Jean Haines' "Arabian Portrait" is one of over 40 pieces of art included in "Equine: A Group Exhibition of Art Celebrating the Horse" at Emerge Gallery in Saugerties, NY on exhibit through October 2, 2017. Reproduction prints of Jean's horse art is available through the on-line shop.
Meet Jean Haines
"Arabian Portrait"
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"
(click on image to purchase)
Reproduction prints of horse art by Jean Haines
(click on image to purchase and for more info)
"Blowing Mane Horse"
"Buckskin and Red Horses"
"Flowing Horse"
"Blue Storm Horse"
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY & STATEMENT
Jean Haines of Kingston NY has studied, drawn, painted, photographed, and sculpted since earliest memory. She now works purely from imagination, made possible by a lifelong observation of and admiration for horses. Although I can depict horses realistically, creating a unique interpretation of them is more fun. I almost never plan or preliminary sketch out a painting first, but start with random abstract scribbles. Eventually, a horse-like gesture or body part will suggest itself in the abstraction, then I develop it to a recognizable horse form. The surface builds up in translucent layers, which makes the process and finished work more interesting. One large painting can take months to complete, and I usually work on several paintings at once. It also involves a lot of contemplation time, looking at the work in progress without physically changing it. I'm still always learning to accurately refine equine anatomy, but also exploring how much the proportions can be exaggerated or stylized gracefully within abstraction, yet still be recognized as a horse. I don't know why I love horses. I probably was a horse in a past life, or will be in a future one. To me, horses represent strength, grace, freedom, energy, curiosity, being sensible, and instinctively finding one's way home - hence the expression "horse sense." They're also playful without knowing their own strength, as in "horse play" and "horsing around." They have a strong kinship amongst themselves and with their natural environment, so I often portray them in pairs, small groups, or integrated with landscape or abstraction, which sometimes feels like an extension of their flowing air currents and life-energy field auras.