I am trying to capture the silence one feels when with a horse, especially grooming a horse. Grooming is a tactile act of compassion. It's an excellent time to reflect on one's thoughts, and the sweeping act of grooming across a horse's body is meditative and soothing for the horse and the groomer. Riding and owning a horse can be a solitary activity filled with love and a deep bond. Horses can open your heart and sense if a person is happy or sad.
My aim to listen and encourage viewers to 'sit' with the paintings more than usual. I want to take the racehorse from its fancy, fast-paced image and place it in a tranquil, timeless setting. I want the viewer to reflect and see something different. I am interested in meditation, what arises from silence, and the light that occurs when our eyes are closed.
The horses are placed in a glowing transient atmosphere, slightly awkward and different from the traditional setting of perhaps a green field or the classic portrait colours of masters such as Stubbs. What colours does the horse see? We all have auras, and animals have keen intuition when something is off, or someone is kind and loving. Does this knowledge come from a feeling, or can they see something we don't, or perhaps sense both? Many of our colours are steeped in history, from purple having spiritual connotations and resonating with royalty. Red is associated with danger, and many road signs are red. However, animals need to have this awareness or preconceived idea of colours.
I want my horses to be there as an image but also to appear slightly not there. Not anywhere. I like the colours to reflect an experience of complementation, relaxation and more time spent in the present moment. I am looking for simply being to be enough—transcending and echoing purity and magnificence. Our lives are fast-paced, and time seems to be flying along. We have lost the time to wait for things to happen naturally. Instead of making things happen, we can relax, knowing that nothing happens unless the universe makes it happen.
I hope my horse paintings bring silence and deeper resonance with the present moment. All animals, especially the horse, bring human beings closer to compassionate thoughts and thoughts to be kind.
I paint racehorses because they are paradoxical in how they hold themselves. They have no idea of the future or past but only know the present moment. They are bred to run as fast as they can, yet afterwards, they don't celebrate, praise, or get excited at the results. They go on to the next moment. They are magnificent animals without expectations of themselves or what is around them. They move with the seasons and listen quietly to what is around them.