community holiday display
Here is she in the “wild” with her herd for the downtown Sioux Falls, SD holiday display. If you are in the area, the display is set up Federal Courthouse Plaza: 400 S Phillips Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD.
This had been a little of a whirl wind project, as we only had 2 weeks to paint the deer but I was soooo darn tootin’ excited! The other thing about the deer was how tall she was…. coming in at 5 feet tall without her antlers and about 7’2” with the antlers…. and the deer were mounted onto a 4’ x 6’ platform for easier handling.
FYI…..From the start I had been calling the deer a “her” and my husband politely reminded that it had antlers and was thus probably a “him.” But, I would stick with my version continuing to call “her.”
A huge thank you to my husband for sanding her down to get her ready for paint!
I did some initial stenciling and marks to break the white and get things going….. also in case you are wondering, I only used acrylic paint while painting this little sweetie.
Please watch the video for a look at her transition from white to the colored beauty she turned into.
One other serendipitous story that absolutely needs to be shared…. so apparently the wind had blown one of her antlers off once the display was up, and it had broke. Martin, a wonderful worker for downtown Sioux Falls, was working on fixing the broken antler. I stopped to see about fixing the antler myself and we talked through the process he was using and how i liked seeing the sanding and filled gap space- the wabi sabi effect worked for me.
When we were done discussing the antler, out of the blue Martin asked if I knew that the deer was a she? I answered no- not wanting to spill the beans on my thoughts and to hear his story. He told me, if this were a deer, it would be a male of course with the antlers; but, reindeer at this time of the season with antlers would all be female. He said the males would have lost their antlers by now and when we see Santa’s sled being pulled, it was by females. This deer was a female…. made my heart sing. So I had to take a pic with Martin for sharing that story with me.
A very happy holidays to you!
Thank you for being here!
For reading, watching, asking questions and encouraging me to continue all year long.
xoxo. Kristin
