Coming At Ya - Calling It Done

I am also calling this one pretty much done.  I might still 'tweak' a few things, but not much more I think.

35.75" x 24" (bottom edge has a ding so I will cut it off) which makes it pretty close to life sized for a horse's head I believe.  I will be laying out another 'big' board this week I believe.  It is colored with mostly Ampersand Inks.

"Tassels"

An 8"x10" board that I worked on this week.  The tassels are put on the bridle as decoration and are often seen on bridles that were historically used as decorative attire for the horse for fancy events.  They may go back historically as a form of fly preventative to keep insects out of the horses eyes, but I could be wrong about that too :)  This quarter horse I photographed at a junior rodeo and I thought the tassels and fancy bling buckle made it visually interesting.  The original is available for sale.  e-mail me at cathy@aphelionart.com if you are interested in more information about it.

"Tassels" - 8"x10" - Scratchbaord Art

A scratchboard society? Its about time!!

It is long overdue for scratchboard art to have its own society and myself and handful of other motivated and dedicated scratchboard artists from around the world are working hard to make this a reality!  It will be called the International Society of Scratchboard Artists or ISSA for short.  We presently have an official board of directors, by-laws, and have a lawyer working on getting us incorporated and eventually getting our 501(c)(3) non-profit status!  We are working hard behind the scenes to get everything in place (by-laws finalized, a website, etc.) to start taking membership.  We will start taking membership in autumn 2011.

One of the key aspects of the society will be continuing to get scratchboard more known through exhibitions and education.  We want scratchboard to be able to take its rightful place among other fine art mediums!  We also want to unite scratchboard artists since many people work in isolation feeling that they are the only person working in the medium.  This truly will be an international group with our board members already including individuals from the USA, Canada and Australia.

One of the highlights of the society will be an annual juried exhibition (and workshops).  2012 will be the official launch of the society and it will kick off with, what we hope is, an amazing exhibit of some of the best scratchboard art in the world!  The show will be in Austin, Texas mid-year next year.  Yours truly is the exhibition director, so if you are interested in getting information about the show send me your e-mail and I will send you a link to the prospectus once it is available.

I think this is going to be a fabulous thing to help promote our medium in the fine art world and hope if you are a scratchboard artist (whether casual or serious) that you too will be excited to see this take shape!

"At Attention"

I finished the colt yesterday and opted to go with the title of "At Attention" since he looks so alert