Joan talks about naming the Brownie pieces: I've been naming them after geological formations and Grand Canyon locations, the geological formations came from a search for "brownies, imps, pixies" which lead to a website with the names of all of the Little Folk in every language. One name caught my eye, it was Norwegian for a water feature, and another was some sort of geological formation. They seemed to be apt, and the geological names lead me to the Grand Canyon, which is of course one of the most interesting of geological artifacts. Since a donkey was found on Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon, abandoned by the miner who must have perished in the Canyon... the donkey was later named "Brighty", as you probably know... the Grand Canyon names seemed to suit. So, here are the first of the Brownies and their names. There will eventually be a page on the Pour Horse site with all of the glazed Brownies.

Kaibito, Brownie in grey
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie; created 2009. Joan describes this piece: No one does hairy critters like Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig, and the donkey foal 'Brownie' is her latest creation. 'Brownie' is a traditional scale donkey foal, standing about 4 3/4" from his eartips. Sarah offered 'Brownie' in a resin run, which is now closed, and there will be a limited number offered in earthenware ceramic. This little guy, named "Kaibito", is a solid grey with dun factoring down his legs, and one white foot. His glaze work is done in a new way, that brings out the depth and variations in his coat. He is the third out of the mold, and his crispness is amazing! He is gloss glazed.


Nappe, Brownie in grey pinto
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie; created 2009. Joan describes this piece: Just when you thought it was safe to head out to the pasture... here comes Nappe! He's a fuzzy wuzzy with lots of donkey details, from his little shaded hooves to his pink and mottled muzzle. You' just want to kiss his darling forehead, with it's poofy hair explosion! Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig sculpted Brownie, and offered him in resin. The resin run is now closed, and there will be a limited run of Brownies in earthenware ceramic. This little guy, Nappe, was the second out of the mold and he has every hair strand, every nuance of the original. He stands 4 3/4" to the tips of his ears, which makes him Traditional scale, since he is a donkey foal. Nappe (pronounced "nap") is grey spotted with a satin glaze, and glossed tri colored eyes. Until you see him in person, in all of his fuzzy glory, you won't be able to tell from the photos just how adorable he is!


Klippe, Brownie in brown/grulla pinto
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie; created 2009.


Coconino, Brownie in brown/grulla pinto
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie; created 2009.


Brownie in grey pinto, with "dirt"
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie; created 2009. Joan describes the creation process from "Mayhem", 2009: The Brownie served double duty, as he allowed me to show the girls how I freehand airbrush and then clean up the edges with an eraser, for a softer but still defined pattern. I have that process down pat, and did him fairly quickly. He was given an undercoat of a yellow-beige, that was rubbed away from the high areas, so that it sunk into his coat and gave it depth...Soooo..... it came time to glaze them. I decided to do something different. (My second mistake) Matte or satin glazes are harder to do than glossy, and Lynn Fraley has been getting such good results with her matte/satins, that I decided that the crowning touch would be a nice matte glaze on these beasties. So, I asked Lynn for the tips for success on the Laguna matte, of which Sarah had an unopened jar. "Don't apply too heavily, and don't overcook".... okay, no problem. I tend to apply glazes lightly anyway, and it's no big deal to run them through twice, rather than getting them too heavy. So, I sprayed the Taboo and the Brownie with the Laguna clear matte. I also sprayed a little wonderful plaque that Sarah had donated to the glazing chaos, and that Lesli had painted.

We opened the kiln, and just stared at the Brownie and Taboo. The Taboo didn't look too bad on first glance, since he was chestnut. But the Brownie looked like... well...like he had rolled in urine. He was bright translucent matte yellow, with his grey pattern showing underneath! I thought for a few minutes that I had just over-hit him with the yellow undercoat, but I realized that even if I had, the high parts of his coat would still be white, since they were rubbed off thoroughly. Nope, he was varying shades of yellow all over. Even over his eyes, like he was blind or something. YUCK!!! The Taboo, close up, had the same problem... especially his forehand. His facial shading that had really been gorgeous, was overlaid with yellow. And his blaze was yellow! Here I had been, all happy about finishing early, bragging on how I had done my work and could just coast for the last day of the visit, and the Glaze Gods had heard me and jerked the rug out from under me. They do that, every once in a while. The unopened jar of glaze had been mis-marked. I looked at it again, several times, and it was clearly marked "clear matte" with no mention of "pee-yellow"!

So, I applied some gloss glaze over the top and ran them through again, and while it did help, it didn't make them good enough to sell. I plan to run them through again, a few times maybe, and also apply some paint over the top to see if they can be fixed

.


Brownie in black spotted
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie; created 2009. Joanie describes this piece: Here's a Brownie that I just finished for a customer, and he's just bursting with spotty cuteness! He was done freehand with the airbrush, then rubbed, then back in with the airbrush, etc. Then his little hoofies were sprayed/rubbed/sprayed/rubbed, and finally sprayed again. His lower legs are slightly off white, because he has been playing in the mud.


Brownie in grey spotted
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie; created 2010.

Dafydd in dappled bay
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created 2007.


Dafydd in dappled grey
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created 2007.

Dafydd in dappled grey
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created 2007.


Dafydd in dappled sooty buckskin
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created 2008.


Dafydd in liver chestnut
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created 2008.


Dafydd in palomino sabino
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created 2008.


Dafydd in white grey
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created circa 2008. Satin finish.


Dafydd in bay tobiano
Custom glazed Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Dayfdd; created 2009. Joan describes this piece: I've been playing with a new method of painting which involves using a typewriter eraser to erase raw paint before firing, and I'm getting so excited about the prospects! Gives his mane and tail a softer, blended look.... and gives his hooves a lot of subtle detail that is delicious in person. Ermine spots, beautiful eyes, and a richly shaded, deep bay color set him apart.

Minkiewicz-Breunig Imp in glossy highlighted buckskin
Created 2009.

Minkiewicz-Breunig Lirico in White Grey
Marcherware matte white grey Lirico, who is only one of three in this color. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz.

Minkiewicz-Breunig Pixie in sooty dun tobiano
Sooty dun tobiano lightbreed foal, with dun factoring on her legs and indistinct shoulder striping. Created 2007. Her soft foal belly is a grey taupe, which runs down the insides of her legs, and her little muzzle shows tan pangare. She is signed by Sarah, and marked "1" since she is the very first piece to be cast and finished. She is also signed "JMB 2007" because Joan painted her. Lesli Kathman drew out the pattern for Joan.


Minkiewicz-Breunig Pixie in sooty dun with roaning
Sooty buckskin or dun roan, with soft roaning just frosting her hindquarters. Created 2007. She has a large white star, and her legs are barely beginning to color up. Her belly is a soft white-silver, showing off all of the hair texture. She has all four detailed leg chestnuts, the front ones just barely show under her hair. Her little muzzle has tan pangare, and highlights all of the lip and muzzle detail. This Pixie's glaze is sort of semi-matte, which really suits her well. She is signed by Sarah, and marked "3" since she is the third piece to be cast and finished. She is also signed "JMB 2007" because Joan painted her.

Vajra; Stormwatch in grulla sabino
Grulla sabino grade gelding. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz. Image provided by Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig; created 2008. Joan describes this piece: Here is Vajra. His name is the Indian word for the thunderbolt held by the God of Storms. He is a grulla sabino horse of unknown heritage. A feral gelding, foraging on his own, with a tangled mane and fly bumps on his skin.


Enki; Stormwatch in dappled smutty palomino
Dappled smutty palomino grade gelding. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz. Created 2009. Joan describes this piece: You know how a color sticks in your mind, and you want to be able to get it right? I finally did! This Stormy was for an article that will be printed in The Boat (the RESS magazine) showing the stages and techniques of ceramic glazing. Hoping with all my might, every molecule in my brain sending positive messages to the kiln, (and a good dinner out, which brings good karma) I could hardly contain myself when I went out this morning to check the kiln.... Enki, Lord of Abundance, Rider of the Storm. Enki was a Sumerian god, and reflects my kiln's names, which are also Sumerian. The Sumerians were early users of ceramics, and it seemed appropriate that Enki came from Sumer, my big kiln.



Molan; Stormwatch in brown dun overo/sabino
Brown dun overo sabino mustang gelding. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz. Created 2009. Joan describes this piece: Molan, the Irish-Celtic Servant of the Storm, has all of the lovely, deep detail of Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig's Stormwatch, with the color tones of gorgeous old European porcelains. Molan is a brown dun sabino, and he might have some overo back in his ancestry too. His feathers and hooves are carefully detailed and colored to show his favored home, the American plains, where the red dirt tints and stains horse's legs. Molan has yellow teeth that show behind his drooping pink lip, one blue eye, and a kind, appealing face. His mane and tail are black, with brown sunburning, and his tail and forelock fade to light silver/cream. I particularly love his little whisker bumps and facial shading, it makes everyone want to reach out and touch his face..

Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Taboo in red dun sabino
Created 2009. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz.


Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Taboo in rose grey
Created 2009. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz. Joan describes the creation of this piece: Sometimes, a horse sculpture comes along that is so fun, so awesome, and so playful that it makes you do crazy things. Karen Grimm and I were working on molds earlier this week, and we were talking (as we often do) about HRs, what we love about them, the molds that we adore, and everything that drives our passion about HRs. The talk turned to the kind of 'what-if' that collectors always have... what if we could go back and work at the factory? What if we could sit there and paint the horses that we love? What molds and colors would we do? Oh, we've spent many hours dreaming of such things. But this time... *this time*... we have a kiln.:-) So, we talked about painting a Pour Horse in an old HR color, and then it struck us... no, the one to paint is Taboo! He reminds us both of the old HR minis, like the Morgan stallion and the Prancing Arab, all of the joy, expression, and coiled energy of Maureen's work at it's best. What else could we do, but sit down and paint him in a 'classic' HR color, rose grey? This Taboo, which I have named "Nostalgia" (but the new owner can rename him) is done as a classic HR mini in rose grey with a satin glaze, including the typical HR black and white eyes. He's better detailed than the photos show, it's hard to get good pictures of such a little guy. He is mini scale, and signed as a custom of course. So, take a moment to enjoy a trip in a time machine... what if HR did Taboo? Now we know....


Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Taboo in chestnut
Created 2009. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz.


Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Taboo in grey
Created 2009. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz.


Taboo in mulberry grey
Created 2010. Joan describes this piece: This attractive guy is finished in a 'mulberry' grey with shaded chestnut mane and tail, dappled legs and slightly dappled rump, dappled face that has a lot of deep shading. His satin glaze shows off all of the fine details.

Bone China Tango in smutty dapple palomino
Created 2010. Last of the MarcherWare pieces. Custom glazed as donation for Melissa Gaulding. Full story here. First three photos are of finished piece; last two "wet" ones are right out of the kiln to check on dapples.

2007 Minkiewicz-Breunig Sporthorse Medallion
Created 2007. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz.

Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig leaping horse plaque in chocolate silver dapple
Sporthorse stallion. Glazed by Joan Berkwitz. Plaque is about 9.5 inches long and 6.75 inches high. Created 2007. Joan describes this piece: Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig sculpted this large plaque and I have glazed two of them. This one is a chocolate silver with a blaze. It measures about 10" long, and has holes in the back for hanging. The background is black, which compliments the jumping horse. He is very detailed and has a lot of deep, rich shading. If you are a fan of Sarah's work, you will love this big guy. All guts and glory!

On to Custom Glazed, draft breeds

Up to Joan Berkwitz Gallery

Return to Model Horse Gallery Home Page