Finn's Carousel Portrait
#1
Last November I went to visit family for Thanksgiving and my mom, my aunt Jana, and I spent an afternoon poking around in some antique stores in Granbury, Texas. Jana was the one who spotted an incredible treasure. It was a plaster carousel GOAT! My heart leaped. I knew Phil would love it. But surely it would be much too expensive. Carousel horses--even small ones--are very collectible and often very expensive. A carousel goat had to be rare and I thought I would see a $100 price tag. But no, it was only $30. I had to have it! 

But as unique as it was, it was also kind of ugly. It was dull gray with a very ugly tannish saddle with purple saddle blanket trimmed in red. The bridle was mint green and the harness was dark green with mint trim. The pole was red, white, and mint green stripes. On closer inspection the paint was stained with what looked like old yellow cigarette smoke and was beginning to flake in areas. But it was unique and I knew I could fix it up. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't take photos of what it looked like when I bought it, but I didn't expect the results to be so incredible. 

I spent a LOT of time carefully peeling, scraping, picking, and sanding the old paint off. I discovered that one horn and one hind leg had been broken and repaired at some point in the goat's history. I had to re-repair the hind leg because it came loose while I was scraping the paint off it. Once I got it down to the plaster I sprayed it with a white primer and had a beautiful blank canvas to work with. I was originally going to give this goat to Phil for Christmas, but because of the time involved I pushed it back to his birthday in February. Well, when his birthday came round I was only partially done with the paint job. It took me another week to get it completely finished, and it wasn't until just this week--more than a month after his birthday--that I was finally able to get ahold of some glossy lacquer to finish the job and give it a fine porcelain look. 

And here it is... a portrait of Huckleberry Finn as a prancing carousel goat! I wish the photos could do it justice because I think it came out rather fine. I especially enjoyed painting the detail around the eyes and ears. The little speckles were a lot of fun. 
     
   
   
   
   
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#2
Oh, and it would be very easy to turn this into a lamp. We're thinking we might do just that. We'd make the shade to look like an elegant red and white carousel top complete with little mirrors and jewels around the outside. Phil is very talented with paper, and I have a vast collection of pinking shears. I think it would be a fun project to make a pretty topper for this guy.
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#3
I'm awestruck! Wow!
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Sabine from Germany
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#4
Ooh. What an interesting find! You've spent a lot of time on details. The knees even have the kneeling pads! It turned out great.
I don't drink beer, but if I did, I'd prefer Dos Equis.  Stay thirsty my friends!
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#5
Thanks! I really enjoyed the painting part of this project. The scraping, sanding, peeling part not so much. I wish it were easier in the photos to tell the difference between the highlights from the gloss coating and the white speckles on Finn's face. I really had fun painting his little pink nose. I had to start over several times because it came out too pink, or the dots on it came out too black. Finn has a little "Hitler mustache" and trying to replicate it without making his statue look like "Der Fuehrer" was kind of tricky. I really had to tone down the colors on his muzzle from how he actually looks like in real life because when I tried to copy Finn's colors exactly the initial impression was "Pink Hitler!"

As I was in the midst of this project I realized that the legs of this goat look like a horse's legs and hooves. The hooves are round and solid. So I started toying with the idea of getting a dremel tool and resculpting the whole thing. I could completely reshape the hooves, but if I did that I would also be tempted to take out a lot of the long, curly hair and make it smooth-coated like Finn. Once I started thinking about all the possibilities I immediately sprayed on the primer and went to painting before I opened up Pandora's Box or ended up ruining a perfectly good goat sculpture. I drew the splits in the hooves with black paint and it looks good enough to me!
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#6
What a find in the antique store! You're really talented! It would make a fantastic one-of-a-kind lamp!
Goatberries Happen!
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#7
This is so cool, what a great idea! It would make an awesome lamp.
Today we stroll the neighborhood, someday we'll climb mountains together..  Heart
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#8
The others had better join together to stop Der Fuehrer from persecuting the ewes.
I don't drink beer, but if I did, I'd prefer Dos Equis.  Stay thirsty my friends!
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#9
Goodness, there is no limit to the talents you and.Phil have. What a beautiful job you did on that statue.
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#10
Thank you! I entered it in the Colorado State Fair arts and crafts show this year. We'll see how he does in a few weeks when the fair opens. Smile
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