Jean's Website: Amethyst Hills

Nominated Works:

"The Guardian [Chimera]" by Jellybean

This fearsome beast is based on the Chimera of greek legend, who terrorized a kingdom until he was slain by the hero Bellerophon. He has been protrayed in many forms, but most traditionally he has the head of a lion, the body of a horse, and the tail of a serpent. He also often has additional goat's and dragon's heads, and dragon's wings. I've opted for the full version. ;)

Chimera is my most recent effort, and has been one of my most labor-intensive customs to date, integrating body parts from Tabby, princess Misty, Sundance, Firefly, and Lickety Split, as well as various appendages molded from pony parts, and a sculpted tail with head hand-carved in the likeness of Spike the baby dragon.

"Sacred" by Jellybean

Sacred is the bearer of a singular and terrible curse. With greed in her heart she touched the sacred crystal at the center of Ponyland, and paid the price. Though she lives and moves, her body is being consumed by crystal and glass and she is being transformed into a living work of art: a stained-glass pony.

She was once a Banana Surprise, but I took her and peirced geometric shapes all over her sides, down one leg, and up her neck. The panes are not true glass, but an effective mimic obtained through much trial-and-error. One eye is now glass, and shines as light refracts through it. It was difficult to capture the beautiful effect that comes from having light shined through her body, or up through the hollows made in her feet, but trust that she is a thing of eerie beauty nonetheless.

"Baby Sand Digger" by Jellybean

She is a unicorn, while her mother is an earth pony, but hey! Hasbro has done the same on several occasions, so why not? ^-^

"Baby Echo" by Jellybean

I got a bit experimental with her paint, mixing in some silver with the blue for her body. At first it didn't seem to do anything, but as I handled her, she began to develop an almost pearly luster as the silver became just slightly exposed. It's a very pretty effect! Her eyes and symbols are hand painted in care and detail, and I used my usual technique of creating a stencil of one symbol to help equally position the one on the other side.

"Fireborne Wind" by Jellybean

Fireborne Wind is a dragon-flutter with a dark and unpleasant past, but she is good-hearted. I recently refinished her, as her first paint used unstable materials which eventually broke down. Her glossy coat has at last returned to its original beauty, and her eyes have been given back their detail. (The view with my hand in it shows her before her gloss was applied.) She has been often emulated but never duplicated, and remains one of my favorite customs ever.

"Bonnie Bonnets" Family by Jellybean

number in set: 3

group pic:
Another of that first set for TJ. Baby Bonnie is the spitting-image of her mother, again with symbols detailed and scaled-down to accurately match her mom's. This is TJ's favorite. ^-^ For that reason, TJ later had me make a brother and dad for baby Bonnie. As flowers and bonnets didn't seem right for boys, we changed the theme to pennants, stars, and baseball caps. Brother Caps and Daddy Caps have symbols that carefully emulate the symbols of the females in the family, and feature the addition of greenish stripes in their hair.

Daddy Bonnie Bonnets
[pictured in group photo]

Baby Brother Bonnie Bonnets

Baby Bonnie Bonnets

"IceWaters" by Jellybean

Icewaters is the regal queen of the polar seas. She rules over her subjects in the frigid waters where sunnier sea ponies dare not swim.

She was drawn and blended with colored pencils in time for two winter contests held by Icefeather and Sugarberry. She did excellently in each, placing second in IceFeather's and tied for first in Sugarberry's. She is a dear addition to my sketchbook. ;)

Other Works:

Baby Munchy

Baby Munchy is one of the first set of TAF babies I did on commission from TJ. Each of that set was presented bagged up in a blanket as if being delivered by the stork, and each blanket was tied closed with a special tag, which is what you see around her neck. She was made from a baby Tic-Tac-Toe and given new hair and new symbols, which I painted with great care. Her donor hair presented many difficulties. It did not curl well and had to be boiled to maintain its shape. I affectionately call her my McDonald's pony due to her vivid colors.

Baby Pillow Talk

My personal favorite of the first set for TJ, baby pillow talk is made from a baby Cuddles, with hand-painted blanket of symbols. She is bright and cheerful and has a sweet expression.

Silverbow

Silverbow, in all her finery, is deceptively pretty, but who ever knows what she is thinking? She's the seductive charmer of my custom herd, and can use her feminine wiles to get anything her heart desires. She's made from a tail-less lemon drop painted a midnight color. The "scales" on her back are snips of silver ribbon strategically placed in a blanket. She took some effort to make but she was well-worth it.

Baby Night Glider