Mystical Horses

I have always loved horses. They are in my blood as my grandfather, Fred Stovey, was a blacksmith and horse whisperer and his family ran one of the two main forges in Bournemouth at the beginning of the twentieth century. My attempts to paint and sculpt horses at art college in the 70’s was mostly met with negativity though I was heartened when the sculptor Elizabeth Frink encouraged my endeavours and told me to follow my own path.

Horses of the Sun
I did an oil sketch of the ‘Horses of the chariot of the sun’ while at college in the 70’s but I didn’t develop the idea until a few years ago when I did a series of small drawings of horses fitting into squares to see if it would work. I then did studies on two canvases of horses in oil bars and paint then set off into the meter square painting which I only really finished in 2022!

There are also a series of monoprints exploring the idea.

Horses of the Moon
One of my favourite sculptures is the famous horses head from the chariot of Seline, now in the British museum but from the Acropolis in Athens. It is tired as it has pulled the chariot of the moon all night. So I have begun work on a series of monoprints exploring the Chariot of Seline.

Exchanging breaths with Horses
I learnt to ride horses when I was 13 and my grandad taught me how to approach them. You walk gently towards them, speaking quietly and holding your hand out towards them, relaxed and palm down. Let them smell your scent. Look them in the eye, stroke their nose if they will let you and exchange breath! It works! An amazing process but very hard to manifest the experience as visual art!