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

Featured Artist: Steph Hanson

Our featured artist is Steph Hanson of StephHansonCreations. Steph lives in Arizona and donates a portion of all her sales to Dreamchaser Horse Rescue. 
To read more about Steph, please visit her blog, Spirit Horse Art.

How did you find Etsy and how long have you been selling there?
I think I found Etsy while searching the internet for handmade jewelry. I was beyond excited to discover such an awesome online marketplace. I had dreamed of being able to shop for great handmade items for years! It was also a dream of mine to sell my art and use the money I made to help animals. I opened my shop in July, 2008. I began with acrylic paintings and ACEO's, then added clay pendants and clay art. Just recently I started beading Dreamchaser Horse Rescue's new pewter pendants, and realized that I really enjoy beading as well as painting and working with clay!

How long have you been creating jewelry?
I have always been really into art - especially drawing and painting, but when I became a new mom and was able to stay at home, I started dabbling in clay and other new mediums. I have been creating my clay pendants for about 2 years now. I am new at beading! I just recently tried my hand at it a few months ago, and I really enjoy it! I have become a gemstone and bead addict!

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I am incredibly inspired by the horses and other animal friends at Dreamchaser Horse Rescue. Words cannot describe how amazing these animals are, and what a privilege it is for me to call them my friends. I could be having the worst, most uninspiring day ever day ever - but a trip to the Rescue fixes that. Being around these beautiful, majestic creatures, as well as being surrounded by what I think is the most beautiful desert country in the U.S. is unbelievably inspiring.

Do you have any favorite artists?
Many! I love the Impressionists - especially Van Gogh. I love contemporary Southwestern Artists such as John Nieto, Pablo Milan, Aleta Pippin, Barbara Meikle, Earl Bliss, Nancy Cawdrey, Kevin Red Star, Ginny Hogan and many, many others.


Please tell us a little about your pets?
We have three kitties we adopted from Cat Rescues and two very LARGE dogs. Cody is a 90 lb mutt and was adopted from the County shelter. Daisy is half German Shepherd and half Australian Shepherd and she came from a German Shepherd Rescue here in Phoenix. I am very close to a horse at the Rescue named Sinatra. He is a "Pintaloosa" (Paint crossed with Appaloosa) and he is a five year old former Premarin foal.

Anything else you would like to include?
100% of sales from my new beaded necklaces goes to Dreamchaser Horse Rescue. They make great gifts for horse lovers! I enclose a Thank You card and brochures from the Rescue with each order.

Steph & Sinatra at Dreamchaser Horse Rescue

Whoa Team Spotlight: Gypsy Mare Studios

October Spotlight Artist: Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor of Gyspy Mare Studios

How long have you been selling on Etsy?
I opened my shop in January 2008. I'd been selling on Ebay since 1999 and was fed up with their fees and policy changes and wanted to branch out.



What do you like about selling on Etsy?
I love their low listing fees, 20 cents, you can't beat that! They also charge a low commission when something sells. I also really like the people I've met on Etsy. I traded art with another seller and made a great friend!


What is your favorite medium?
That's hard to say since I've worked in many. I would say the medium I use most is acrylic paint since it's easy to use and clean up and it dries quickly. I enjoy painting in oils the most - I love the way they blend and the rich colors. I also really like sculpting in paper clay and hope to do more when I have the chance. Lastly, I love photography. I haven't sold any of my pictures but I take my camera where ever I go!

Where do you find inspiration for your art?
In short - everywhere! In my garden, on weekend trips to Longwood Gardens, horse shows, the zoo and museums. Reading children's books to my 3 year old daughter, driving around the beautiful Lancaster County countryside where I live. I think most artists are always looking for things to inspire them - there is beauty all around us! I'm always looking at things - from clouds to bugs - thinking, how would I paint that?

Do you have any favorite pieces?

Right now it's a painting of a thoroughbred stallion I used to care for. I painted him in oils this year and the painting hangs next to my art table. This horse was a real jerk and one day he bit me when I was walking past his stall - nearly took my arm off! I still have a large bump on my arm and the scars to prove it!
I also love Halloween. The Headless Horseman plays a key role in a lot of my work this time of year.

Any tips for other artists just starting out on the web?
Blog, blog, blog! Number one tip. I've been saying it for awhile now but I noticed that the Artist's Magazine had this in their top ten as well. It's free, it's easy, people will get to know you and want to buy your work. I have had my Gypsy Mare Studios blog going since 2007. I've made some really great friends through blogging!

Any pets?
We have three cats - Meemee, Zazu and a new ginger kitten named Pumpkin. I had a horse that I raised from a foal but I had to sell him to buy our house 2 years ago. Very sad but family comes first and I know I will have a horse again someday.


How do you envision your artistic future?
I'd love to take some college art classes since I'm mostly self taught. I'm also working on illustrating a children's book about horses and Halloween. One of my customers, and now friend, has come up with the wonderful text, I just need to work on the art. Illustration is one of my favorite art forms. I would love to be known someday for illustrating children's books.

You can find more of Jennifer's work on her blog, The Mare's Tales, and on her website.

Become a fan on Facebook.

Follow Gypsy Mare Studios on Twitter.

Whoa Team Spotlight: Moonlight Photography

Meet Whoa Team member, Deborah Lehman, of Moonlight Photography.

How long have you been selling on Etsy?
I will celebrate my 1 year anniversary this week.


How do you like selling on Etsy?
I love it! It is so easy and convenient.I get instant feedback when listing a new item,and I simply love the treasuries!

What is your favorite medium? Photography

"A Boy and His Horse" - click to purchase

How do you find inspiration for your art?
Nature and color, beauty in all things actually.Recently the horses!

Do you have any favorites?
Baffler Love, because I feel it was a one in a lifetime shot! Strike a Pose, because it is a great combination of photography and photoshop and finally A Boy and His Horse, my grandson and Baffler!


"Baffler Love" - click to purchase


Any pets?
Sadly I lost my fabulous Doberman (Gretyl) a couple of years ago,but I have two cats Tink and Jet and now my new stallion, Mr. Man. I have fallen head over heels for him, he is quite a character!

How do you envision your artistic future?
I really don't know where photography will take me. I have only been at it seriously for about 2 years and I know I still have a lot to learn.I just focus on learning and creating whatever comes will be a bonus. I am grateful for the inspiration Etsy and Whoa Team have given me! Being a part of a group is wonderful and joyous. I look forward to all the new creative avenues to explore in the coming years!



"Strike a Pose" - click to purchase

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.

The Virtual pARTy; Art Experience

Love Equine Art, Then this ones for you...wether you are an Artist or an Appreciator of Equine art , or of course both. :)
What's a Virtual pARTy?
A "pARTy" is where artists create work from the same reference material.
A "Virtual pARTy" is when this happens via the internet.
http://the-virtual-party.blogspot.com/
Use the above link to travel to the virtual Party blog and view all the June entries which was themed The Belmont pARTy "Field"

The Hosts of this innovative idea are
the wonderful Artists
Linda Shantz http://www.lindashantz.com/
and
Kimberley Santini http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
who was also Photographer who provided this months reference photograph for the July
Virtual pARTy (viewing soon).

May Giveaway Winner!!!

Our winner for the May giveaway is Black Feather Farm! Thank you so much to everyone who entered and a BIG THANK YOU to Sheri who donated her gorgeous horse totem for our prize. Please check back in coming months for more artist spotlights and giveaways!