Monday, July 25, 2016

The Horse Power Project

My earliest drawing passion were Horses. Always the hero in my summer reading as a fourth grader were in the Zane Grey books along with All of the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley. With my math book propped up on my desk as a school girl, I drew horses and forever was the problem child for my teachers....of course there were Black Beauty and Thundehead. Later came my history heroes and their horses as exemplified by Bucephalus.

With my childhood passions still intact, I go to the race track to "see" the Horse. The race of course is thrilling and another story in and of it's self, but it is the component I don't need. My need is the Horse. In the paddock, I watch the approach of the great ones. As they pass by, the eye meets mine, and we speak.
I remember Magnum, a great dark bay who paused by the paddock rail, and we had the conversation of expectation. He who runs, and I who love. That's all I really need and my day is complete.

"Horse Power" is in our lexicon in so many ways in our western culture... I often wonder how we would express the power of a modern car in terms other than Horse Power. These drawings are about the Horse Power which is inherent in the gaze of a Horse. The sweet glance of the mare towards her foal, the experimental gaze of the young colt, the magnetic  power of the stallion waiting for the acknowledgment of his worth, the loyalty of "Sergeant Reckless".

Some of our connections through words:
Horse sense, Hold your Horses, Wild Horses couldn't keep me, Cart before the Horse, Horse Power, Pony Cars, Horse of a different color, Horsing around, Horse Hair, Horse feathers, lead a horse to water but, Horse Play, death rides a Pale Horse, Pony tail, shank ponies, there are many more as found on Google. http://www.lrgaf.org/guide/equestrian_terms.htm



These drawings were created in the beloved "Art Building" in Artists Alley Oceanside. It is here that the painting 'Kublai Khan' was painted and the little bronze sculpture series  the "Cloud Dancers" came to life.