[HPFGU-OTChatter] Love my job, hate the pay

[artsylynda at aol.com]

>Cindy -- counting a few teachers, an architect and a minister among 
>the group, but figuring there must be other occupations out there


I'm a sculptor.  I make bronze, cold-cast porcelain, handcast paper, handcast 
resin, 3-D and reliefs, and mostly of horses, also of cats, cougars, a 
dragon, etc.  I also make 14K gold and sterling silver jewelry, also of 
horses.  I market my work myself, made and maintain my own website, have 
written and sell a book on sculpting (I was a writer before I was a sculptor 
-- my degree is in music, I'm a singer, was a songwriter, did some concerts, 
led choirs for a while, was a secretary for a while -- hence my incredibly 
fast typing skills -- was substitute school teacher for 9 years when our kids 
were growing up, also a horse show mom, did crafts for many years -- macrame, 
counted cross stitch, etc., making up my own designs and selling them, then 
got into stained glass.)  Always wanted to sculpt, never found a 3-D thinker 
to be my teacher until I was 43.  She's a potter but thinks the way I do, so 
she was able to show me the basic concepts, and I have taken two workshops 
since then, but all my teachers insiste I'm self-taught, so that's how I 
"bill" myself, a self-taught artist.  I started sculpting 9 years ago, and 7 
years ago had to go "pro" because bronze is too expensive to do as a hobby.  
I do four BIG shows (trade fairs, except for the one in Loveland, which is 
the largest sculpture show in the world) a year (Equine Affaire both in Ohio 
and Massachusetts, the Loveland Sculpture Invitational in Loveland, Colorado, 
and a festival that's part of Derby Week in Louisville KY, from which I just 
returned) as well as having an art booth at CDI level (and higher) dressage 
shows.  I also enter some juried gallery shows, but not many.  Funny Cide, 
the gelding who won the Kentucky Derby, won a trophy I made earlier this 
year, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2002 Champion Two-Year-Old Colt 
award.  Pretty darned cool to see a horse whose owners have one of my 
trophies gallop off to become Derby history!  "Brilliant!" as Harry would 
say!  :-D  I sure hope he goes for the Triple Crown!  And I'll bet I'll be 
doing another NY Tb trophy for him next year!  I *love* my job -- it's 
exhausting, doesn't pay well, and takes a lot of time, but it's the most 
soul-satisfying thing I've ever done (other than ride my darling horse Jack 
-- you can see him on my "about the artist" page).  I'm not making a a living 
at it yet, so it's a good thing my hubby makes a decent living, but I'm doing 
rather well, thanks in large part to lots of trophy jobs for race tracks and 
Thoroughbred associations and other breed associations.  Since we're talking 
about our jobs here, I'll leave my "business signature" on this email so you 
can see what I'm talking about.  (And if you want to see my dragon, he's 
here:   <A HREF="http://www.thesculptedhorse.com/dragon.html">" Dragon's Dilemma "</A>  -- not an HP type dragon, a Pern-type 
bio-engineered dragon, with permission from the author -- I call him "Arnie 
Swartzendragon" because he's so "buff," heehee)

Lynda Sappington
 <A HREF="http://www.thesculptedhorse.com/">Equine Art by Lynda Sappington</A>  Elegant equine art in bronze, cold-cast 
porcelain, handcast paper and resin.  Also jewelry with an equine theme in 
14K gold and sterling silver.


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