How Free Are My Horses?

Last week, I discovered a brilliant artist, Christian Hook. His equestrian paintings are stunning, as is all his work. A master! I found him after noticing the cover of one of his books in another artist’s video.

What fascinated me as much as his paintings was the thinking behind each series he has created. Discovering his work gave me a jolt of enthusiasm for my own. As I mentioned in my last post, I had felt a little as though I was going backwards. This was the push I needed to dare, and explore more, and to think about what is behind what I am creating.

Christian Hook created a body of work called the Darwin Series, inspired by On the Origin of Species evolutionary theory, and his own creative process. It made me think about my own creative process.

Why am I painting what I’m painting… horses?

Yes, for the love of horses, that’s for sure. But there is more. Horses are a symbol of freedom for me.

For a long time, I painted horses in peaceful repose, mainly grazing, looking at me or looking away. Recently, I have started adding movement, as well as allowing them to appear in more unusual ways in my paintings. That peaceful pace is beginning to change.

Maybe I am changing too.

I have started questioning how much freedom I allow myself in the expression of my work. I always saw the horses I painted as free, yet I was painting them with a fairly traditional technique. It wasn’t exactly a jail, but perhaps I had been waiting for something different without knowing what that something was.

And then, suddenly, I dared a little more.

It feels unusual and unfamiliar. I like it, but for now I simply call it exploration.

Seeing Hook’s work, with so much force, movement and confidence, made me aware of something else. My own confidence is creeping up, taking its time. Can I dare to make strong brushstrokes and explore boldly without immediately judging what I have done?

I don’t know where this exploration will take me. But perhaps, for now, the important thing is simply to give the horses, and myself, a little more freedom.