In looking for a piece of equine art for my own home, I learned a few things....
1. You need to first establish exactly where the piece will be on display.
2. You need to understand horses in order to appreciate good horse art.
and
3. Good equine art is hard to come by.
While scouring the internet ok just etsy, I found a handful of extremely talented artists, and I wanted to share their work. If you are looking for a piece to help set a certain mood in your space, I would strongly suggest perusing Carol Walker's etsy shop, Wild Hoofbeats.
In my opinion, Carol gets horses.
What do I mean by that?
Well, take a look at these photographs and then go out and compare them to some other equine photographer's work. In the photo above, the horse is not just staring blankly at an open field...that's boring and doesn't evoke any feelings. If I had to guess, I would say that this horse was interrupted by a startling sound and quickly jerked it's head over it's front shoulder to investigate. It stood alert, quiet, and waiting for another sound or movement before it went on about it's business.
As I poured over the endless pages of equine art, I found that there were a few things that made for what I call, "good horse art". While not crucial, I like to see movement. The photo above doesn't exactly have movement; however, the way the horse's forelock (hair in between it's ears) is awry, leads me to believe it just stopped running and possibly tossing it's head about like in the photo below.
In this shot, the horse itself is not all that attractive to me.
The angle of it's head makes it appear to have a very narrow muzzle.
What I love about it though, is that the horses hair shows the force of the animal.
The muscles in the chest are flexed and this horse is probably snorting and kicking up it's heals!
This shot of a wild stallion is one of my favorites!
This feisty equine appears to have come to such an abrupt stop that it's hair was still in motion when the shutter was pressed. It's almost as if he was caught being naughty and stopped as soon as he noticed he was being watched...carefully looking at the photographer out of the corner of his eye.
Another great action shot!
The one above is another example of something I tend to look for...
See how the crest (top of the neck) is arched?
To me, this says power, and royalty.
I wasn't sure that photography was right for the location I was hoping to put my own equine art, so I continued my search. Luckily I was able to find a lot of other artists with horse pieces on etsy as well. The piece above is mixed media and I LOVE it!
The colors go well with the grey, white and black in my home. The mixed media elements give a modern twist to the somewhat classical shape of the horse, and the unique shape of the head offer a whimsical touch.
(also note the strong arch of the neck-perfection)
This piece can be found here.
While not right for my space, I do appreciate the beauty in the simplicity of the piece above.
Strong and soft at the same time make it intriguing.
The next four I am sharing because of their color value.
This is where it helps to know exactly where you want your new artwork to be in your home/office.
I leave you with one of my favorite finds of the night.
A stunning watercolor piece that just so happens to be done by a local gentleman!
Such a small world...honestly, this guy probably lives less than an hour away!
