Art Reviews by Barbara Burns

Today’s featured art is HorseFace by Ron Patterson

Horses are marvelous creatures - this painting is fascinating and surprising - it is surprising because these are not colors I associate with painted horses at all.

HorseFace by Ron Patterson — View Larger

I keep expecting this lovely horse to neigh very loudly at me and beg for sugar cubes or perhaps a bite of apple.

I’ve seen this look from horses many times when I went to the IA State Fair horse barns every summer as a kid and then as an adult.

I saw each and every horse in the barns at the fairgrounds (not the racing stables along 30th - they were not open to the public) … spending the day in the horse barns was a pleasure, not a chore. It was where I wanted to go first every time … most were in their stall with their heads hanging out the top half of the door like little kids waiting for the treats to be passed out.

I think I would have chosen a brown or gold frame to bring out more of the brownish orange-y color but it a very well done portrait of a horse’s face with a gorgeous expression that brings back lots of wonderful childhood memories for me.