There are many similarities between spending time in front of a canvas and spending time with a horse, but none probably as all-encompassing as what it teaches you about yourself.  There is no room for pretense in either situation; no trying to be something you're not.  The horse knows the truth, and so does the canvas.  In whatever process you are trying to navigate, you cannot be any further along than you are.  Both the horse and the canvas encourage you simply to try, to fail, to be forgiven, and to try again.  Fear is inevitable, running away in the face of that fear, not an option.  You've heard the phrase "get back on the horse"?  It applies to creativity too.

Horses have been an inspiration to me throughout my life, and I have always been moved by the relationship between horses and their people.  As Winston Churchill said, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."  This series, Horses & Their People, attempts to colorfully express the love and mutual respect in these relationships.  Although I have been a horse person my entire life, much of what I have learned about the horses in the past fifteen years has come as a result of my association with the Flag Foundation, an organization that provides sanctuary for horses and gives them an opportunity to share their emotional and spiritual wisdom with the humans who seek them out.  For this reason, 30% of the proceeds from this series of paintings is donated to support the Flag Foundation.