“Wild Fire” by Nancy Ihasz
Sponsored by: GoldMark Farm
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Artist Statement:
I had the privilege of being invited to attend the viewing of the original Horse Fever herd. I was in awe of the horses, the art work and the artists. I silently thought I would have loved to be a part of Horse Fever never realizing I would have the opportunity to do just that ten years later. In the early 70’s I was always day dreaming about being somewhere else. When the song Wildfire came out I romanticized leaving my current situation by imagining I was riding off on a horse named Wildfire.
When trying to come up with a concept for a horse the name Wild Fire was the first thought I had. I work a lot with textures and acrylics so it seemed natural for me to texturize the horse and paint a furious, furious, blazing, roaring, hot fire, like a horse determined to run and run as fast and far as the spreading fire. I didn’t ride off on a horse, but I managed to get out of my situation and I was able to realize yet another dream of participating in this wonderful Marion Cultural Alliance public art event.
Working on such a large scale, in the heat, on my screened in patio presented quite a lot of challenges for me. I spent the first three days staring at my horse, wondering where to start, and questioning everyone I knew who ever painted one. Most of my artwork is executed on canvases ranging from 2 x 2 inches to 16 x 24 and in texture, acrylic or oil. Now I would have to translate this onto a life sized fiberglass replica of a horse. As my artist friends told me, just keep painting. You will get there. They were right and I am so grateful for them and this opportunity.
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