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Recently, I was asked by the International Community of Miniature Artists to tell my story through the lens of a miniature painter. Digging through my past with the added season of Christmas and the approaching year's end put me in a nostalgic mood. I always start my life story with horses, as they’ve been a steady beacon for me throughout my life. So it just seemed natural that I should write this blog about my muse, the Horse.

"Power Point" 24" x 30" Acrylic on canvas

For no apparent reason, I attached myself to the horse from a very young age. Not only did I draw them everywhere, but in my imagination, I WAS a horse! Crawling around on my hands and knees, snorting and throwing back my mane, I whinnied and nickered and stomped my way through childhood. My poor mother! I suspect it might have had something to do with the age of westerns that ruled the television airwaves back in the 60’s, but I’m really not sure. It could just be that their power, their grace and their beauty was enough to capture my heart and soul. To me, horses are magic. 

Family Christmas photo. I'm sure you know which one is me.

  Drawing at 16.

Throughout the years, I’ve met quite a few “horse people” – including many artists and writers – who share a similar story. What unites us all are the accessible horse books from our youth – the authors and artists who brought horses to life through their work. The stories were fantastic and engaging, but it was really the illustrations that sparked something within me. 

Just a few of my books on horses. This copy of Black Beauty is illustrated by Lucy Kemp-Welch.

Browsing through secondhand bookstores has become an adventure of discovery when I find a long-lost publication that instantly gives me goosebumps. C.W. Anderson’s elegant pencil drawings with his Billy and Blaze stories. Wesley Dennis’s familiar horses and ponies prancing through Marguerite Henry’s writings - Misty and Black Gold and Justin Morgan Had a Horse. King of the Wind. Illustrators Sam Savitt, Paul Brown, and The Black Stallion writer Walter Farley were among my heroes when I was a kid.

One of my most treasured possessions is a personal letter that was postmarked November 5, 1969 from The Black Stallion author Walter Farley – reading his words today made me realize that our lives were not so very different!

"That was just a Dream..." 2.5" x 3.5" acrylic on panel

As an adult, I’ve added many more equine painters to my hero list – George Stubbs, Sir Alfred Munnings, Lucy Kemp-Welch and Rosa Bonheur are among a few of my very favourites. Seeing the famous painting ‘Whistlejacket’ by George Stubbs at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore in 2005 was a stellar moment that I will never forget! And whenever I’m in New York City, it’s a must to revisit Rosa Bonheur’s ‘The Horse Fair’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As well, living in these times allows one to easily reach the many wonderful contemporary horse artists that continue to inspire.

"Rush" 2.5" x 3.5" acrylic on panel

"Beauty" 3.5" x 2.5" acrylic on panel

Looking back over this, I find it interesting how so many lives are shaped by our childhoods. Illustrated horse stories were seminal in directing my future. I thought that I wanted to be a jockey (I was told at the time that I was a girl and females were not jockeys – but I knew history would prove those naysayers wrong!) Or if not a jockey, then a trainer or something to do with horses.

"Fair" 2.5" x 3.5" acrylic on panel

Instead, I find myself a painter in northern Maryland, in an equine-rich area that supports thoroughbred racing, steeplechasing, horses and hounds, polo, as well as many good friends who generously share their horses with me. When I think of that horse-crazy kid, I realize that I’m doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do. Painting is a rich, complex challenge that I never tire of, and I still find infinite possibilities using the horse as my source of artistic exploration.  

"Morgan mare" pencil sketch

"The Outrider" 12" x 24" acrylic on panel

"Morning at the Zapata Corrals" 8" x 16" oil on panel

"The Whole of the Moon" 2.5" x 3.5" acrylic on panel

Oh yes, horses are still magic.

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