Nationally acclaimed artist,
Alan Carr, sculpts family heirlooms from mesquite and other western hardwoods. From his workshop nestled in the Texas Hill Country, Carr creates mesquite rocking and glider horses and other exotic animals that come to life with a child in the saddle. Some of his beautiful horses will be on display at the Texas Mesquite Art Festival 11-13 October 2019 in Fredericksburg, TX.
Native Texan (the original series) features horses made from the distinctive mesquite wood found in the West. The signature western hand-tooled saddles are replicas of his grandfather’s famous “Concho” saddles circa 1900.
Native American series follows and highlights western Indian war ponies. Each pony is dressed out with war paint and a tribe specific saddle. Authentic buffalo hides, brain-tanned elk skin, mesquite saddle trees, beading, elk teeth, and bear claws mixed with vegetable-based war paint complete the historically correct vintage war pony.
Texas Exotic series began with Stripes, the zebra. There are plans for llamas, jack rabbits and much more. Each animal is carefully studied for adaptation to the ‘rideable’ rockers or gliders. “Fun” theme animals lend themselves to challenge Alan’s artist’s imagination. Recent carousel adaptations have added to the series.
Heirloom Restorations – Alan Carr is uniquely qualified to restore heirloom rocking and glider horses from decades of neglect. A family heirloom deserves a new lease on life and preserves the sentimental values for the next generation.
Do It Yourself Seminar – Interested in making your own family heirloom? Consider spending a week with Alan in his Fredericksburg workshop learning how to construct and sculpt a horse. The seminar is a “hands-on” class covering the choice of wood, plans, and tools. Students learn to eliminate the wood that “is not a horse” in order to bring to life a rocking horse or glider for the next generation.
The next seminar is 11-14 March 2019.
This site voted one of Best Texas Hill Country Sites.
Photo credits: Three saddleless horses - Jody Roden; the Indian Pony, Zebra, Chestnut, Chestnut Prancing, and mini-rocker w/doll - James Fox.