Kathy
Oil on linen – 24 x 46 inches – Private Collection
Lois and Jim had me come to their place in Texas for the better part of a week to photograph, spend time with, do studies of and even ride their four boys. It was as much vacation as business trip. They had previously lost a much-loved horse so they knew what they wanted in the portrait: if everyone is safe and calm, then all four heads will be down.
Kathy
Oil on linen – 15 x 30 inches – Private Collection
While visiting in Texas for Four Heads Down, I had done some sketches of the way the boys lined up along the fence to wait for pets and treats. Jim had me secretly design and paint a second portrait of that scene for Lois’ Christmas present. It worked. She said he’d never in all their years of marriage been so successful at totally surprising her. She hadn’t had a clue.
Kathy
Kathy
Oil on linen – 22 x 36 inches
Included in the Cross Gate Gallery 2007 Masters of Foxhounds Centennial Tour.
Included in the 2010 American Academy of Equine Art’s spring invitational exhibition.
The original photograph that inspired this painting was of a stallion at liberty who turned when someone led a mare out of the barn across the pond. I was so taken with the unexpected image of his head facing opposite of his own body that I knew I had to paint it. But I added tack and decided that he was responding to the sound of a distant hunting horn.
Kathy
Oil on linen – 20 x 12 inches – Private Collection
It is remarkably gratifying to the artist when a painting you have done suddenly exerts such an emotional hold on a person that they can’t walk away. It happened with this white mare and the woman who has now given her a very loving home. It can be hard to part with a painting but not when you know it will be so cherished.
Kathy
Oil on linen – 24 x 20
First Place, Oil, Professional Category at the Wind River Artists’ Guild 62nd Annual Show in Wyoming.
I hadn’t done a Western scene in a long time when I created this painting from my imagination and several photographs I had taken on a long-ago trip out west. I wanted to design a good rock formation up in the high country as a protective nursery for this very alert wild Mustang’s paint foal.
Kathy
Oil on linen – 30 x 25 inches – Private Collection
I have been fascinated by the Arabian horse and it’s Bedouin heritage since I was a little girl. This was my first attempt to create a narrative painting that came from my imagination, not photographs. Once I had created the composition, I used resources such as research into landscapes, raptors and falconry and the Saluki sight hound to help me achieve that goal. I even sewed a robe and cloak for a friend to wear while she stood in the stirrups with her right arm raised so I could understand the drape of the fabric.
Kathy
Oil on mounted linen – 15 x 17 inches
Selected for the Society of Animal Artists 2014/2015 Art and the Animal exhibition and national tour.
I was at a horse show when I took photos of this gorgeous Saluki. He was in a building near a door with the glow of bright daylight stroking across his body. That’s what gave me the idea to place him inside a tent with the desert outside. I painted him from my photo reference but the tent interior was designed using my research into Bedouin weavings and tent furnishings.
Kathy
Oil on linen – 20 x 24 inches – Private Collection
This painting was only partly completed when I showed it to an interested collector. He loved much of it but asked if we could replace the Saluki I had begun to paint with his own hound. He sent me a photo that was not only the right angle to match the painting but had light flowing from behind, just as it is in the scene. He really understood how to help me fulfill his request.
Kathy
Oil on linen – 18 x 12 inches
Selected for the Premier Auction to benefit The Pyramid Society at the 2014 Egyptian Event in Kentucky.
The theme for the 2014 Egyptian Event Arabian horse show at The Kentucky Horse Park was “Mares, Queens of the Nile”. I wanted to create a painting to reflect this theme. I painted an Arabian mare, alert to her surroundings, emerging with her filly from a canyon into the desert beyond.
(Canvas prints are available.)