About the Artist - Audrey Dixon
Official Trail of the Painted Ponies Artist
Official Peter Stone Horses Artist
2016 Breyerfest Best Customs Contest Finalist
Hi, I'm Audrey. I'm 28 and live in Indiana. I've been collecting model horses for over 20 years, and painting for over 10 years now! I have well over 1,000 models in my collection. I lost count a long time ago. I graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in 2018 with a Bachelors in Art & Design with emphasis in Studio Art, and I also have a minor in Equine Studies. I also spent 4 years on their IHSA Hunt Seat Equestrian Team (and qualified for Zones twice and Nationals once). And I spent 1 year on their Western IHSA team. I put together my own art show during my senior year with many of my models, as well as my 2D art and photography. During my Senior year of college, I also designed a model for the Trail of Painted Ponies named Unicorn Magic, that came out the spring of 2018 just before I graduated.
After college, I then went on to paint for Stone Horses for several years in Shipshewana, Indiana. I painted thousands of models for them over the years, and learned so much. But I decided I missed being so far away from my family. By that point I'd spent almost 8 years being hours away from my family and rarely being able to visit. So I left, and moved closer to home and now I am working out of my own personal studio.
I started getting interested in customs when I was young. I was amazed by what people could do with these models. How incredibly detailed and unique they could be. Misty Mae was the model that convinced me that I needed to paint more models (you can see her in the pinto section). I own and ride horses, and I've been riding about the same amount of time I've been collecting! I go to live shows when I can in the Indiana-Ohio-Kentucky area.
Eventing is also a major passion of mine, and I enjoy spending time with my real horses training and competing when I can.
I've ridden horses for over 20 years, and I had an incredible BLM Mustang mare named Izzadorable. Izzy inspired my studio name, and eventually became my studio logo as well. I still use many of the mustangs as inspiration for my customs. Izzy and I were together for almost 16 years before she passed, and she has always been my inspiration, my partner, my best friend, my heart horse and well - my absolute everything. I wouldn't be here without her coming into my life.
I currently own an off the track Thoroughbred (OTTB) named Diamond, who I am currently working with in hopes to continue competing in eventing with him. He has the sweetest goofball personality, and tries incredibly hard to please! If he could fit in my pocket, I think he would choose to live there. He just adores people. He's got a great mind, although he stuggles with focus, so I'm excited to see where things go with him.
You can read more about several of the important horses in my life below!
Official Peter Stone Horses Artist
2016 Breyerfest Best Customs Contest Finalist
Hi, I'm Audrey. I'm 28 and live in Indiana. I've been collecting model horses for over 20 years, and painting for over 10 years now! I have well over 1,000 models in my collection. I lost count a long time ago. I graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in 2018 with a Bachelors in Art & Design with emphasis in Studio Art, and I also have a minor in Equine Studies. I also spent 4 years on their IHSA Hunt Seat Equestrian Team (and qualified for Zones twice and Nationals once). And I spent 1 year on their Western IHSA team. I put together my own art show during my senior year with many of my models, as well as my 2D art and photography. During my Senior year of college, I also designed a model for the Trail of Painted Ponies named Unicorn Magic, that came out the spring of 2018 just before I graduated.
After college, I then went on to paint for Stone Horses for several years in Shipshewana, Indiana. I painted thousands of models for them over the years, and learned so much. But I decided I missed being so far away from my family. By that point I'd spent almost 8 years being hours away from my family and rarely being able to visit. So I left, and moved closer to home and now I am working out of my own personal studio.
I started getting interested in customs when I was young. I was amazed by what people could do with these models. How incredibly detailed and unique they could be. Misty Mae was the model that convinced me that I needed to paint more models (you can see her in the pinto section). I own and ride horses, and I've been riding about the same amount of time I've been collecting! I go to live shows when I can in the Indiana-Ohio-Kentucky area.
Eventing is also a major passion of mine, and I enjoy spending time with my real horses training and competing when I can.
I've ridden horses for over 20 years, and I had an incredible BLM Mustang mare named Izzadorable. Izzy inspired my studio name, and eventually became my studio logo as well. I still use many of the mustangs as inspiration for my customs. Izzy and I were together for almost 16 years before she passed, and she has always been my inspiration, my partner, my best friend, my heart horse and well - my absolute everything. I wouldn't be here without her coming into my life.
I currently own an off the track Thoroughbred (OTTB) named Diamond, who I am currently working with in hopes to continue competing in eventing with him. He has the sweetest goofball personality, and tries incredibly hard to please! If he could fit in my pocket, I think he would choose to live there. He just adores people. He's got a great mind, although he stuggles with focus, so I'm excited to see where things go with him.
You can read more about several of the important horses in my life below!
About My Horses:
Izzy was a BLM Mustang mare from the Sulphur HMA in Utah. Her main discipline has been Contesting and Gymkhana events until we began eventing together. She has also done jumping, english pleasure, western pleasure, showmanship, halter, and equitation/horsemanship pattern classes. She has won each event that she has competed in at some point, and has won Day Champion in Western and Day Champion in Contesting. She was barely touched when I got her, and had been through some rough treatment. Most of her training I have done myself, and I bought her when she was 16 years old from a kill pen. Her age hasn't slowed her down one bit! She started her career in Eventing in 2017, going Starter and Beginner Novice. Izzy placed 6th out of 12+ entries in her first trial ever at starter level. She also won her Jumper round at the same show, going clear in her first round, and her jump off. Izzy is very small, being only 13.1 hands, but don't let her size fool you! She happily jumps around 3' for me at home, and we are working on her confidence away from home, but has always been very reliable. She is truly a one-person pony and doesn't always work well with other people. She still has a little trouble trusting strangers, but will generally warm up some to good people.
Izzy passed in February of 2024. Izzy inspired so much - I named my studio after her, referenced a photo I took of her for my logo. She was my heart horse and meant more to me than the world.
Diamond is my current project horse & hopeful future competition partner. Diamond is an 8 year old 16 hand Thoroughbred gelding. My mom picked him up (for free, (along with another thoroughbred named Fever) as a 4 year old from the man who bred him to race and had started race training him. Unfortunately for him, Diamond was too slow to ever make it to the track. She wanted me to take him at that time, but I wasn't looking for something that big of a project at the time. So he stayed with her as a lesson horse for 2 years. I rode him a handful of times in those couple years and was always impressed with his great brain and how hard he tried. My first ride on him was when he was 4 years old, and we took him out jumping in the field with some other horses. I was prepared to have my hands full in that kind of situation, but he just trotted around nice and quiet. Wasn't sure what was going on but just tried to follow my directions and thats it! He has a very laid back attitude for a young horse, and an incredibly sweet personality. He's very smart. So he moved to live with me at the end of 2021 as a 6 year old for me to work with him and see how it goes! He's incredibly smart and brave, so I have hope that he will work out as a future eventer. For some fun information on him - he's related to 5 triple crown winners: Affirmed, Secretariat, War Admiral, Whirlaway, and Gallant Fox. He also has Breeder's Cup winner, Storm Cat in his pedigree as well. But we all know you can't ride papers, it's just a little fun fact for me.
Tinkerbell was a registered Hanoverian mare, and stands 17.3 hands tall. She has stunning gaits, and is incredibly scopey. I bought her to be a new event horse. She has the scope to jump 4' - but has been sitting in the pasture the last 3 years and needs to have her confidence built up again over fences. I have no idea how much she really knows. I don't know much about her previous owners, other than a quick search showed that at one point she was bred to Eric Lamaze's show jumper, Rio Grande for a 2007 filly. Tink completed her first season eventing at the Beginner Novice level in 2018. She did fantastic for her first season, and while we didn't make it in the ribbons this year (but were close!), I figured out a lot about what she needs from me to be successful. We only had one refusal the whole time I've had her, and it was at one cross country fence at a competition. You never have to worry about making time - she loves to run and jump!
Tinkerbell passed away unexpectedly in July 2019 at 21 years old. I may have not had her incredibly long, but she was one of the best horses I ever could have asked for. The type of horse that I could normally only dream of owning. And I miss her all the time.
Salli is probably my best known horse in the model horse community. Mustang Salli is a 15.2h BLM Mustang mare from the Four Mile HMA in Idaho. She was brought in as a baby, and went through the Idaho 4H program to begin her handling. She is currently 13 years old. I bought Salli to be my eventing horse after losing Tinkerbell. I've always loved mustangs (still do!) and so I went in search of another mustang to event. Salli was already started in eventing, and jumped everything I asked of her. The pandemic hit shortly after we got her, and so she and I competed in virtual shows for most of the first year together. Which she was incredible at! She won champions and buckles several times and won almost every class I entered her in. I competed with her a few times at horse trials, where she gave me my best dressage score to date. Salli was the 2021 Stone Horses Country Fair guest horse, and had a run of models made of her - which I painted and signed! She had 70 models made, which made her the best selling country fair guest model to date. However, as incredible as Salli is, she and I just didn't end up getting along. Our personalities clashed and I decided it was best to find her a new home. She currently lives in a home with 3 young girls who absolutely LOVE her. Shes teaching the oldest one to jump, and is quiet enough for the youngest to ride too. Everything seems to be going well for her and its a much easier life than being a competition horse, which I think she really enjoys.
Kenobi is an incredibly special horse to me. While I did not technically own him, he was a lease, He gave me my first real cross country experiences. He built my confidence way back up after coming from a horse that was a consistent dirty stopper and I can constant falls that ruined my confidence jumping. Kenobi knew his job, and he LOVED it. If he could run cross country nearly every day, I think he would. Kenobi was a point & shoot kind of ride. All you had to do was know where you were going, point him at it, and he'd help you get to the other side. He just would canter or gallop along and ask "which one?" - He took me over the biggest fences I've ever jumped. Fences that even a year or two before I would have never dreamed I could do. He truly gave me so much more confidence in myself and my abilities and I cannot thank him enough for that. Kenobi passed in the summer of 2022 at 26 years old.
Meet the rest of my Studio Team:
Lilo - Studio Supurrvisor & Assistant
Lilo is my live-in Studio Supurrvisor and Assistant. She assures that all the work is only the best quality, and enjoys closely observing the painting process (between her naps on the job). She double checks that models are packed correctly to arrive safely, but has mainly handed off that job to the newer member of the team, Ohana. She also keeps the studio free from bugs, and watches over it while we are away. She takes her job very seriously, and only expects the best.
She is most excellent at her job and likes to make sure that everyone knows it. Lilo was adopted from the local humane society in March of 2023. She is 11 years old. She had lived with her previous family from the time she was a kitten. Unfortunately for her, grandbabies came along for her family. And she did NOT like them. They were loud, pulled, and well... were just kids. She knows that they can't help it, they're just big kittens after all, but it was much too stressful for her to handle. So she was surrendered to the humane society. I had been casually looking for a cat after falling absolutely in love with a barn cat at my previous boarding barn (I did offer to take her, but they love her too much! I can't blame them!). And one day I came across her picture online in my search. She caught my eye with her absolutely stunning markings - mostly black with half her face orange, an orange front leg, and a few other orange patches. Just absolutely beautiful! I read her profile and it seemed like it could be a good fit. So the next day after work I drove over to meet her. I filled out the application, went through the meeting process. She did not handle the shelter well. She was refusing to eat. She was incredibly stressed by all the things going on and the strange people, and just all the commotion. But I could tell meeting her that she was a very kind cat. She was mostly stressed, but would show me moments of wanting to be with me & enjoying her pets. So I adopted her. I knew that was my one. I also found out later in her paperwork that the exact same day I went to see her, she had been placed on the foster list and was going to be sent to a foster home if I hadn't taken her. But I'm very glad to have her around - helping & keeping me company! She is thoroughly enjoying her life here. There are no kids to bother her. We live in a mostly quiet area with lovely views from the windows. She settled right in and was so much happier just within the first few days. She is now affectionately called "The Boss" of the studio. |
Ohana - Assistant (to the) Supurrvisor & Packing Specialist
Ohana is the newest addition to my team! She is the Assistant (to the) Supurrvisor, and my Packing Specialist. She enjoys helping with packing models heading to their new homes and assuring that things are packed properly so that they make it safely. She assists Lilo by doing a lot of the leg work that requires more energy and speed - she's a quick one! And she makes sure all packing is up to the highest standard to make sure everything arrives safely. She is also the Director of Happiness - which is a fancy way of saying "Class Clown" and she will make sure you have a good day. She's a little full of herself sometimes, and gets in trouble with the Supurrvisor for it, but she's still learning the ropes. She does her job, but wants to have a whole bunch of fun with it at the same time.
Ohana was found on the side of the road by my best friend, Stephanie, when she was on her way to work training here in Indy. At that point, we guessed she was only about 5 weeks old (as of the end of October 2023). She was fairly clean - no major issues or signs of illness. So we don't think she'd been out too long. She was also extremely friendly. Since she couldn't take the kitten with her to the hotel, and we didn't want to leave her out in the cold and in danger next to the road, I agreed to take her in temporarily. Well... The cat distribution system works in mysterious ways... and temporarily was not so temporary. Lilo & I really grew to like her over that week and now she's an official member of the team. Ohana got to pick her own name - I took suggestions for other "Lilo & Stitch" themed names, and wrote each one on a small slip of paper. I crumpled up those papers and tossed them out and saw what she picked first. We did that 3 times - and she was very clear with her choice. Each time she chose Ohana. So that became her name! (Although she is fondly called "Nugget" or "Squeaky" sometimes as well!) As of Spring 2024 - Ohana is learning to walk on a leash & is taking to it very quickly! She loves going outside to explore and play, take trips to Petsmart where she can watch the birds and hamsters, and occasionally enjoy a Pup Cup from Starbucks. Her third trip out we went to Lowes and she was happily going up and down aisles with me. Just gets a little stuck at the end trying to figure out which way to go next, but she's getting it! With her energy, curiosity, enthusiasm, & how quickly she's picked it up, My hope is that she will turn out to be a hiking companion! |