When the original 'Parade of Ponies' in Prosser was successful additional sponsors reached out to Historic Downtown Prosser about adding ponies to the collection. It was decided to add 9 more ponies to bring the total to 20, and I was thrilled to get the chance to paint a second pony.
This time the sponsors specification was that the pony design be patriotic. In the design I was able to incorporate the red, white, and blue Stars and Stripes into a quilted motif that also honors my mother, who's preferred form of artistic expression is quilting.
Transferring a design with precise corners to a rounded irregular shape was challenging, but after some painstaking hours (and some creative not so square solutions) we had successfully outlined the most detailed portion of the design and got to work with base colors.
Painting took place in a series of layers that allowed for the creation of actual fabric prints on the patchwork portion of the pony. More than 200 hours went into this portion of the work.
The second portion of the pony was intentionally designed to be less precise, with the creation of a solid colored crazy quilt over the most difficult areas of the pony - the head and legs. In this area the look of embroidery work in a variety of 'stitches' added detail to what could have otherwise been somewhat plain.
The final pony was dubbed 'Freedom Filly' and presented to the community in a drive through event featuring all of the new ponies. It is now placed on a corner downtown where it is enjoyed by locals and visitors to the Prosser community.
