"Untamed"

"UNTAMED"
1st of my "For the Mustangs" series where 50% will benefit a wild horse preservation program.

Update in prints: Finalized and approved the proof of the limited edition of 250 giclee prints of "Untamed" and ready for the presses. Prints will be 16x22.75 and printed on high quality 48# archival paper and inks. So far have raised over $500 for Return to Freedom wild horse organization with this image, first one of a series. Thanks to those of you supporting our wild horses, and keeping our western rangelands WILD!

Prints are still available, let me know if you want one!

The story: Nevada paint mustang mare that is an exceptionally good mother and has been so for the last five years, per Mark Terrell's observation. Original photograph used for this art is courtesy of wonderful mustang photographer, Mark Terrell.

Only 250 printed. Will go to the printer soon, taking reservations. Watermark does not appear on the limited edition giclee print. info@wildwindart.com or email me on fb.

Prints $90 with shipping included. 50% goes to wild horse organization, Return to Freedom. You're welcome to contact me to be placed on a reservation list.

Newest Drawing, "Tessa" Progression from pencil to color...

Newest drawing, "Tessa"....
Completed December 9, 2009

Here you can see a progress comparison, from pencil to pastel...





Simple things.
Sonya
www.wildwindart.com

If It Were Your Last Day....

Someone on my facebook page asked the question "What would you do if it were your last day?", I mulled it around, and here's what I came up with. One day, I will have to draw the image of the steel grey mustang....

"... so last days, like Paul asked....
As I already mentioned but it got buried in the bantering :).... I would ride off on my favorite horse and old '76 Circle Y. Paul, I think roping and beer are really good choices. So had to rethink my choice and combine the two... roping some and riding the rest of the day...
... I would rope like my 30' RH 3... Read More/8" true's on fire, roping the fastest steer on the fastest headin horse I could sink my spurs into, breaking some records and getting a story in newspapers and magazines, with local... heck national news coverage. Then, riding fast with my duster flying behind me, I'd ride off to the big open country on my favorite horse~ where there are no fences (but I bring my Leatherman's just in case... ). I would then look for and locate my steel gray mustang with the windknots tunneling through her insanely long mane.... and grab handfuls and ride the badlands. At the close of the day, I would then blog and status about it (LM@O) as I'm sitting by the fire drinking a Snakebite and eating the best ribeye! Yup, sounds like a good last day to me...
What would others do?"

Simple things.
Sonya
www.wildwindart.com

Newest Art: BARBARO

I finally completed my latest drawing of the late-great racehorse, Barbaro...


"Barbaro"
Graphite & Pastel

"In riding horses, you breathe in the very breath they take away..." ~Sonya Spaziani

Simple things.
Sonya
www.wildwindart.com

Facebook | Sonya Malecky Spaziani

Facebook | Sonya Malecky Spaziani: "Funny how conversations with others can get your mind working. In a discussion about how horses make you feel, here is my own summation:

In riding horses, you breathe in the very breath they take away ~"

Simple things.
Sonya
www.wildwindart.com

"THE UNBROKEN" Additional Color~ COMPARISON

"The Unbroken" Redone, with additional color

"The Unbroken" Initial with minimal color

Newly released October 2009
Pencil, Pastel, acrylic via wild horse hair
L/E 250 signed & numbered giclee prints

I had this "itch" to add more color to what I thought was a completed piece. I posted them together for a comparison. Those who know me and my art know that I tend to "overdo" things and not know when to quit. Many were threatening an intervention. ;)

The story about these horses:
A friend, who is also a stock contractor and a wonderful photographer, Robin Corey, allowed me to draw one of her beautiful photos. I loved the photograph and immediately came up with a name when she told me the story of these horses. These are horses that have an amazing 'unbroken' spirit, who refuse to "buckout" and so are unrideable. I VERY much admire that strength and tenacity as it depicts our wild west.

I was drawn to the striking contrasting details, the mane textures and wind knots. Your eye is drawn into the quietness as they are at rest, and while you feel you are among them, one clearly keeps his eye on you with her indeterminant spirit and fight to stay wild. As you move deeper within the herd, you are attuned to their levels of awareness.

Some light and dark contrasting hair details such as the whisps are via acrylic paint, using wild horse mane strands for the paintbrush.

Simple things.
Sonya
www.wildwindart.com

Facebook | Sonya Malecky Spaziani

Facebook | Sonya Malecky Spaziani: "This drawing matters a great deal to me. The original photograph for this art was taken 40 years ago and the mustang had ropes all over him as an attempt to subdue it. He fought and fought hard, as the mustang spirit does. I've redrawn this amazing wild horse...... but WITHOUT the ropes~ my way of 'freeing him forever'."

Bay Blaze

"So why do you call her Blaze?... I don't see one." I often hear when I introduce my thoroughbred mare to someone..."Oh it's there" I reply, "it's just bay". I get blank stairs, they go in for a closer look, and then some form of chuckle usually follows. You know, I've searched and searched, and this horse has not one solitary white hair on her hide anywhere... not on her nose, not in her mane or tail, not on any leg or even under her belly. Zilch.

Blaze was a racehorse, and was "blazing hot" on the track, at least that's how I like to imagine her to have been. Her name also follows her sire's track name through her registry with the Jockey Club. She's all... and a lot of horse, and an amazing athlete. My round corral is too small for this huge-strided big girl. Working her in the corral, she really wants to go- and go fast... she'll be loping her front legs, keeping her speed in check, but when she's fired up, her back legs want to go faster and they "hop" like a bunny. All in perfect time and rythm. Her muscles ripple under her velvety smooth hide, and her head is about motionless as she quickly moves about. Some of my favorite "magical" moments after working horses, is the high gloss and shine on their coat, and if it's a cooler morning or evening, watching the steam rise off their backs.

This morning, while the other two were finishing up their leftover scraps of alfalfa, I went up and climbed atop the fence to watch the horses peacefully finish their meal. Blaze gave a soft nicker and walked on over to me for a greeting. Not long after the nuzzles, did she turn her giant hindquarters to me and back-in for a good old-fashioned scratching. So I did a big job on her big hiney... layed in with both arms and all ten fingers. She stretched out her neck and wiggled her lips in response. I did that for a while until her neck slowly dropped and she stood there with one back leg resting. Of course, the next natural thing for me to do was lay my upper half right on over that big velvety butt. And so we rested.

Simple things.

Sonya

http://www.wildwindart.com/

My Rope Horse, Gus

This is my old rope horse Gus, an Appendix quarter horse. Not much in the name, but that's how I liked it, simple.... something he was not. He was the kind of horse that had "no fear", and with a mind of his own. He had no fear, and a free-spirited mind of his own, but because of his attachment to me, our minds melded and when riding, he was an extension of my body. When I asked something of him, he'd arch his glorious neck and give to the bit, working off my instructions.

I say "no fear" because anything I asked, he'd do it. Even if another horse around us balked at a task or was frightened of something, it didn't phase Gus one bit. For instance, if riding on trails, and a buddy's horse refused to go through a deep trench, or stream in front of us, then I'd pull Gus in front and he'd walk through without a second thought. The other horse would then soon follow. He didn't even put up a fuss, when one early morning as he was happily eating his breakfast, I snatched him out of the barn to rescue a wayward cow. A neighbor's longhorn got out on a road near my house, I saddled in record speed, galloped Gus down the road, roped and dallied the bellowing bovine, dragging him behind us back to the owners.

We also literally blazed new trails. One time really sticks out in my mind when we went through some harsh thickets (Oregon snarly and prickely blackberry bushes) up a steep ridge until it just got too thick and deep, that I had to meander him "backwards" all the way back down through the trails we made. No refusal, just tucked in his chin and did as asked. Simple as that. He took his work seriously.

The stories are endless, and I'm blessed to have had him for a big part of my life. He'll never be forgotten.

Thank you for letting me share a couple fond memories of old Gus.

Where the wild winds blow,

~Sonya

https://www.wildwindart.com
WildWind Art
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Published in The Score magazine

I'm published in The SCORE. There's an article about my WildWind Art and drawings in The SCORE magazine (by the National Team Roping Horse Association)! The main article is called The Art of Roping. You can turn the page, and I’m on the next page on the right side! You can zoom in to read it better. Here’s a link to the online version of the magazine.

The Score magazine interview:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/8559813d#/8559813d/34

See you where the wild wind blows,
Sonya
http://www.wildwindart.com/

"Second Look" Appaloosa, Color Study

Here's my latest quick draw of a young appaloosa called "Second Look". I did this one for (cross my fingers and toes!) the cover of Appaloosa Journal. The original photo for this drawing is courtesy of Sawyer Creek Appaloosas.I just finished coloring it in... so you can see it in both pencil and color.... and by the way, in all my pictures, beginning in 2005, I use a few strands of mustang mane found in the high desert to paint in hair details. So my images are essentially touched by a wild horse!

"Second Look" pencil

"Second Look" Colored Pencil, Pastel

Where the wild winds blow,
Sonya
http://www.wildwindart.com/