Website & Places you can find my work online
Studio website: www.sherrimashphoto.com
Blog: www.theeccentriclady.blogspot.com
Etsy Shop: The Eccentric Lady
Follow Sherri on twitter: @sherrimash

Tell us a little about you, what is your background & where do you come from?
I have been taking photographs since I was a young girl growing up in Southwestern Ohio.

My parents and I traveled all over the United States in our trailer for 3 weeks each year. That is when I became hooked on photography.

I was the yearbook photographer for my high school. I attended a Photography trade school in Dayton Ohio for 2 years and started working in a portrait studio just before graduating in 1980. After working there for 4 years, I decided it was time to start a family so I opened my own studio in our home.

It took us 5 years to conceive our daughter and with nothing else to do, my business grew. I have had my portrait studio for 24 years now.

You photograph your subject and alter the images, can you tell us about your process?
I have always wanted more from my photography. I wanted them to look more like paintings. With digital that became possible. When I found the Corel Painter program I was determined to learn it.

I spent 3 years taking classes from good painter artist and then began to develop my own style. I don’t always paint every photograph. When I have an image that I feel needs to be painted I work on it in Photoshop first and fix anything I don’t like then I work on the contrast and then work on it in Painter.

There is no formula. Each image requires different effects. It just depends on my mood at the time.

Sometimes I want it to be more abstract, chalky and then sometimes I want an oillike effect. There are so many options and I really can’t tell you what I have done to an image by the time I am finished.

It is very therapeutic for me when I am working on a piece. A lot of the time I need to keep painting while I am in the groove so I don’t lose the effect I am going for. I use a Wacom tablet and stylist to do my work with a 20” monitor.

You work with more than just horses, what is your favorite subject?
I spend a lot of time outdoors and love nature and animals. I take my camera with me on some of my walks with my Redbone Coonhound, Cooper.

I have learned to look closely at things rather than just taking a photograph of an entire scene. I am attracted to old barns and buildings.

I also love Charleston, S.C. and do a lot of images of the doors, gates and other elements that represent Charleston to me.

Horses have always been an obsession with me. I never got the opportunity to learn to ride or have a horse so I have had to observe them from afar.

My dream as a teen was to move to Wyoming and work on a ranch with horses. My favorite horse image so far is the “Ready To Ride” image because it makes me think of what it would look like at that ranch just before we went out on a ride. There is just something that happens to me when I get on a horse to ride it. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had, had the opportunity to ride as a child.

Who are your main influences?
My favorite artist style is impressionism. I also enjoy Vermeer. I have a hard time with contemporary art and really have been trying to step out of my comfort zone but haven’t made anything I am happy with right now.

I appreciate most art forms but like most artist we settle into a personal style that is our own.

Do you have any secret rituals you do to help you get in the zone for your art? And is there a particular place that brings you inspiration?
I am inspired visually, so many things inspire me. Sometimes I have been looking at other peoples work in a blog or a magazine and I get an idea and sometimes it just happens as I am out and about.

Light, shadows, color, textures and patterns all catch my attention and cause me to want to capture it. I just seem to view my world through the lens of a camera.

Music is very important to me when I am painting. I don’t like to have distractions so I usually have to work on paintings after studio hours. I became a scrap booker several years ago and this also helped be view my photography in a different light. I like to tell stories with my photos so I take a series of images a lot.

What effect do you think the Internet will have on art in general? Has it had an effect on yours?
My hope is that the internet will bring my work to many people who would never have seen me before. I think like everything else it will bring more competition and with digital there are many more creative people who can enter the art world like never before.

It definitely will bring artist many opportunities to sell their work.

Which one is your personal favorite piece?
My favorite painting so far is the “Peonie” because it was the first painting that I did that I was really pleased with. It will always be special.

Would you ever sell it?
I hope to sell lots of copies of this image. Selling it would tell me that other people see the beauty in it that I do.

What else are you passionate about?
I am very passionate about books. It is an addiction really.

Sometimes I just wish I could take a year off and read as many books as I can.

Café Mocha’s are also an addiction. My hope is that I can make enough money selling photographs that I can stop taking portraits and not have to keep a 9 to 5 schedule so I can have more freedom to work with my creative urges. It is hard to make time to paint when I am in my busy season in the studio.

After 29 years of Studio portrait work I really dream of a chance to try something more personal for myself. I am always working on something. I have a blog that I use as a place to share the photography I love.

More to Come

Thanks to Sherri for answering the interview and sharing her work. Be sure to check out her studio website periodically for updates about her latest works.

Also stay tuned for more interviews with horse artists and photographers.
Are you a horse artist or do you know an equine artist you’d like to see featured? Add your name and website in the comments below or drop me a note to get involved.

Tell It Like It Is

I encourage discussion, and in fact, I’d like to open the floor and hand out soapboxes. I want to provide accurate info about color genetics, but I need good source material which backs it up (& that I can link to). I’m asking my readers to leave me a comment (or write a guest post) that helps me make sense of the equine rainbow.

Disagree?

Equine genetics is not an easy or exact science, we are dealing with Mother Nature here. I appreciate that there will be conflicting information & views. I respect anyone who wants to share what they know and I hope everyone else will do the same.

Based on the images below it is clear that the equine animal is very much a beast of burden and perhaps most often used for transportation.

If anyone knows about equestrian customs in Armenia, I hope you’ll speak up

Horse in Albanian is kalë

Be sure to check out more horse pictures of the world.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Image from heyu1021

My glee soon turned to dismay, though, when I realized that they were all wearing those strange contraptions on their head and attached by rope to each other or other horses. It looked as if they were planting the field.

Were they working for the horses?

I saw no Emerald City and no Yellow Brick Road. I smelled the pungently sweet smell of horse manure and felt the warmth of sun on my back. Unless I had been transported to some strange Planet of the Horses, I had no explanation.

I also had no knowledge of where my daughter had gone or why she been taken from me. I started to plead with the big grey horse but he ignored me. He just yanked harder. At one point I stumbled and fell, and when he yanked me up I started calling to the other humans.

Image from Rob Young

They looked warily at me as if to warn me to behave. A few called back and advised me to calm down; I would get used to this they said. Almost everyone does over time, they advised.

I started backing up in disbelief. I didn’t realize it until too late that there was a gigantic, gnarled oak tree right behind me. I tripped backwards over a large root that seemed to reach up and wrestle me to the ground.

I landed hard with my head smacking a rock. That was the last thing I remembered until I woke up again.

Reunited

I don’t know how long it was, but I woke up with a blinding headache. I rubbed my eyes and stared around the room.

It was my room. My room at home, just as I had remembered it with everything in its place. I heard some noise and froze. Then I realized that it was just my daughter’s laughter coming through the door from the hallway.

I let out a huge sigh of relief, and then I dragged myself out of bed. I opened the door and gave my daughter a tight squeeze. Yes, I was home, and it felt very good.

There’s No Place Like Home

As soon as I was dressed, I hurried out to the barn. I proceeded to open the stall doors and take my horses out to their pasture. Though they nuzzled me and whinnied with affection and glee, I sobbed as I finally realized now, deep in my heart, how they must feel at times.

Image from dbking

I vowed to keep those stall doors open and babies by their sides as long as possible.

My muddy barn boots were no sparkling red slippers. However, as I let loose my horses to roam their freshly green acreage, the small and only plot of freedom that they would ever know, those ugly boots felt just as magical as ruby red slippers.

My horses might not be free, but this was their home, and there is no place like home.

Confused?

Be sure to read part one to get the whole story.

The Alter Real breed is also called the Royal Breed of Alter and comes from a small town in Portugal called Alter do Chao. These animals display many characteristics of the classic Iberian horse.

Image from Horse Show Central

Initially developed for carriage horses the main influence in their blood is Andalusian. However over the years the blood of Arabian horses, English Thoroughbreds, and Hanoverian bloodlines have been introduced, but the resulting animals were a disappointment.

Coming Full Circle

It took the re-introduction of Andalusian genetics to refine their blood and restore the initial quality of the breed.

Almost Lost To The World

Early in the 20th century Portugal went through revolutionary changes. The Alter Real breeding programs were stopped in their tracks and studs were gelded.

Lucky for the breed, Dr. Ruy d’Andrade kept enough animals to continue breeding them and in 1942 he handed a small band of Alter Real animals back over to the Ministry of Agriculture for further government preservation.

Website & Places you can find my work online
Fine Art America: Jamey Lopez where prints can be purchased.
Facebook Group: Fine Art by Jamey Lee Balester Lopez
Follow Jamey on twitter: @jlbstarnchristo
Here is my e-mail for commission work: jleelopez@sbcglobal.net

Where I am
Inland Empire, Ca

Tell us a little about you, what is your background & where do you come from?
I grew up in Huntington Beach, Ca (Surf City), most of my life. I lived in the same house on 5th and Orange from birth to seventeen years old.

Lots of people knew of our house since it was the only house with the horse, ducks, chickens, goat, bee hive, and turkey in the backyard two blocks from the beach. My mom was called the goose lady

Growing up with all these animals around really made me have a love for animals, especially horses. I learned to ride our horse Rainbow when I was ten years old. People would see me riding her on the sidewalk down the street. I rode her in the local park too. You can’t get away with that today!

Rainbow and I were best buds. I did everything with her or on her. She is twenty-six years old now and out to pasture in Big Bear. My sister Sue takes care of her now.

I come from a very creative family, musically and artistically. I have tried to learn the saxophone and have recently started taking up piano too. My mother is a very good pianist and harpist.

On my father’s side of the family, there are also several musically and artistically inclined people. My uncle Tom Balester is a well known custom surfboard shaper who owns a company called, Balestar Designs.

A lot of my family members surf too. I was never really into surfing. I tried taking it up a bit, but I was too interested in my horse. Plus, surfing is hard work!

Living in my hometown, sometimes I felt like I didn’t fit in that little surf town, and I was meant to live on a ranch. I always loved being around horses and that is why draw them so much. I plan to have some more life-like representaions of horses on my site soon.

When did you first start drawing?
I think it was about five years old or earlier. I was very quiet as a child. If you gave me a pencil and some paper, I would sit in the corner and draw for hours. I mostly drew horses. I do remember drawing World War II Bombers for my mom’s boy friend.

You draw more than just horses, what is your favorite subject?
Yes, I draw more than horses. Horses are my favorite and lions.

Many of my subjects include wildlife, musicians or instruments, and spiritual symbolism.

I mainly draw and paint, do some sculpture, and recently have taken up some photography.

Who are your main influences?
The Bible, Auguste Rodin, Salvador Dali, Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, Music, Jazz -mainly.

Do you have a muse behind your work?
My inspiration comes from God and his handiwork. Life all around us reflect him. God is the first artist.

Do you have any secret rituals you do to help you get in the zone for your art?
I usually stay up late and need lots of quiet. Since I have two boys now, that time is scarce and I try to make the most of it. I do remember praying before I drew a marriage Katube for some friends. That was fun.

Is there a particular place that brings you inspiration?
Israel, the beach, the stables,and the outdoors.

What effect do you think the Internet will have on art in general?
I think it is a good way for unknown artists to get their work viewed. There is however, alot of competition in the art world. It depends on what viewers gravitate towards and how artists market themsleves.

Has it had an effect on yours?
Yes, definately in a positive way.

I just recently posted my work on the internet and many people from around the world have viewed my art. It is quite exciting to me.

Which one is your personal favorite piece?
“The Lion of Judah” drawing.

Would you ever sell it?
Maybe. I do have prints available for sale, as well as other original artwork.

What else are you passionate about?
My faith in Christ and sharing it with other people.

Working on anything new?
Yes, I am working on a painting called, “Casting Lots”. It is a depiction of Christ on the cross, with three Roman soldiers gambling for Christ’s garments under his feet.

The view in the distance will be Jerusalem, since he was crucified outside of the city walls. It is still in the underpainting stages. I have it posted on my site.

More to Come

Thanks to Jamey for answering the interview and sharing her art. Be sure to check out her art website periodically for updates about her latest works.

Also stay tuned for more interviews with horse artists and photographers.
Are you a horse artist or do you know an equine artist you’d like to see featured? Add your name and website in the comments below or drop me a note to get involved.

When

Opens on Thursday July 2nd with celebration (come for wine and nibbles) and the exhibition runs through the month of July.

Where

To be held at the lovely Evelyn County Estate, Kangaroo Ground.

More Info

I’ve attached the flier here for interested parties in the area.

For more information be sure to subscribe to Ophelia’s blog for more information and while you’re here why not check out her interview too?

Image from pamzpix

It has come to my attention that this website has a decidedly English discipline slant, largely because I’ve always ridden English and I try to stick with what I know.

You Asked For It

In response to several requests, I put together this terminology glossary for western shows.

Help is Always Appreciated

Here’s hoping that my western readers will correct any mistakes and remind me of anything important that I’m missing.

Universal Western Lingo

Back
Backing must be done quickly, in a perfectly straight line and with no hesitation.

Back Cinch
A second girth on the western saddle used to keep the saddle from tipping during quick maneuvers.

Flying Change
When a horse changes their lead with both front and hind legs in mid-stride.

Head Set
Refers to the height and angle of the horses head while in motion.

Jog
A slow trot that has a two-beat gait as diagonal legs hit the ground at simultaneously.

Lope
A slow canter that has a three-beat gait and can have a right or a left lead.

Neck Rein
Turning a horse by applying pressure from the reins on one side of the neck or the other.

Stock Seat
A generic term used to describe most disciplines of western riding.

Tom Thumb
A Pelham bit used on western bridles.

Tie down
Used to control the position of the horses head while riding. (Also called martingale)

Western
A style of riding characterized by a larger saddle with a pommel and a horn.

Western Classes

Best-Fit
A class which judges how well a horse has been cleaned up for the show.

Cutting
A class in which the horse and rider cut (or separate) one cow from a heard. Scoring is based on the teams ability to anticipate cow movements and keep them away from the herd.

Halter
A class which judges the animal by their confirmation & movement based on official breed standards.

Horsemanship
A class which judges the rider on their seat, position and poise as they complete a predetermined pattern.

Pleasure
A class which is judged on the horse as they go through their gaits on the rail. Horses are judged on their manners, disposition and smoothness of gaits.

Reining
A class which puts horse and rider through a series of patterns designed to mimic a herding horse at work. Scoring is based on the perfection of each movement.

Roping
A class in which horse and rider jump after a released cow on cue, chase the cow, rope it and bring it to the floor. Scoring is based on maneuvering and time.

Showmanship
A class which judges the handlers ability to show their horse in-hand.

Trail
A class which puts horse and rider through a series of obstacles designed to test agility, manners and teamwork.

More On The Way

This is just the beginning, the rabbit hole of western horse show terminology goes much deeper. I’m sub-dividing categories like crazy and learning a lot in the process.

Please feel free to comment about what I might have missed in the basics and stay tuned for more to come. If western isn’t your thing, there is always English Show Lingo too.

Website & places you can find my work online:
Website: www.shelleypaulson.com
Blog: blog.shelleypaulson.com
Fine Art Equine Photography: www.essenceoftheequine.com
Flickr: Shelley Paulson
Follow Shelley on twitter: @shelleyp

Where I am
Buffalo, Minnesota, USA

Tell us a little about you, what is your background & where do you come from?
One of my favorite quotes is “All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl.” I grew up riding horses and am still in love with Maggie Sue, the only horse I have ever owned.

Spending much of my life around horses intimately acquainted me with the beauty and grace of these magnificent animals. It is my privilege to combine a love for horses and a passion for photography.

I am based in Minnesota, and my photographic focus is equine/human portraiture that captures the true feeling of the relationship people have with their horses. My passion is to create photographs that will help my clients remember not just how their horse looked, but what it felt like to be with their equine companion.

I recently had the opportunity to photograph wild horses in northern New Mexico. It was a life-changing experience for me to spend three days with wild horses. I have posted the images to my blog here:
Part One | Part Two | Part Three

I also teach online courses through the Equine Photographer’s Network, with one on portraiture coming up starting August 1st. I will be offering a few workshops later this year both in MN and Kentucky.

When did you take your first picture?
I was a point-and-shoot snapshot taker until 2003. I got a film camera and quickly transitioned to digital. Horses were some of my first subjects, but I also started photographing weddings, portraits and commercial projects, which I still do today.

What kind of camera do you use?
I use 2 Canon 5Ds. A full list of my gear can be found on my blog.

If you could pick any camera (regardless of price) what would it be?
Probably the 1Ds Mark III or the new 5D mk II. I would also love to have a medium format camera with a digital back.

Who are your main influences?
My first workshop was with Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai. Her teaching set me on a path of creating photographs that reveal something about the subject, and about being respectful in the act of photography. I also attended a workshop with David Williams, where I learned a lot about creating photographs that are timeless.

For other influences, I’ve been enjoying these photographers lately: Deb Schwedhelm, Dani Brubaker, Tec Petaja, Samm Blake.

As for equine photography influences, I love the work of Andrew Wheeler, Suzanne Sturgill, Kimmerlee Curyl, Melanie Snowhite, and most recently, Lynne Pomeranz.

What made you first start photographing horses?
I am a horse owner and it was natural to turn my lens on them. They are my favorite subject.

Do you have a favorite horse breed?
Ha ha - I love them all!!

Do you (or did you) have an animal that is the muse behind your work?
There is one Arabian stallion I had access to for a season who was in love with my mare Maggie Sue. He was a stunning animal and I took a lot of photos of him. Ironically, his name is “Mentor”.

Where were you the most inspired, but without a camera?
Christian spirituality is central to my life. I believe God to be the source of much of my inspiration.

What effect do you think the Internet will have on art and photography in general?
I have concerns that the internet is homogenizing photography. People are spending too much time looking at other people’s photos and copying technique.

On the plus side, it’s never been easier to find a wide audience for your work. There are also endless resources for learning and growing.

Has it had an effect on yours?
Absolutely. I am primarily self taught with photography and the internet was my main source of information.

Which one is your personal favorite image?
It’s an older image of a little girl kissing the nose of her horse. It epitomizes what my work is about - portraying the bond between horses and people.

More to Come

Thanks to Shelley for answering the interview and sharing her work. Be sure to subscribe to her blog for updates about her latest works.

Also stay tuned for more interviews with horse artists and photographers.
Are you a horse artist or do you know an equine artist you’d like to see featured? Add your name and website in the comments below or drop me a note to get involved.

Image from doublebug

I’m doing a little (late) spring cleaning and putting together a few collections of images I stash away during my routine posting.

A Tough Ride

Today it’s all about cross country courses, perhaps one of the more grueling aspects of the eventing circuit.

The jumps are big and the course is usually fast, a combination that makes for some pretty amazing shots.

I put together some of the more amazing cross country shots to share.

More To Come

A couple years of horse writing and I’ve collected quite an image resource. There are plenty of horse images to go around.