Not every broken cast makes it out of the trash bin, but this little fella made it all the way to the beach!

The original plaster and wood glue cast took a dive off my workbench back in 2015. I glued what was left of him down to the wooden speech bubble, added a faux-sand beach… and he waited another six years for a paint job!

In April 2021, I finally gave him a flashy bay tobiano pattern and sunny beach day background to match. He’s been sealed in multiple layers of matte (sand, pony) and gloss sealer (sea, sky) but he’s only water-resistant, not water-proof.

The original leaping horse was sculpted by me and then used to create a silicone caulk mold (check out the how-to’s!). I cast him using a Plaster of Paris and wood glue mixture and additional layers of wood glue to help harden the cast before painting.

While he’s sturdier than his all-plaster cousins, he’s Art and not Toy and will be heading for the graveyard if he takes a bad fall.

He is roughly 2.5 by 2.5 inches and has tape magnets that are strong enough to hold him up, but not much else. If he’s someplace that’s not going to move, he should be fine to hold up a single piece of paper but don’t test his skills on a fridge door.

Medium: Liquitex White Gesso, DecoArt Americana Acrylics (DA063 Burnt Sienna), and Apple Barrel Acrylics (20505 Antique White, 21485 Blue Bonnet, 21482 Bimini Blue, 20210 Turquoise, 21483 China Blue, 21484 Admiral Blue, 20503 White, 20504 Black)

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