Make a Decorative Horse Sculpture
© Stephie McCarthy
You'll need:
a toy horse
a brick or wood base
glue, such as E6000
water-based paint in chalk and metallic finishes
(see color suggestions below)
modeling clay for mane and tail
a wooden skewer to help attach the tail
Every good sculpture needs a form, and for this project
we used a good looking toy horse and a brick.
Easy enough to glue together with E6000 glue.
We removed the mane and tail (actually our dog, Jesse,
had removed the tail quite awhile ago …) Make a hole in the
horse for the new tail if there isn't one already there.
We shaped the new mane and tail from modeling clay.
A section of wooden skewer helps hold
the tail in place while the glue dries.
Scissors and tweezers added texture to the mane.
We recommend Hearty brand clay. Though any will do,
Hearty tends to crack less when drying.
Insert a 1-1/4" stick into the clay tail.
Let the tail and mane pieces air dry, then glue them into place.
Here are the images we used for painting inspiration.
The four horses of St. Mark's Bascilica in Venice, Italy.
… a Chinese terra cotta horse, also
a lovely finish. Hard to choose, isn't it?
We painted our toy horse using Waverly chalk paint in:
• Agave, teal blue
• Truffle, brown
with just a touch of • Plaster or • Maize, white to brighten the blue
When the chalk paint dries, use metallic colors such as
• DecoArt 24K Gold and • Festive Green for accents.
Very little gold is needed for a great effect, and if you've
over-done your gold, like we did at first, finish
with a final coat of Agave and Truffle.
Blend, blend, blend with a dry brush.
This beautiful St. Mark's horse can be finished
with clear wax and decorated with a garland
or a modeling-clay saddle that holds
trinkets or a tea-light. Shown here, the horse has no top coat at all.
We're already imagining him in a holiday arrangement.
© Stephie McCarthy
If you love decorative painting, take a look at how we
recolor resin and plastic garden containers with
acrylic and chalk paints. Yes, they last beautifully outdoors!
cards
Artist
© Stephie McCarthy
home décor
Artist
© Stephie McCarthy