm writing this I'm multitasking between commissions and a research paper.
Anyways Spring has finally come and has breathed inspiration into me. Yay! I'm nearly finished with my commissions and final pictures should be up soon. Meanwhile here's a in progress shot to hold you over.

I'm not sure how frequently I'll be posting in the next two months. April is the last full month of school for me and my teachers are piling on the work. It's also my birthday month, yay! May is my graduation month, but I really only have a couple weeks of actual classes, so who knows!

As many of you know this fall I am going to college in Philly at Moore College of Art and Design. I'm not sure how much time I will have to do model horses, but I will definitely be posting more of my flat art and other sculpture work.

Well until next time!

A Year in Review

Happy New Years everyone! I can't wait to see what happens in 2015 but lets take a look back at 2014.

I went to prom with a group of friends. We took pictures at the Sunken Garden in Harrisburg and later we returned to my house for a post-prom party with the highlight being watching the Breakfast Club...

I officially became a senior on my last day of school with the class ring ceremony, I also won a High Achievement Award in art, along with several other awards in different subjects...

I'm the one wearing it on her middle finger

I visited a few colleges and it became more and more apparent that I was growing up...

I also visited Mary Baldwin College and Millersville University but I couldn't find pictures of those.

I visited Chincoteague and attended the Feather Fund Auction. That was definitely the highlight of my summer!

I was asked to create band props for my school's marching band, which turned out to be some of the crown jewels in my portfolio!

And the highlight of the year was, of course, getting accepted to my dream college, Moore College of Art and Design!

I did not do a lot of model horsey things this year, something I hope to change in the coming year. I also hope to post more frequently this year.

Each New Years, I try to choose a quote to keep in the back of my mind. Here is 2015's:

The best use of imagination is creativity.

The worst use of imagination is anxiety.

~ Deepak Chopra

Merry Christmas!

....a day late :-)

Christmas was wonderful. I recieved some awesome gifts this year, including water mixable oil paints ( I can't stand the scent of turpentine and would like to avoid some of the more negative effects of the fumes) and a new puppy!

His name is Kristoff

My mother loved her present! I am definitely proud of it as I usually prefer pencil and pastels to acrylics when doing flat art. 

I hope you had just as wonderful holiday as I. Over the break I will be able to work on commissions and will also be working on some custom dolls for an English project (we get to create a box set for Shakespeare's The Tempest and I am contributing action figures).

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks so Thanksgiving break has been a welcome respite. I have a few things to be thankful for too - of course my family and friends are one of them! They have always supported me and my crazy ideas. They are also very supportive of my decision to major in Art Education. That leads me to the next thing, recently I received an acceptance letter from Moore College of Art and Design, my top school.

Now on to commissions! Riptide and Freckles are in their second layers of white. Apache and Whisper are still having their colors worked on, but are in the final stages of that.

Thank you to all my loyal readers as well. Without you this blog would be nothing. :o)

An Update

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know that I've entered Intersport/Intermediare on October 12th! Come say hi if you see me. I plan to have my draft resin finished by then so wish me luck. Hopefully I'll have the next part of my chestnut tutorials up sometime this weekend so keep an eye out for that too!

I Finished the Band Props!

Remember how I mentioned that I was making band props? Well I finally finished them!

All three standing side by side, with me in the middle...

 A close up of Le Mis....

 and Phantom of the Opera...

and finally West Side Story...

They were definitely a challenge, but worth it! I'm very proud of how they turned out.