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Hello again everyone! This month, the Stone team is honoring an iconic Artisan Hall release, Dirty Sally! She is a soft “taffy dun” on the Palouse mold with plenty of shading, dapples, and subtle dun barring on her legs & back. Like many of the Artisan Hall editions, she was offered in more than one customization. The options for her edition included Factory Custom and Extreme Makeover versions. Both versions were orderable in matte or glossy finish. A total of 170 FCM and 30 EFCM were made, as well as a single prototype in glossy. The prototype has slightly different customization than the FCM and is not signed.
Customization on the Factory Custom version includes a swap to the TWH’s tail, a turned head, and twitched ear. The Extreme Makeover sports a customized Long Tail from the ISH and pairs a braided mane & forelock with pinned ears. The Stone team chose to include Dirty Sally in the Tribute Series because of her iconic grumpy expression in her Extreme Makeover form – they love their grumpy ponies!
Some models in the run came with a COA, but not all. A postcard-size entry form was sent to Artisan Hall members to order her. The Artisan Hall program, for those who are not familiar, featured prominent hobby artists designing and hand-painting the entirety of each run during visits to the factory. Dirty Sally was designed and painted by Ed Gonzales for the 2007 series.
Ed is known in the hobby community for his incredibly detailed work, and his designs in OF paint are no exception. Some of his most recognizable colorways include dapples, intricate patterns, or both. The pieces he’s created have a warmth and depth to the color which are visually striking and command attention. Alongside being a model horse artist, Ed is an accomplished breeder, trainer, and handler of champion Arabian horses who profoundly influenced his artistic inspirations. He has been involved in the model horse community since the 1980’s.
During his tenure as a Stone guest artist, Ed painted numerous test colors, Artisan Hall series, Signature Series, and other special event editions for Stone, spanning 1998-2007. In 2002 & 2004, he led or co-led the “Horse Camp” ahead of County Fair, a unique week-long event which gave participants more opportunity to hone their artistic skills using Stone models as their canvas.
For the inaugural session, Ed was the first instructor, leading the artistic scholars in repositioning using various tools. He also facilitated lessons on applying & sculpting with epoxy and how to sand it smooth. In 2004, he was credited with teaching the painting portion of the lessons in addition to the customizing. He likely taught at least some of the 2003 Horse Camp lessons, but no artists were named in the advertisement for that year. Outside of the Horse Camp years, he was the featured speaker & artist for some seminars on painting during Country Fair events.
Dirty Sally’s Tribute Models will debut for sale beginning on Friday April 17th 2026 at 2 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on these fabulous modern interpretations!
