Integrity
She is quiet, clear, intention
She can be calm, yet fiery
She can be graceful and explosive
In her delicacy, she is strong
In her complexity, she is honest
She connects on her own terms
My wish is to be worthy of her
~ Kim McElroy
THE STORY BEHIND THE ART
This painting features two beautiful and rare creations of nature. A horse named Vixen, and a waterfall called Horsetail Falls. I chose the theme of Horsetail Falls was because when I was commissioned by Suzanne to paint her horse Vixen – a rescued elder mare, I discovered she had a unique temperament. When I photographed Vixen at liberty in an arena several times over the course of a few years, she only rarely looked at me, so out of the hundreds of photos I got of her, only a few were of her connecting eye to eye with me. When I commented on this to her owner, Suzanne said “yes – Vixen only connects with me eye to eye occasionally and when she does it is always a profound moment”.
When I meditated with Vixen’s spirit for her portrait, I saw a waterfall, and that was all. In my research I discovered a waterfall called Horsetail Falls. When I read that this waterfall is an event that only happens for a couple weeks in February, only if the conditions are right, only if there is enough snow pack that year that melts in time, and only lights up only if there are no clouds during sunset… then I knew this was the perfect combination to depict Vixen’s elusive spirit. Reference photo used with permission Frank Leonard
