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| The Dream Painting was a 10 years journey to complete |
Although I was born in the year of the dog, I am feeling the year of the horse...
This year for me is a return to horses and has taken me on a
new journey and a lesson of a different kind of horse.
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| Me with my Zebra Polo Pony |
It began this year with A Polo pony I painted, that is forever frozen in a pose with the stripes of a
zebra...
In the Chinese
culture there is a zodiac calendar system, which began with the Han’s dynasty
(206-220BC), It is a 12-year cycle that names each year after an animal.
I love that idea and I have always found the horse to be an
intriguing creature and although I am not Chinese I am very aware that it is
the year of the horse.
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| Built Ford tough statue on display at he Augusta Airport |
I started out painting horses because that was the only way
I could have one.
I couldn’t afford a real horse or even a picture of one
(that’s what I would call a painting before I went to art school) so I made my
own.
This new year of the horse is where I came back to these
beautiful creatures with the help of one the galleries(Chisholm Gallery) that represent my work, three polo pony statues
commissioned, and now an up coming Equine Art show, that I will be a part of
and the hunter jumper, Horses in the sun show back in my town; I find myself
literally in a year with horses and I didn’t know how much I missed being
around them and painting and sculpting them.
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| Leap of Faith my first bronze |
I didn’t have any real knowledge of horses, what I knew about
them I learned from books, movies and from the horses I would pet in passing
when I was in NYC near central park.
That is, until I
rented an old carriage house and fell in love with a horse that slept below me.
I owned only his heart and he owned mine, with my deep love
that I had for him.
I learned so much about horses during that time and loved
being able to ride or groom him and I didn’t even mind mucking out the stalls,
I would do anything to spend as much time as I could with him and the other
horses.
I spent time at the racetrack and then watched them jump
over hurdles, and pull carriages and twist and turn on a dime, chasing a ball
in a field playing polo.
When I left that part of my life behind I spent more time
with wildlife and although this took away from painting and sculpting horses
they are always on my mind and in my heart.
What more could I learn?
Two People born in the year of the horse
such as Teddy Roosevelt and Sir Isaac Newton, both had a great curiosity about
nature and is something I can relate to.
But what they learned I would never.
What I know they couldn’t and if I am confusing you now well maybe it will
cause you to question and think.
What life becomes and where life takes
you should cause you to pause. Just like the horse-even a thought can take you anywhere.
It has taken me to places and allowed me to become someone that I never really
thought I would be.
To think of where the horse has taken
us as culture and what do they receive in return?
Our love and admiration-
sometimes and sometimes less then nothing and they still give us all they have
to give.
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| one of the 3 polo ponies I painted |
To share some of the qualities of the
horse, can bring out the best in us and honor this year of the horse, whether
you were born in the year of the horse or you simply love horses.
What’s not to love?
To
have more of their traits, such as… patience, enthusiasm for life and pride in
doing a good job; is some of what I learned and it is something to think about,
as I paint all the pretty horses.
See you at the show!
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