Saturday, December 09, 2006

NOT my drawing, but...

...it is my horse, and I love what Dave did--so I'm bending my sketchbook posting rules and putting one of his on-the-scene sketches here for you to enjoy. There's more at Dave's page.


Anyway, here's my "Osk"(it means "wish" in icelandic)--a mare from Iceland(really--she flew Icelandair to get here). Icelandics are sturdy, pony-sized horses that carry adults in Iceland, as they're the only breed that's been on that island for over 1000 years. These are the descendents of the viking horses, believe it or not. They are smallish--that's what happens evolution-wise when an animal reverts to a wild common denominator. Dogs, horses, cats, etc. all revert to "wolf", "pony" and "tabby" types naturally(especially in 1000 years). But the icelandics are now bred very carefully and shown all over europe; they're quite feisty and fast, and do a gait called the tölt, a running walk that doesn't bounce and is a blast to ride.
Here she is in full color--one view, anyway:

Here she's trying to climb in the back of our car.

Dave P. and David Derrick and I visited the horses at lunch a month ago and all did drawings; Dave D.'s are also terrific. Mine? Well, I do have a lot of random horse sketches, so maybe I'll put something up eventually when I can scan them. I'm just glad Dave P. did.
Happy trails!

Friday, December 01, 2006

A pinfeather here, a piece of down there...

I was describing to my friend Dave what happens when our African grey parrot has what I suppose you'd call a neurotic episode, which he's going through lately. He doesn't screech or bang his dish or do much else except...pluck. The poor fellow.



I bite my nails from time to time, so I understand, I think.