The idea for “The Heralding” came to me in a complete vision, which is rare. Usually my ideas evolve or are inspired by seeing images that inspire me to use them in a composition. But this time I saw the vision clearly so I drew a rough sketch of the idea and kept it while I looked for photo references. Years later, in my travels, I met a woman who shared a photograph of her mare and newborn foal with me, and it was then that I knew that I had found the perfect photo for the mare and foal. Shortly afterward I found a stock photo of the perfect skyscape – a broad perspective of prairie with a dramatic sky that already had the shapes of three horses in the clouds… heralding the arrival of the newborn foal.
Detail
Many people have had their own responses to this painting. To me it is about how the miracle of birth can be part of a larger picture. Perhaps expressing also how we can miss the bigger picture if we focus too much on the smaller one. For instance, did you notice, in addition to the three horses appearing in the clouds, as shown in the detail – that it is raining on the horizon behind the mare and foal? Details like these can be easily missed in our computer age – when you cannot see this work of art printed on paper in the context it was meant to be seen. And so I express with words and images what I hope you will see and feel it… and some of you may be moved to order a print so you can Experience it.