Artist Comments: Horses have been a huge gift to me in my life. This opportunity to celebrate that gift as part of this wonderful collaborative mural is a great opportunity to express my thankfulness for the blessings horses bring to me. From the fantasies of a little girl with her Breyer horse statue collection, to the realities of her first riding lesson, her first horse, her first show, her first foal, all the way through lasting friendships I maintain with so many wonderful equines today… it is all a gift.
I truly enjoyed the design challenge presented by the random background. The color scheme and placement of this panel in the mural inspired the title “Cloud Play”. A single horse image just couldn’t convey the multiple aspects I wanted to capture of the “gift” horses have been to me. To me, horses are mystery and wonder… power and strength… curiosity and affection… but most of all beauty. In my “Emerging Equines” series I seek to capture these characteristics as I intertwine the equine forms. In this painting, “Cloud Play”, I’ve painted three horses depicting different aspects of these characteristics. The large horse head facing the viewer relates to us with anticipation and curiosity, while still appearing pensive, ready for anything. The trotting middle horse conveys the horses beauty in movement and harnessed energy, powerful yet contained. The third horse is landing from a jump or perhaps from a bucking spree, representing how even with this freedom of spirit, this horse is moving towards us, not away. So “Cloud Play” shows the real gift horses have given me is to enjoy them as horses and as they relate to me.”