Hi Fran,
Thank you!!!

Welcome everyone! I have also got to say a very big thank you to Diana-Lee Saville for putting this here for me & thank you to Fran for all your patience & help. I am honoured to be part of the Host Hullabaloo as well
as a member of Solo Exhibition group – (the best group on RedBubble!)

Thanks to Skyhorse & Kalaryder as well who I co-host the Appaloosa & Spotted Horses/Ponies/Mules Group with. It is a great group for all things related to spotted horses, so if anyone has art or photography with Appaloosa type equines in it you are most welcome to submit work to the group.

A little about me: I live on a 100 acre farm on the Mid North Coast of Australia, about 3 hours north of Sydney, with my partner, our Weimaraner dog, 6 horses & some cattle. My parents moved to New Zealand when I was very young & I spent my childhood years over there on the North Island, which I loved. I have been horse mad since I could virtually walk, my mother tells me I was drawing horses at the age of 3.

My room was always covered in drawings of horses & in those days I would sit on the floor for hours drawing in pencil. I owned my first horse when I was 13, a Welsh Mountain x Anglo Arab filly. I remember doing a pencil drawing of her for an Equine Art competition in a horse magazine in New Zealand & won 2nd prize. Sadly I don’t have that drawing any more, only the black & white photograph of her that I copied it from. Yes, I was always taking photos of horses back then as well.

This passion continued on through school & is still with me, all I wanted to be was an Equine Artist & now I am finally living out my dream working from home as a full-time artist. I moved back to Australia in 1980 & between
enjoying life as a teenager & working at various jobs, some of them with horses, I finally bought an Arabian gelding & an Appaloosa gelding which I often used to venture out on at one of the beaches around Newcastle. There is nothing like a flat out gallop on the beach with the sea spray flying up, it gives you a wonderful sense of freedom & fun. Horses are full of spirit, power & beauty – to me there is no better or perfect animal created by God.

…." and God took a handful of southerly wind, blew his breath over it and created the Horse." (Bedouin Legend)

Having always loved coloured horses I eventually got involved with Paint & Quarter Horses. I began breeding & showing my own horses for many years. My art took a back stage for a while as virtually every weekend was
spent travelling to shows & competing. As anyone knows who competes in the showring it is a passion which
takes a lot of dedication & hard work & expense. There was the odd commission during this time but I was having fun with my horses at the shows & doing a part time TAFE course in the Horse Industry for a couple of years. It was all about the horses!

I discovered soft pastels in 1996 after attending a 6 week course at one of the Community Colleges in our local area & was immediately hooked on them. I had also been attending private tuition in oil painting so these
2 mediums are now my love. I began seriously exhibiting my work during that time & started painting landscapes, which I really enjoy. Pastels are the perfect medium for horse portraits & if you asked me which medium I prefer I would have to say probably pastels. I still attend short courses whenever I can, because as an artist you can never stop learning!

A few months ago I began working from home as a full-time artist, a dream that has finally come true. My other interests are photography & there is always something unique or beautiful to capture on camera on the farm where we live or other parts of Australia.

Thank you to everyone who has supported my work with comments here on RedBubble, your friendship is very much appreciated & also thanks for dropping in to view my work here at Host Hullabaloo.

Its a fav of mine too, what do they say – good things come in little packages? No wonder it was snapped up:-0

Hi there Sharon, I’m a fan of your work too. Thanks my dear:-)

great to see you here louise, your gallery is wonderful, lots of favourites!

Maria, thanks so much for dropping by. I look forward to seeing your new works in 2010 & wish you a Merry Christmas:-)

Hi Maxy, hope you had a lovely Christmas. Thanks for your visit, horses are the best aren’t they! :-)

Oh Louise, you have chosen well.
Some of my absolute favs included.
Stunning – congratulations on this celebration of your fabulous work XX
Sheila

Don’t forget to add your I’m in the Host Hullabaloo banner to your profile! And link it to your reception! The exhibit runs through January!

I linked it to this url:
http://www.redbubble.com/groups/solo-exhibition...

Looking forward to your opening!!!

Thank you Louise! Looking forward to your reception too!!

I’m back Louise! : ) I think The Cross through The Archway is just magical