Deborah Butterfield

Keeping with the theme of inspiring Equine artists, Deborah Butterfield is possibly one of the, if not the, most notable artists whose work focuses solely on the Equine form.  

UNTITLED, 2011
Unique cast bronze with patina
28 x 35 x 9 inches

Butterfield not only focuses on horses, but her focus is also on sculpting the horse through various media. 

MAKANI, 2011
Unique cast bronze with patina
31 x 33 x 11 inches

Her expertise allows her to capture the subtle nuances of Equine body language with sticks, twigs and scrap metal. 

REDHEAD, 2005
Found welded steel 

30 x 124 x 67 inches

The works done in wood are then expertly cast in bronze, and finished to look like the original infrastructure. 

ULA, 2011
Unique cast bronze with patina
36 x 42 x 14 inches

My work is not so overtly about movement. My horses' gestures are really quite quiet, because real horses move so much better than I could pretend to make things move. For the pieces I make, the gesture is really more within the body, it's like an internalized gesture, which is more about the content, the state of mind or of being at a given instant. And so it's more like a painting...the gesture and the movement is all pretty much contained within the body. - Deborah Butterfield

The Beginning

First off, I would like to say that blogging is not my forte. I feel as though I am talking to myself, and I apologize in advance for any insanities that may flow from my brain. 

I struggled with the idea of where I should begin with this blog. I don't really follow any artists in particular. Rather, I admire anything, by anyone, that I find pleasing. This internal struggle led me to the only logical beginning to my blog. I should write about my first memories of being intrigued by art. 

First and foremost, I should point out that all things Equine have dominated the majority of my life. Naturally, the first artist I admired shared this characteristic.  Jared Lee is a graphic artist who caught my nine-year-old eye with his line of horse-themed, humor laden cartoons. When I say humor laden, I mean that horse people find his products hilarious, while "normal people" are usually left scratching their heads. 

                                             This particular cartoon was a favorite of my dad's.

Lee got his start designing greeting cards for Gibson Greetings. After two years, he began his career as a free-lance artist, launching himself as a much-sought-after artist. Amongst many other things, Lee was selected as one of the six illustrators to create the first McDonald's Happy Meal box.   

Shamelessly, I still wear this shirt on occasion. 

Lee's resume boasts other notable companies, such as L.L. Bean, the U.S. Postal Service, Hasbro, Land's End any many others.  He also illustrated many children's books. 

 Anyone who has ever encountered a less-than-amused horse will understand this particular illustration.

From the time I received my first Jared Lee t-shirt, I wanted to start designing my own line of horse-related clothing.  As a result, I began drawing. 

Saddle Bread! Get it? 

While this art may not be incredibly profound, all things must start somewhere. I find it fitting that my blog should begin with my first inspiration.