Artist Spotlight!

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Today we spotlight an artist who has been sculpting, painting, and sharing her love of horses for over 20 years. She is looking forward to the online celebration of BreyerFest: Horse of a Different Color in July!

Meet - Deeann Kjelshus

Deeann has loved horses for as long as she can remember. Though her family did not own a farm and she did not have access to horses regularly, when she did get to see them it was always special. Her parents would take her to the state fair to see the mixed-breed shows every year. She watched in awe as the thundering 8-horse draft hitches and Arabians in full regalia flew by the stands. Since her time with horses was limited, Breyer horses became a substitute for the real thing. As a child, they were her favorite toy, and she would spend hours in her world surrounded by her carpet herd of Breyer models.

After maturing beyond playing with her models, Deeann was inspired to learn how to customize and create horses of her own. She always loved to draw and play with clay so customizing was a small leap, but required lots of practice. She learned how to customize from articles she read in Just About Horses magazines. After creating her first custom, she was hooked and wanted to customize more and improve her skills.

She created her first original sculpture just a few years later. She started out using air-dry clay, and then decided to use Super Sculpey and was much more pleased with the results. She actively works on improving her skills and has attended a few sculpting workshops including one hosted by the incredible Lynn Fraley. Deeann currently sculpts medallions and full sculptures, as well as doing many full-body customs, and custom paint jobs on both artist resins and Breyer horses. 

Deeann currently resides in Evanston, Illinois and is fortunate to live in an area surrounded by many other collectors and showers. There is an active live show community in Illinois and the surrounding areas.  Attending live shows and being around friends who have as much passion for horses as she does is a gift, she says.

Deeann first heard about BreyerFest in a Just About Horses magazine when she was 11 or 12. However, she was not able to attend till many years later in 1997. This also happened to be the first year she sold her creations. She is incredibly exited to showcase her work this summer at BreyerFest: Horse of a Different Color. She will be premiering one of her brand new medallions- a North Dakota Badlands Stallion. Along with her new medallion, she will have several painted and unpainted medallions as well as a handful of newly painted customs, and other painted highly sought-after resins for sale in all scales! If you can’t wait till July, check Deeann out here!