The Equine Art of Kim McElroy
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Quotes from some of my favorite interviews: "Just being in the presence of such kind spirits as horses, can actually fill you with joy, warmth, and happiness...everything that is "good." This is something, however, that is very difficult to explain to people. How do you describe to someone that "tapping" into these spirits can become a life-source for positive energy? It's not just wasting time "playing with your horses," rather, it is actually time spent filling yourself up, or refueling, with good positive energy so that you can be there, 100%, for whatever else you're needed for. I know you, Kim, understand this completely because your beautiful paintings and artwork do exactly that. They explain this whole experience, and most importantly to me, they justify it. You don't just "paint pictures of horses." You actually create tools that people can use to "tap" into that spirit-energy. Especially if they can't physically do it themselves for whatever reason. You make this whole thing very, very tangible." ~ Leah Juarez"Horses in motion are perhaps the most elegant gesture of all creation. People think in images and horses speak with movement, synthesizing into a visual language that touches the human spirit. McElroy's work seeks to preserve a perpetual, immediate, and present experience." ~ Women and Horses Magazine article Kim McElroy ~ "Defining Life. Defining Herself." by Chaia King "Kim McElroy's horse's live their own lives. They are pictures of the mythic beings from the dreams of a little girl. The pictures are as romantic and melting as Italian love songs, surrounded by a dream-like shimmer. Anyone who has ever been a little girl and loved horses knows why these pictures look like they do." ~ Centaur Magazine (translated from Swedish), "Horses of Sea and Skies", by Catharinna Hansson "Like lots of little girls, Kim McElroy played horse, but unlike most of them, she never imagined herself as the rider, Kim was always the horse. She remembers herself as a shy, self conscious child who wished to make her own the admirable qualities she saw in horses - their strength, courage and fiery independence. Sometimes her horses float above the ground, at one with nature, dancing with the sheer joy of being. At other times, they stop us with a challenging glance. Time freezes... eyes meet... we see an inner life as filled with thoughts and emotions as our own. Through her incredible mastery of pastels, Kim McElroy catches the power and beauty of a horses's body... more than that, she offers us a timeless glimpse of its soul." ~ The New York Thoroughbred, Stallion Registry 2000, "Transcending Time and Place - The Art of Kim McElroy", by Cathie Judge "Sometimes, the quick impression sketched in the pasture turns into a creature of the mind, and this richly talented young artist gallops away from flat reality, soaring into an ethereal dimension where the spiritual horse runs forever, toward the horizon of a dream." ~ Don Usher, KOMO TV News "One of the things you've mentioned that you love about horses is their presence. And your artwork has presence!" ~ Roy Firestone - Interview on Sports Look, ESPN TV Network "Stormy, dreamy, placid, nurturing, earthy, playful, hot. Horses rising from the frothy surf, rushing playfully across open fields; racing down a straightaway; gently nuzzling their foals; glowing with a magical light. These are the images that crowd McElroy's mind, springing out of her consciousness when released by her pastels. This is the stuff of which McElroy's art is made." ~ Nov/Dec 1996 Horseplay, "Fire Artist", by Norine Dworkin "Where other equine art often seems static and portrait-like, McElroy's is a flurry of pure color and movement. The viewer can almost hear the thunderous hooves and smell the sweat of the animals as they surge forward, nostrils flared, tails blurred. In other pieces, wild-eyed horses stare from the puny frames that pretend to hold them. McElroy's horses breathe and stomp and demand attention, or appeal for affection. Some are aloof, silently insisting on their own way and getting it. Others stand patiently, gently, the wisdom of a grandfather coming from their eyes. But always, they are. More real than not, more horse than drawing. ~ Peninsula Magazine, "Kim McElroy: The Equestrian Equation", by Dawn Dressler "I knew I had found an artist who could capture what I felt about horses. None of these animals were stilted, posed creations. They were horses in motion, with their personalities shining from luminous eyes. And the camouflage pictures were unique. Mountain snow hid horses. Waves were horses. And impossible as it may seem, eyes heard the hooves of horses in thunder clouds, because, well, those clouds were horses. Kim explained how her work had evolved . She had been frustrated in capturing the essence of the animal she loved until she had realized that the horse is a creature of movement. Conformation became less important than a sense of "right". A photograph can freeze an image. A painting evokes an emotion." ~ Enumclaw Herald Hoofprints Column, by LaVerne Harris "Some say that artists never reach fame during their lifetime. But for Kim McElroy it is the opposite. She hadn't even finished school when success started. But then she is born in the year of the fire horse. Anyone who sees a painting by Kim McElroy HAS to stop and take a closer look. What you see is not a portrait of a horse, but the horse ITSELF. Her horses are full of life and power. You can almost see the nostrils shivering and the glitter of the eyes." ~ Min Hast - Swedish Children's Horse Magazine, Translated Excerpt ~ "Fodd I Eldhastens Ar", by Catharina Hansson "From frothing tides and scuttling clouds, crackling flames and snowcapped earth, the essence of horses combines with the power and motion of nature. Kim says, "The two things - horses and Elements - are so alike because of their motion and their emotion, their energy and that unattainable spirit. There's something about horses, no matter how docile they are, they're still not a part of our world. The same with Elements. They can be very beautiful, but they are still alien in a way. McElroy captures the unattainable and unrestrained power in these things. Someday, when you have time, go outside, look upwards and catch a glimpse of a spirited stallion ushering his herd of mares across the blue sky. Then you'll share in McElroy's vision and understand how she came to find horses in the Elements." ~ The Equine Image Magazine, "Earth, Wind, and Fire ~ Kim McElroy's Horses in the Elements Series", by Kelly Rawlings Quotes from people like you "After looking at your website, three hours later, along with a bucket of tears and smiles, I am sitting here a little blown away. Your work is phenomenal! So many of your pieces touched me that I honestly could not choose a favorite. I can't think of any facet of the human spirit that you haven't touched upon." ~ Kathy Smith "I am now thinking that you draw what you see, like the other artists, but you see much more than many of those, and have an ability to move that on paper, that makes the difference. The movement and sudden stop are the things that characterize the horse, and you have found a way to draw that." ~ Erika Reponen "You have a wonderful gift of putting thoughts and feelings into words and into beautiful paintings. It is so interesting reading abut the events that inspire your paintings. It is a new style of artistic expression from my perspective. Reading the story that sparked the image in your imagination adds so much to the experience of viewing your paintings. It adds clarity, meaning, and a sense of connection with your feelings at the time." ~ Mary Johnson "Something real happens in your pictures that goes beyond photography, the subject comes to life before my eyes, as if a movement or emotion is captured at precisely the most exquisite moment, but yet is not frozen in time as in a photograph. The movement continues, the emotions swells. I don't know how you do it, but that you for letting me experience it." ~ Betsy Munk "Having horses and being able to ride well and without fear is an unfulfilled part of my life...I started late, and the opportunities were limited - and other things took precedence. Your work allows those of us who can only watch to feel a part of the emotion and thrill of what it must be like to be with them." ~ Cheryl Peck " "Alogo" is how to pronounce "horse" in Greek. and it means that which is with out word, or all that which is not speakable or intellectual, so, all that is instinctual, intuitive etc. Your appreciation and understanding of "horse" is that of the most ancient of sages, those who had time to feel, think and understand. Thank you for keeping the tradition alive." ~ Joanne Mangiameli "You can capture the lines and life in a horse like few others can. The way you combine that with the different "elements" allowing the art to manifest the horse to the viewer instead of having it almost forced on the eye as I've seen in other artist's works. Your art does justice to the horse." ~ Sue "What drew me into your paintings so many years ago was that I had never seen a equine artist actually paint, actually make tangible, the soul of a horse. After all these years, I still have the same reaction to your paintings...goosebumps and a catch inmy throat. It's the same reaction I get each and every time I see a horse running." ~ Cindy Garrett "I was so speechless by the imagination, beauty, color, innocence, flow, the story that you created in each one of your paintings. I have never seen such an artist touch so many areas in each painting." ~ Ginger "You don't just "paint pictures of horses." You actually create tools that people can use to "tap" into that spirit-energy. Especially if they can't physically be around horses for whatever reason. You make this whole thing very, very tangible." ~ Leah Juarez "Your portrait of Buttons has provided me with one more chance to see him apart from the photographs I am lucky to have. It is a glimpse beyond death, into his existence, which clearly continues. The portrait is more than I ever imagined it could be. I was amazed to see that I was looking at him, not a painted version of him." << Back to the Artist |