interior pony concept sketch

exterior pony concept sketch

A tiny world inhabited by toy horses, cattle, and roping cowboys… Rolling hills in micro-scale, with a miniature ranch house, surrounded by a barbed-wire fence made of carved twigs and thread. Surprises to find as you look closer: Inside the windows of the house appear faces of the residents. Cows wear brands. A cow-dog rounds up a straying calf.

I imagined a world that would recall the history of ranching in southern Arizona, and reward the viewer for lingering and taking a closer look.
…but how to build such a creation on a full-size pony, so that it could survive 6 months of public display?

I remembered large,
sugar Easter-eggs
from my childhood,
filled with marzipan scenes:

My miniature world would live inside the pony, protected from
the outside world by its fiberglass shell. People could peer in
through peepholes in the side of the pony, each giving a
different view of the world inside.

For the outside: Painted with a scene of southern Arizona ranchland... blue skies above, and yellow grasslands below, punctuated by mesquites and creosotes.

Me? I'm a public artist who lives and works in Tucson. My family has lived in the state for many generations, and I look forward to working on a project with such a strong connection to the land I consider home.