Excalibur and Anna

Excalibur and Anna

This is one of several hundred shots I took of Anna Twinney and her mustang Excalibur or "X" as she fondly calls him. Anna is one of the ten authors in the Horse as Teacher book and we met this summer, post publishing, when she came to meet me at my art fair in Boulder.

Later that month I went to visit the Colorado Horse Rescue and while the director was showing me around a buckskin in a corral caught my eye from afar. I was transfixed by his presence. It turns out he belonged to Anna and she was at CHR teaching that day. X is a Spanish mustang from Wyoming and I can never seem to remember all the details.....sigh....must be a sign of age.

An internationally respected natural horsemanship clinician, animal communicator, and Reiki Master, Anna has been featured on television, writes for national and international magazines, and is the creator of the "Reach Out to Natural Horsemanship" DVD series. Formerly the Monty Roberts Learning Center's head instructor, Anna teaches people how to create genuine, trust-based partnerships with their horses. I have had the good fortune to watch her work her gentle magic during a round pen session.

Well to make a long story short I was so mesmerized by X and also the American mustangs I was itching to photograph him. Anna graciously accepted. While I have lots of great shots of X by himself I was so impressed when Anna hopped up on his back without an iota of tack I had to work on this first! Not even a neck rope!

I bet you think she has been schooling him for a while and several days a week.....WRONG! What is even more impressive is he is only three so this is a wonderful example of the willing partnership a person can have with their horse.

Take good care,
Susan
windhorseOne Studios

Molly Thanks Scooter or is it Vice Versa?

Yesterday I had the great fortune to have my good friend Molly assist me while I photographed Scooter, QT, and Shadow. It was quite a surprise to find her at the barn when I arrived! Melisa asked if it would be OK if she tended to some paperwork while I photographed the horses. Not only was it OK it was great!

There seems to be a synergistic flow between Molly and me. While I only met her a short three or four months ago it feels as though she has been a friend all of my life. Without her assistance yesterday the shoot would have been challenging.....it was hot and humid and the horses all dropped their heads immediately to pick and chew on weeds. She kept their energy up and they all expressed their true spirit in many different ways.

Molly has been graced with experiencing the healing power of each of these three horses and maybe I will see if she would write a guest Blog about them. This shot was taken at the end, back at the barn where we thanked each of the horses for sharing their spirit with us.

I can't tell if Scooter is smiling or kissing Molly!

Have a super weekend!
-S

A Horse and Their Person AKA Zephyr & Brad

Smile....you are on candid camera! I am not sure what Zephyr is up to here but I could tell you a little lie and say that on the command of "cheese" he gave me his best horsey smile! :)

This is a piece I created for a portrait submission and it is quite a departure from my usual work. I culled through quite a few of my photos for this little gem and with a bit of cropping, this was what I came up with. I have to admit I was quite pleased!

The piece will be judged by world class photographer (and famous) Mary Ellen Mark. She taught a class to the photojournalists at school while I was busy doing the fine art thing in a class room next door. That is not at all to say that PJs are not artists but their photography has more of a traditional look and a documentary flair. PJs are always on the hunt for that great shot and a story that nobody has ever taken before.

Sort of similar to my approach with the horses..... striving to create equine fine art photography that sets me apart from other horse photography colleagues. It is not about being in competition with them but working from my heart and instincts to create work that is unique because it comes from me.

Other things going on in my horsey world (is there any other world??? - well not for me) is that a fellow author from the Horse as Teacher book has asked to use six of my creations to make a promotional video. You may have heard of her - Stormy May. She is the producer of the Path of the Horse DVD. If you love horses and are interested in their welfare then this is a must see. She sold her ranch to travel the world and film several equine visionaries. It is not only beautiful but incredibly moving.

Time to sign off. Tomorrow is a busy day with a photo shoot and a visit to an equine rescue facility. Oops and I forgot.....dropping off a mounted print to a customer in the same neck of the woods.

Bye for Now!
Susan
windhorseOne Studios

Another on Relationships

Hi Everybody!
I am back from over 2 weeks in glorious Europe where I was able to visit a villa where Andalusian horses are raised in the beautiful country side of Andalusia Spain. What an honor an a privilege. I also became quite a fan of passionate Flamenco dancing, also from that region. More on that in a future blog....

Here is another portrait from the series I submitted on the relationship project. This one has more of a narrative quality to it. One of the things I love about horses is that they have the ability to be mirrors to our own humanity.

This is also true of art. We become engaged with a piece of art because of our own stories. Each person may have a different dialogue with a piece of art which is why I choose to give my work generalized names. It is my desire that each person experiences the work however they choose!

That is all for now! I am still trying to regroup from yesterday's long travel day. I am glad to be home and have lots of news to share!

Second Image for B&W Contest

Today we had 18 inches of snow! I love the spring storms and we really need the snow this year to help lower the risk of fires. I didn't get out to see the horses today but I was told they were running around like nut balls!

This is my second image for the juried B&W show I am going to enter. I like the pensive quality of this horse. The deadline is tomorrow so how about that for waiting until the last minute!

Bye for now,
Susan
windhorseOne Studios
www.windhorseone.com

Almost an Appaloosa!

Today was almost a wash for working on any images. The whole day up until an hour ago was spent working on my website; adding PayPal buttons on a Flash site is a wee bit challenging if a person wants to have a shopping cart. Every time I went back to create a new button in PayPal it had logged me off. Quite annoying but for my own security I suppose. And then there was dealing with the folks at PayPal which was a bit frustrating. Lots of time on hold while they searched their databases for an answer! I do like being able to work on my own site for the simple reason the turnaround time is as quick as I want it to be!

Mid-afternoon I did escape and go spend time with the horses. Always refreshing!

I received news yesterday that I was accepted into Denver's Downtown Art Festival this year. It is held in May and this year is its 11th year. This will be my first big juried show and also non-horse event where I am showing my work. In April I will be at Dressage for the Cure in Colorado Springs and in June at Polo for the Cure in Littleton. Lots to do to get ready!

My other website features dogs, horses, and graphic design. It is a bit of a hodgpodge and I wanted to update some of my dog work. I particularly like this dalmatian with the patchy snow in the background. It plays nicely off of his coat. This piece has sat unfinished for a while but tonight it seemed to all come together.

Well I must say it is late as usual and I can tell the sandman is arriving so until next time!
Susan
windhorseOne Studios
www.windhorseone.com

Appaloosa Portrait

I started working on a series of Appaloosa images this week. I have always had a soft spot for appies as I used to have an appy/TB cross. I had always wanted a black app with a white blanket and black spots. What I bought was a black app with about seven white spots and a white star. She was only seven months old. What I didn't know was that she would get lighter! By the time she was three she was a silver grey with a white mane and tail, a white blanket and black spots.

This image is a bit of a departure from my normal work. I decided to try some color. The color is subdued but nonetheless there. It is not that I am afraid of working with color but that I was primarily a B&W photographer for years so most of my work seems to be predominantly monochromatic.

This was a bit of an experiment and quite fun. I have to admit I am a bit all over the map lately but it seems that if I just go with the flow and allow the image to evolve on its own then it seems to work out in the end! I am not sure if I am finished with it. Normally I let them sit for a day or two and often find I can enhance them further but I liked this enough to post.

There is another one I will post when it is complete.

Hmmm, I just noticed my last three posts are all pointing to the left.....wonder if that means anything? LOL!

Thanks for reading!
Susan
windhorseOne Studios
www.windhorseone.com