Featured Artist: Sheona Hamilton Grant

Our newest featured artist is Sheona Hamilton Grant who lives in Belgium.
To learn more about Sheona, please visit her website, blog or Etsy shop!

You can also become a fan of Sheona's work on Facebook.

How long have you been selling on Etsy? 1 year

What are your earliest memories of creating equine art? Drawing a big stallion on a chalkboard in school at the age of 13 and being upset when it was wiped off and replaced by algebra.




What is your favorite medium? Graphite: pencils rock! ;)


What artists have influenced your work or provided inspiration?

The most important influence has to be the words of wisdom given to me by my brother (a very talented graphic artist) “never forget the beauty of each stroke”. He has always been my most honest and constructive authority in a way only brothers can be. Mike Sibley has had a big influence by proving that the pencil has no boundaries and that it is all down to how we see.
I have also found inspiration in the work of the many masters.
Magritte for his skill for painting the obvious, his no-fuss technique and use of “less is more” to create confusion, shock and a lasting impression.
Degas, Rubens & Rembrandt for their terrific pencil and brush strokes.
Da Vinci the wisest most accomplished artist ever to have lived. His art & equine art is inspirational.
Hopper for his use of light & compositional strength.
Growing up I was surrounded by images of illustrator Rien Poortvliet and photographers Helmut Newton, Robert Doiseneau, Henri Cartier-Bresson & Bruce Davidson . They showed me an honest and sincere way of representing the world.




Please tell us a little about your pets. Basilika, my gorgeous Swedish Warmblood. She is now 20 and living out her years in a life of luxury in Brussels.
Oliver Tiddles & Jessy Jane our two cats. Both rule the house, are useless at moussing but very good and purring, eating, sleeping and pretending to listen to anything I have to say.
Johnny J0 is our part-time hound. Actually he’s my parents long haired Jack Russell now in his 15th year. He lives with us when my parents are travelling. He lives with us most of the year. He hates cameras, thinks he’s stronger and than a German Shepard and never tires of being with children.



Any future plans you'd like to share? Big Solo Show in Germany in the State Stud in Warendorf (10 April to the 2nd of May)I will be showcasing over 40 drawings old and new.
Finishing writing a book “My Colours of Graphite”, a retrospective of my work and how it all came about. The launch will be early spring.


"Zig Zag" - Click HERE to purchase this print.

Spotlight on Jennifer Pratt

Our newest featured artist is Jennifer Pratt from Ontario.

To learn more about Jenn, please visit her website and blog.

For original paintings and notecards, visit her Etsy Shop.

How long have you been selling on Etsy?

I've been on Etsy for almost one year.

What do you like about selling on Etsy?

I love Etsy! It's easy for one, and there is great quality of work throughout the site. It has also made it easy to make my work available to collectors - both local and from other countries.

"Toby" 8x10 oil on canvas

 

What are your earliest memories of creating equine art?
Grade school - in my world, horses were the only subject! whether is was clay, plaster, wood, paint or paper!

What is your favorite medium?
Oil! I was a coloured pencil artist for years, but made the switch last year and never looked back.

Gran Gesto - Canadian Olympic Dressage Team, Beijing

What artists have influenced your work or provided inspiration?
I credit two specific artists who provide me great inspiration - Vicki McMurry for colour and John Singer Sargent for brushwork and direct painting methods. However I credit all artists and artwork around me for continued inspiration daily!

Please tell us a little about your pets.
Pets - my dog Maddie, about 11 +/-. a rescue Shep/Collie mix. I have a hard time wondering why she was a rescue, we love her to pieces. She has become my four year old son's best friend and means so much to us in our lives.
I've been a horse owner for many years, but late last year decided to take a break to focus on painting in greater depth. My lovely Dutch bred mare has gone to a friend for breeding and we are beyond excited to see a foal from her in the future.

Eye Study III

8x10 oil on linen

July Spotlight Artist: Danielle Barlow

The Whoa Team spotlight artist interview this month is Danielle Barlow from Devon, England. Drop in on her blog, Notes from the Rookery, or her Etsy Store, you will be delighted by what you find!

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How long have you been selling on Etsy?
Since the beginning of 2008.

What do you like about selling on Etsy?
I love that it is such a vibrant arts and crafts community. It is a great looking site, easily navigable and with loads of great features, especially the treasuries! Oh, and the fees are very reasonable - particularly when you consider what you would have to pay a gallery in commission.

What are your earliest memories of creating equine art?
We had a book of Thelwell cartoons when I was very young, and I spent hours painstakingly copying his drawings. I was probably about 6 at the time.

What is your favorite medium?
Watercolour, for it's luminosity and unpredictability, and Indian Ink, used with a dipping pen, because I love the liberating spontaneity it gives my drawings ( I have a tendency to get bogged down in unnecessary detail if I am not stopped!)

What artists have influenced your work or provided inspiration?
Many artists, but it always tended to be the illustrators who made the greatest impression. I grew up on a diet of Arthur Rackam, Edmund Dulac and Aubrey Beardsley. These days I have a growing collection of children's books, unable to resist the beautiful illustrations. My favourites are Charles Keeping (whose illustrations for Alfred Noyes poem, 'The Highwayman' are absolutely awesome!),
Errol le Cain and Helen Ward.

Please tell us a little about your pets.
Oh, there are several!
Magpie, a Labrador collie cross, my faithful shadow!
Beetlejuice and Miu, two cats.
Red, my beautiful 15hh appaloosa , nearing 20, but still a handful!
Matthew and Foggy, my girls ponies, 12.3hh and 11.3hh respectively, middle aged geldings,
Marlene, a 4 year old Dartmoor mare, and Sandpiper , a 2 year old Dartmoor x Highland filly.

Drawing Winners!

Original Palomino by Jana Johnson - Linda

Original Saddlebred by Gail Ragsdale - Youvegotmaille

Original Carriage Horses by Carol Buck - Pencil Sanity

If you are a winner and I do not have your email adress, please let me know so I can get your ACEO mailed to you.
A BIG thank you to everyone who entered. Please stop by next month for more great prizes!