"O the horseman's and horsewoman's joys! / The saddle, the gallop, the pressure upon the seat, the cool gurgling / by the ears and hair." Walt Whitman rhapsodized in 'A Song of Joys'. And so do many Long Island artists who celebrate horses in their art.
Joel Kanaravogel, wire sculpture
Joel Kanarvogel of Woodbury created a wire sculpture of a team of four horses with front legs high in the air.
Joel, a horse lover and Triple Crown aficionado since his early years in the Catskill Mountains, said: "I grew up with the smell of horses which I love to this day. I love the fluidity of motion of horses and how they gracefully run and prance and stride, and how they flick their tails when they are happy."
Regan Tausch, painting
Many paintings by Bayville folk artist Regan Tausch include peaceful scenes of horses pulling carriages, horses pulling sleighs in winter scenes, horses grazing in the pastures, horses watching the world through the Dutch doors of well kept stables, or horses muzzling each other contentedly. Regan was an avid rider in her earlier days.
Mollie Eckelberry, note cards
Mollie Eckelberry not only rode and drew horses but also authored an equestrian memoir 'Vest Pocket Farm' - a good read, overflowing with her love and respect for the animal. Mollie's first encounter with a runaway horse at a tender age of three made her want to draw nothing but stick horses. Horses are still a great part of her daily life in Muttontown.
AnnMarie Levin, note cards
We carry AnnMarie Levin's note card sets with beautiful horse prints in brown, green, and navy.
Horses are the favorite subject of the young Oyster Bay artist. She commented: "I have been riding horses since the age of 5, and have a lovely gelding named Lysander who inspires me everyday."
Sue Adler, horse hair vase
Sue Adler, Locust Valley potter and equestrian, specializes in horse hair pottery. She applies an old American Indian technique where strands of hair from horse's tail are draped and burned over a hot surface of a pot. The end result - a classic shape of white clay with subtle color accents, enveloped in a net of random black lines - is beautiful in its contrasts.
Frank Cammarata, paper cut
Holbrook's Frank Cammarata brought us a paper cutout of a grazing horse. Black paper, white background.
Sue Adler first came across the horse hair pottery at a class given by her teacher, Sea Cliff potter Donna Ferrara. Horse hair pottery is created by a unique process of heating a stoneware pot in a kiln to over 1000F, taking it out of the kiln when it's very hot, and draping long single strands of horse hair over it. Hair instantly carbonizes when it touches the super hot pot and leaves distinct black pattern on the wall.
Sue always had a curiosity about pottery but has not tried it until she found Donna's ad in PennySaver. She had already practiced her hand at watercolor, drawing, and quilting. AAS degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design from Farmingdale State College did not come amiss in the attuning of her eye to shape and beauty. Pottery had proven to be as interesting as expected and she delved into it with a passion.
Pot heated to 1000F draped with
horse hair.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
Sue continued taking classes with Donna for 5-6 years, attended pottery workshops, joined Long Island Craft Guild and Potters Counsel. Her father found a potter's wheel at a garage sale thus laying a foundation for Sue's own studio. Over the years she organized her comfortable workspace, lined the walls with shelves storing pots at their many different stages of production. She built herself a raku kiln out of a galvanized garbage can, then acquired a large kiln and a small raku kiln for 2-3 pieces. The latter was a great addition, it enabled her to fire at any time of the year (with her first garbage can kiln she was limited to summer months when thermal shock was less of the issue) and allowed her to work on a small batch of pots, important when working on custom orders, not a small chunk of Sue's orders.
Horse hair pot with blue banding.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
The chance encounter with the horse hair pottery was a godsend. It enabled her to celebrate horses through pottery. Ever since she first seriously rode one at the age of 15 her life revolved around them. At 17 she bought her own horse, she trained and looked after horses, she successfully competed in the lady side saddle division in the National Horse Show at the Madison Square Garden and at the Hampton Classic. She now works full time as a horse farm manager.
Horse hair pottery.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
With her first horse hair pots she made gifts to her friends. Eventually she build a following in the industry. Many horse lovers want to have a meaningful memento of their beloved animals - a beautiful, carefully handcrafted pot with the permanent imprint of the tail hair. Sue is touched every time she is asked to make a custom pot.
Mollie Eckelberry of Muttontown, NY, author and illustrator, draws almost exclusively animals. She draws some animals because their expressions or poses strike her interest, some as illustrations to her books. Mollie avoids anthropomorphism, her portrayals reflect years of discovery, first-hand experience, and keen observation.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
Mollie's love of the animal world started rather dangerously at a tender age of three: "... a seventeen-hand horse named Buster careened rider-less down a narrow farm path straight toward ... me. ... I never moved - just stood there in awe of this wondrous creature that somehow managed not to trample me into hamburger as he went by. ... Horses were never to be far from my mind from that moment to this. I solemnly crayoned red dots on every one of my dolls, told my mother they had measles and that I couldn't play with them any more and I didn't. I made little stables out of shoeboxes, and when my parents gave up on the dolls and gave me toy horses, I bandaged their legs with adhesive tape and made little halters and bridles our of thread and saddles out of bits of cloth."
An avid equestrienne and nature lover, she retained the childlike awe for the smart, amazing creatures surrounding her. She devotes a good portion of her day to the animals in her care.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
Her creative pursuits get their fair share of attention, as well. Mollie draws almost every day, always with Mozart's music in the background. The studio is her sanctuary where time plays tricks, it usually passes too fast.
Mollie's mother, Louise Stark Wolf Arnold, an oil, pastel, and watercolor painter, encouraged her young children to experiment with drawing on butcher's paper available by the roll in her studio. Mollie covered miles of that paper with stick horses, eventually progressing to more advanced depictions. In time Mollie signed up for live drawing and anatomy sessions at Art Students League of New York where she took classes with Bill Barnet, Robert Beverly Hale, and Louis Bosa, among others. She was advised to follow her instincts and concentrate her work on things she loved most, the animals. Mollie's brother, Robert Warbrick Stark Jr., became a renown luminist painter of Nantucket landscapes and marines. Until this day Mollie seeks his advice and critique.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
Mollie published four books: 'Vest Pocket Farm' from which the above quote was taken - an equestrian memoir full of captivating stories in her own vivid language, 'The Foxes of Kirby Hill' - an eulogy to the beloved Kirby Hill estate where she rode surrounded by the wild life of the area, 'Willa' - part introduction to the seeing guide dogs, part love affair with her dog Willa, and 'The Cat Burglar of Castor Bay' - a mystery book for children with the cat at the center stage.
She is invited to read the last three books at schools or nurseries. She appreciates when children laugh at the right places, but, even more so when they grasp her message of the animal care, appreciation for nature, and importance of land conservation.
Think Long Island First carries her interesting books, her very popular notecards and paper weights.
