This is the first post about a new body of work to go on show at the Alberta Craft Council, for their "Well In Hand" exhibition. Exhibition opens October 4, 2014, in Edmonton.
Creating work about horses feels like love: it makes me feel immediately joyful, young. I re-live the push of a soft warm nose against my hand, and I cannot help but smile.
I was put on a pony not long after I figured out walking. By age 4, I would find a halter and wander down to the field to see if I could catch one - preferably the small skewbald because I could get onto him from a 5-gallon drum. All I wanted to do was be with them, and ride. At night I dreamt about riding some more. According to the town (Fowey) librarian, around age 11 I had finally borrowed every horse book—I nearly cried when she said that, surely there had to be more?
People sometimes ask “what is it with girls and horses?” No idea. Besides, the genders even out when you look at national equestrian teams, so maybe I should ask “what is it with people and horses?” because we’ve been in love with them for a very long time. I do know what they mean to me: profound no-questions-asked friendship, always up for adventure, inquisitive, smart, caring—they feel very deeply, if we care to notice, and share. I lost just being me when I was on a horse because together we made a different kind of creature. And we could fly.
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| "Back To Earth". Oxidized aluminium panel floating in alder wood frame. Chasing and repoussé. 11" x 11" x 2". 2014. |
Creating work about horses feels like love: it makes me feel immediately joyful, young. I re-live the push of a soft warm nose against my hand, and I cannot help but smile.
I was put on a pony not long after I figured out walking. By age 4, I would find a halter and wander down to the field to see if I could catch one - preferably the small skewbald because I could get onto him from a 5-gallon drum. All I wanted to do was be with them, and ride. At night I dreamt about riding some more. According to the town (Fowey) librarian, around age 11 I had finally borrowed every horse book—I nearly cried when she said that, surely there had to be more?
People sometimes ask “what is it with girls and horses?” No idea. Besides, the genders even out when you look at national equestrian teams, so maybe I should ask “what is it with people and horses?” because we’ve been in love with them for a very long time. I do know what they mean to me: profound no-questions-asked friendship, always up for adventure, inquisitive, smart, caring—they feel very deeply, if we care to notice, and share. I lost just being me when I was on a horse because together we made a different kind of creature. And we could fly.
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