A Journey With the Horses, Part 2

Months ago I thought I was ready to write a part 2 of my Journey with the Horses. But after multiple drafts, I realized that what is happening now in my journey has little to do with the horses and at the same time everything to do with them. Let me explain.
It’s been well over a year now since I started doing frequent visits to Solstice Ranch to visit the six horses that have become personal friends. You may recall that it started with a simple invitation from Aimee Brimhall McCord of Inspirational Horse to come and draw her horses. There was no particular goal in mind other than that. Solstice Ranch, only 3 minutes by car from my front door is literally a lifetime away from my personal experience. It was, and still is, easy to say, “yes” to that invitation. What I did not anticipate by that yes, was the adventure that would unfold. Events of the past two years, the death of my husband and some medical issues of my own, has thrust me into a new stage of life and from that, a new stage of my artful/heartful journey. Without riding them, the horses have been carrying me into this new phase.
My visits with the horses have been fewer in 2024. But they are every bit as meaningful if not more. The chill of the winter precluded a lot of drawing time as did the brutal heat of late spring and summer. Horses move around a lot, so drawing has to be done quickly. Often a complete drawing is done within a minute or less, requiring a balance of no-thought combined with thoughtFULLness, a sensitivity that seeks to capture more the feeling of the moment than the likeness of a particular horse. I refer to this as “thoughtless mindfulness.”

Drawing a horse is much different than drawing a human model posing in a studio . The horses are in charge of what I draw in that I can only draw what they are willing to present to me. Since much of their time involves eating with heads down in food bins with their less than poetic tail end facing me, I have a lot of drawings of horse butts!!! On cooler days they frequently wear their blankets (which I have started to think of as kimonos) and in the spring/summer they often wear face masks to protect their eyes from flies. There are many challenges to an optimal drawing time.
During some very special sessions, I have privileged moments when they share interactions with each other. Several times I have been able to witness them in positions reminiscent of two or three good friends sharing some good serious conversations. Other times I witnessed them engaged in “mutual grooming,” when they spontaneously start scratching each others’ backs in a kind and caring gesture. This is something I was not aware that horses did but see frequently now. Each time, it feels like I am seeing it for the first time.

I have learned a lot about horses. I have become more familiar with their behavior and how they can interact with their owners. I have also learned a lot about myself and how this experience relates to my art. I have learned that drawing them requires similar skills to riding or relating to them. Though the language of “horse people” is still unfamiliar to me, I have a growing sense that the skills needed to train a horse are very similar to the skills needed for drawing or painting…..careful observation, paying attention, listening, and responding with the heart. To really draw the horse, I need to relate to the horse at many levels and, for a few short moments, become the horse. I think something akin to that is also true of horse and rider. To see some of the new drawings, please check out the portfolios of art under Artwork at the top of this page.

So what has all this really taught me? Possibly the most important thing is the value of the practice, but practice, not in terms of a repetitive act, but the practice of just coming to the table (in this case the drawing board)…coming to the moment to do a particular task…and observing carefully and letting the moment take the lead.

I think in the process I have become more observant and now can capture a line a bit faster. My method of painting unintentionally changes when I am in this mode. My favorite brush has become a rigger, a long skinny brush with long hairs that I find myself using more like a pencil or pen. Where and how and how often I paint has changed. I am rearranging my creative space, both physically. emotionally and spiritually, in a way similar to the way I have rearranged the furniture in my home and how I use my time.

The result of this new practice is a whole lot of new paintings and drawings, many not marketable but still wanting to be shared. And that has led to the discovery that the website “home’ for them has to be rearranged too. So, when you visit that cyber-home for my art, you can expect some changes there. It’s happening now as I write. You may find some areas “under construction.” Other areas will require you to yield to oncoming traffic or move into a single lane. I will try to keep it moving as smoothly as possible. Temporary inconvenience, permanent improvement as “they” say. Another blog post will be on the way very soon. Thank you for being part of my journey. I look forward to your response.