Kristian Beverly

Police Horse

December 19, 2019December 28, 2024Kristian Beverly2 Comments

One of the coolest parts about Breyerfest is the wide variety of exhibits within the Kentucky Horse Park. This year I wandered into the Mounted Police Barn.

I’ve wanted to make a police horse tack set for a long time, but getting good consistent reference photos can be hard!

I tried to take a lot of pictures from different angles.

The game of being a tack maker is reference photos. Hopefully these help!

ABA Children's Institute

December 18, 2019December 28, 2024Kristian BeverlyLeave a comment

The whole reason for our traveling was to attend the ABA (American Bookseller’s Association) Children’s Institute. It was all about Children’s Bookselling and the importance of literacy.

There were panels and lots of book signings.

It began with an icebreaker, and attendees could dress up as their favorite characters. I dressed up as Jane from Dread Nation!

A little boy won the contest and some of the Real Adults around me whispered that the boy didn’t realize who’d given him the prize. I had no idea who the judge was and said so.

It was Henry Winkler and I will never live it down.

The next night began a huge book signing. At these signings publishers give out advanced reader copies, which are books that have not come out yet but are made available to generate buzz.

I told my mom that Henry Winkler was at the conference and she said to get something signed by him for her. I did one better. Not only did I get his book signed to her, I took a picture with him. He was very nice.

I watched Ann Patchett speak. She signed a copy of her picture book, Lambslide.

I also watched James Patterson.

On Saturday night, Scholastics had a party with themed food and more books.

This was a highlight. I loved The Hunger Games.

I met Sharon Robinson, Jackie Robinson’s daughter.

I really enjoyed this conference. It was nice to meet booksellers from all over the world and to catch up with friends!

Some of the advanced reader copies and books that followed me home. Thank god we drove instead of flew or some other means of travel. We had a lot of books to bring home.

Pittsburgh Zoo

December 17, 2019December 28, 2024Kristian BeverlyLeave a comment

The conference didn’t begin until the evening, which meant we had most of the day to ourselves. So to the zoo we went!

Leopard.

I loved watching the Elephants.

So much.

Next were the Masai Giraffes and Grant’s Zebras.

The Visayan Warty Pig.

Next were the Clouded Leopard kittens. They were so cute.

Giraffes are the most ridiculous creatures ever, I love them.

The Pittsburgh Zoo has a Giraffe Meet and greet so we had to do it.

He sniffed Michelle’s hair.

He stood next to me.

Maybe it’s just me, but because they’re so tall I never really conceptualized just how large their heads are.

Polar Bears are large.

He swam up to the wall, and you could compare his size to the children from the summer camp.

Kangaroo.

Snake.

The cutest Meerkat.

After the zoo, we went to the Church Brew Works. It’s a church that was converted into a brewery.

It had beautiful stained glass.

After lunch, we found a bookstore.

And it was time for the conference to begin!

The Frick Museum

December 16, 2019December 28, 2024Kristian Beverly2 Comments

In June, I went to The Frick in Pittsburgh, PA. I was in Pittsburgh for a conference with my boss, but coming early meant being able to explore!

The Frick Museum opened to the public in 1990, and was formed around the Frick family’s home. Henry Clay Frick amassed a considerable amount of artwork through his life (and after becoming wealthy) and collected a varied style of prominent artists. The museum also hosts visiting exhibits.
This painting is called Portrait of an Extraordinary Musical Dog by Philip Reinagle. Information about the piece said Reinagle “seemingly appropriated a pose from a portrait of Mozart to depict a spaniel playing a Broadwood square piano.” It was an adorable painting!

We wandered the grounds and found a soundly sleeping museum cat.

We entered the gift shop which housed some pieces of tack. This is a 20th century bridle. There was a sidesaddle, but the picture didn’t come out great.

The Car and Carriage Museum ended up being our last stop.

The room was full of interesting carriages

and cars.

The carriages were beautiful.

There were also different riding outfits. This is a circa 1895 Women’s Two-piece Day Suit. Look at the sleeves! The information sheet said:

Dress embellishment in the 1890s decreased as upper-class women chose to use expensive and tragic fabrics to differentiate themselves from the working classes. Women’s clothing moved away from the garish shades of the previous decades towards hues that were soft and subtle, with a preference for pale shades such as grey and mauve……Sleeves moved away from a tighter fit and puffed up to enormous proportions.

This is an Outing Wagon from circa 1906. It was created for and by wealthy people. Only one horse drove it. The carriage showed less dust and wear from traveling so unrefined wood and tan upholstery was used.

I loved the reasoning behind this one! This is a Chubb Phaeton, circa 1908. This was often used as a grandstand at polo matches. The carriage would be pulled up to the field and guests have great seats to view the field. There was a hinged dear that would be used as a table. Tail-gaiting before it was a common weekend thing!

This is a Four-Spring Basket Phaeton, circa 1903. This was referred to as a Ladies Wicker and was popular on resorts because of their design. Because of the fringe and light colored upholstery, this was driven primarily by women.

I loved this circa 1900 Bobsled. Bells adorned the horses’ harness because of sleighs being difficult to stop. It alerted pedestrians of the carriage’s approach.

This carriage was known to be pulled by Morgans. It’s a Brougham from 1895.

After viewing the rest of the carriages, it was time to look at the cars. Cars aren’t my thing, but the evolution of going from carriage shape to car shaped was interesting.

This Model A Runabout, circa 1900, looked more carriage than car. Its original cost was $750. The driver driver steered it using a tiller. In the 1900s, few American automobiles had steering wheels.

Electric vehicles aren’t new. This is a 1903 Electric Stanhope. Some cities had. charging stations installed in business areas so drivers could shop while waiting for their cars to recharge. The original price was $1600 and it had a top speed of 14 mph and a range of 20-22 miles.