Meet Isabella, a hand-carved horsed of Kendah wood from Indonesia, who came to me for mending via a wonderful import shop in Port Isabel, Texas.  She's 7/8th sized, and when she arrived, had been painted with watered-down house latex in a few solid colours. She had cracks and some chunks missing, and I feel she was made by someone who knew what horses looked like from old illustrations, especially the horse furniture (saddles, bridles and such), but didn't have anything up close and personal to do with them.

It took days of hand sanding, carving, filling and gluing to mend her cracks and breaks.  Her ground white is 10 layers of Novacolour's Nacreous White acrylic, so she glows like a pearl.  One side of the saddle is decorated with seashells, sand dunes, mermaids and fish (for South Padre Island), and the other honours Port Isabel, Texas, with local flowers and cacti, the Port Isabel Light, and a view of Laguna Madre Bay.  There is a bird carved as the rear cantle of the saddle.

The harness, beautifully carved but totally unrelated to the rest of the tack, was done in pearlized paint as well, and painted with scales to keep the marine theme.  The dark legs and dapples were put on with my thumb, and the whole thing is preserved under five coats of Envirotex.  Isabella, so christened by her new owner, now lives in the Texas Hill Country, and I'm sure enjoys watching ranch life.

You can click on either photo to see it bigger and in more detail. And if you are interested in a specility piece please email me.

Paintings of Carousel Horses here.

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