A friend of mine was looking for a new home for her beloved rocking horse. A cute little wooden horse that she’d bought for her children who have now outgrown him. She needed space so baby Dobbin needed a new family.
She sent me his photo and asked if I’d like to be his new mummy … I jumped at the chance.
As soon as I saw his lovely long legs and sturdy neck, I knew he was no ordinary rocking horse. There was a zebra in there desperate to show his true stripes!
It took me a couple of weeks to collate the ideas in my head, actually I’m not sure if I really had a definite idea until I started painting. But being the closet zebra I knew he was, I began with a head to tail coat of Annie Sloan Old White; bright enough to be fresh but tinted enough to look natural. I painted his saddle, tail and little tufty mane in Autentico Nearly Black which gave a lovely velvety finish.
He didn’t really start to come alive until I gave him his zebra decoupage face; I “rocked” him up with some co-ordinating, but random, blank and white patterns.
Just looking at his gorgeous stripy face, I knew I wanted to keep him forever … He would be our Vintage Rocks Mascot.
I added our logo on one side of his rocker
and our web address with some freestyle, hand painted, Indian ink mehndi style design on his rocker.
AND HE IS COMPLETE …
Now, all he needs is a name!
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