Dala Horses By Julia
Artist Julia Persson-Morrill has had a life long interest in Dala Horses but didn't start to carve and paint them until just a few years ago. Some of the wooden horses are sold out of her studio, she can often be seen working on them out in her garden. She is happy to show the horses or share her skills with visitors all summer.
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
The Last of the 2021 Dala Horses
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Dala Horse Christmas Ornaments
Some years I buy packages of thin, three inch wooden horses to design Christmas ornaments with. I've been doing it for many years.
I usually do pine boughs or holly and berries but this year I plan to try snow flakes and other holiday images.
Here are some of the of the first horses of this batch.
For the first one I thought I'd see how it would like if I tried something mono chromatic for the people that like to decorate in just one color and quickly decided that it wasn't for me.Next I tried using as many colors as possible but that wasn't it either.
That's when I got the idea to design more with holly and berries so here are some starts, progress and finished ones you can paint along with.
I thought it might be fun to combination of different colors with the holly and berries. I tried pink here so that it could also be used as a baby girl's first Christmas.
Now I plan to go to my dala horse store and resign cards with some of my old Christmas dala horses.
Perhaps all of this will help me decide where to go From here.
Keep painting, you never know when something amazing will roll off your brush,
Julia
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Dollar Tree Unicorn Transformed to Dala Horse Step By Step
In times like these there's nothing more welcome than a bargain so when I saw these 8 inch unicorns for 1.00 I just had to have some.
It wouldn't be hard to cut them here and there and turn them into Dala Horses that might turn a nice profit.
Here's how I started:
1. Buy the unicorn.
2. Mark the pieces to be cut.
3. Cut them.
4. Sand and dust your new horse.
5. Apply primer or gesso.
6. Paint the design you have chosen.
7. Here are some design ideas:
Good Luck and Have Fun,
Please, follow this blog and be sure to leave your comments or questions and I'll reply as soon as possible,
Julia
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
My Design Process, New Dala Horse Head Designs
Once I've decided on the parts that I like best, I'll make the final design and then start preparing tp market it. There are several ways to go about doing that. You can either paint copies by hand and sell them or you can submit your design to print on demand companies and have your designs printed on a wide variety of projects for sale on the internet.
In the case of this horse head I would have used the area in the yellow from the second photo and the other brushstrokes from the first photo. And that would have become my final design. After that I would have gone on to color choices and variations. sometimes that will mean 3 or 4 additional horses before I develop a complete line of that design.
It's not as easy as people think it is but I find it really satisfying.
I decided that I can do much better than this one so I sanded and gessoed it so that i could start over. I was much happier with this blue one and am putting several layers of clear coat on it now.
After that I will return to sanding and painting the last 3 horses in this shape and style which I hope will sell well. Wish Me Luck!
There are only 4 horses but up to 8 new designs because I often paint each side a bit differently.
I may pursue some of these designs further but haven't decided yet.
This one is the favorite so far:
Keep practicing to keep your skills ready. You never know when you will want to use them again.
Here are some of the finished pieces:
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Beyond Wooden Horses
I've been designing and painting Dala horses for about 10 years now and done somewhere around 4 or 5 hundred horses.
I sold a lot, kept a few and gave many as gifts.
After all or that, what's next? I'm working on a book and some videos and have also worked with companies to have my horses put on merchandise sold in different stores.
Here are some examples:
The possibilities are endless!
Join the fun!