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Last updated June 21, 2007.

Artist

Marilyn Jensen of Springtime Designs

Brief Description

Marilyn has chosen to use a customized Sarah Rose Caldero resin as her canvas to create a portrait of an unusually talented Mustang/Quarter Horse gelding born in Nevada in 1985, and named for the spiny desert cactus, Cholla. Marilyn was inspired to paint a portrait of Cholla after she read about him in the book "Angel Horses, Divine Messengers of Hope" by Allen & Linda Anderson. Despite a rough start in life, Cholla (with the help of his wonderful owner, Renee Chambers) became famous for his beautiful watercolor paintings - the horse is an artist! Cholla has his own website and has been featured in many magazines and art galleries.

Cholla started out as a traditional scale "Caldero" Mustang, sculpted by Sarah Rose and cast in a limited edition of 50 resin pieces. Marilyn has customized the resincast to reflect Cholla's part-Quarter Horse heritage. Caldero's new ears were created to prick forward. His head profile was resculpted and his mane and tail were thinned. Caldero has also been gelded (although he retains some of his stallion characteristics due to being "proud cut").

Cholla was painted to a buckskin dun using pastels over airbrushed acrylics, with handpainted acrylic details. Cholla has a dun-stripe down his back and faint zebra barring on his legs. Cholla's only white marking is on his left rear leg, just above the hoof. Cholla has some blond streaks in his mane, very shiny dark eyes, and an open mouth with pink tongue and yellowish-white teeth. He also has a "thumbprint" marking on his rear leg.

Cholla's accessories include a special paintbrush that he can hold in his mouth, a handmade wooden easel, and a miniature copy of an original "Cholla" painting provided by Renee Chambers, owner of the real Cholla. He also comes with a miniature telephone and table, and a memory album containing photos of Cholla and his paintings, two DVDs of Cholla in action.

Please note that Cholla is traditional scale, measuring 9.5" high from the bottom of his feet to the tip of his ears, approximately 10" long, and 3" wide at the widest point.

Donation Details

This will be a 75% donation to NAMHSA with no reserve price. 10% of the selling price (part of the 25% being retained by Marilyn) is being donated in honor of Cholla to the The Wild Horse and Burro Expo of Reno, NV, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization promoting wildlife education and successful adoption of wild horses and burros.

Photos and Bidding

Shown are photos of the completed piece, taken by the artist. You may click on any thumbnail to see a larger version. Proxy bids are now being accepted!

The current proxy bid on this piece is $1,001.00.