I was born in France, raised in Holland, and came to the United States in 1988. While visiting friends over Christmas, I met my future husband and decided to study Fine Arts. I graduated summa cum laude from Northern Virginia Community College, and summa cum laude from the University Of Maryland in Studio Fine Arts. In 1993 I moved from Washington, DC to our farm in Loudoun County, Virginia, and established my studio.
I had been painting large abstract paintings in art school, so I began painting impressionistic landscapes. One day a neighbor asked if I could copy a George Stubbs painting of Mares and Foals from a table coaster. Since horses are my second love, I gladly accepted my first commission. A second Stubbs commission followed, and I started to develop an interest in sporting art.
During the summer of 1994, I met Linda and Vas Devan while trail riding my dressage horse on the country road. They are avid foxhunters and were determined that I should join and begin hunting with the Piedmont Fox Hounds. The Devans let me ride their hunters on trail rides, so I could get a feeling for jumping coops and stone walls. In September I went on my first hunt with the Piedmont, and when I saw their pack of hounds I fell in love with their faces. After trying to keep up with those hounds, I was hooked on foxhunting.
I started to visit the kennels and take photographs of the hounds and their puppies. I could wait for hours to get the perfect expression or pose. From those photos I started to create paintings and showed them at the annual art show held at The Museum of Hounds and Hunting at Morven Park in Leesburg. I began to receive commissions to paint my customers’ beloved horses and dogs.
I was appointed official artist for the International Gold Cup races at Great Meadow in the Plains, Virginia, and was official artist for the Warrenton Horse Show and the Upperville Horse Show. My work appeared on several covers of The Chronicle of the Horse.
I love every moment painting commissions. For me the most important aspect of the painting is to capture the character of the animal. The eyes are so important; they show the soul of the animal. I start every painting, pastel or drawing with the eyes, then the painting comes alive to me, and I can feel the presence of the dog or horse I’m painting. Then I’ll work on the fur, trying to create a sheen that shows the softness of that fur, showing the muscles and bone structure underneath the coat. George Stubbs has taught me a lot!
Another challenge is to incorporate a landscape surrounding the subject. In portrait paintings of the horse and its owner, I paint a landscape including their home or barn. The sky has to fit the season, and clouds become a major part of the painting. In steeplechase paintings or foxhunting scenes I want to paint the atmosphere of the event. I want to feel that the painting is alive. If it’s a portrait of a single animal, or an elaborate painting of an event I try to evoke an emotion from the viewer.
Two years ago I retired from foxhunting with the Piedmont Fox Hounds and the Fairfax Hunt. I’m grateful for the excitement, joy, and experience it has brought me, and how foxhunting has changed my career in art. I draw on those experiences to create sporting art and paintings of dogs and horses for their owners. My recent commission from the American Kennel Club to paint a portrait of the English Setter Ch. Stagedoor Rock It Man for the Breeder of the Year Award was a pinnacle of my career. The painting is displayed at the headquarters of the AKC in New York among all those incredible sporting artists I have admired and who were my inspiration.
I know the purpose of my life is to create portraits of those wonderful animals who enrich our lives with their beauty, grace, devotion and kindness.
December 29, 2010
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