Deborah Butterfield is the sculptor form California (San Diego), who creates predominantly horses. Her love to these animals made her create horses with impressive simplicity and essential expressiveness, in spite of the fact, that the animals are created of wood, metal (sometimes from scrap iron). All her sculptures have the unique feature – the horses are created with the down stretched head or paunchy girth. However, all the horses have only the basic anatomical features.
Actually, the variety of the roles, that animals play in human life is often represented in the art by both children and adults, and it is necessary to mention, that the creativity process of children and adults has similar features: objective observation. However, the works by Deborah Butterfield joins the features of adults vision of the world and the childish simplicity. By just a few hand moves with chalk, Deborah Butterfield manages to create the masterpieces, that decorate the most picturesque corners of city parks all over the United States.
Carved of wood, or cast in bronze, the sculptures are generally demonstrated in two scales: original size works and smaller bronzes. With unusual focus and confidence, Butterfield’s works are independent of the contemporary art trends and traditions, as the critics can not attribute her works to any particular style. She is regarded as the ,aster of three-dimensional images of horses, often working directly with wood pieces or metal scraps.
Patricia Crane devotes her creativity process to the creation of the unique and exclusive jewelry, sculptures and gifts in the shape of horses. Her creatures may be viewed in museums, public parks and even private collections, as her art combines numerous unique features, and the horses are made not only of bronze or wood, but also of gold and silver, or combination of both.
Patricia Crane gained the international fame for her outstanding bronze sculpture that is installed at the Kentucky Horse Park, in front of The International Museum. She has also created the sculptures of horses for different media, and of various horse breeds. Her works are featured with impressive realism of the details, and it is necessary to emphasize, that her works are celebrated only for this compelling realism and utter “aliveness”
As it has been stated, her art is spread not only for creating of bronze and the life size sculptures: these are also 54mm miniatures made of gold and silver, and which may be found only in private collections of those, who admire the horses the most.
Specific horse breeds emphasize all pieces as decor for home or office. Most are exclusive, and can not be found somewhere else in the world. The breeds, that are represented in the works include Arabian, American Saddlebred, Morgan, Thoroughbred, even the Mustang and many, many more.
Actually, horse art is a style, highly admired only in contemporary times but widespread throughout history. From the earliest pictures in the caves, the creation of early household tools, tombs and ritual relics as well as early jewelry, the horse and artwork have moved side by side with the humans in all aspects of human life, and still the horses are highly respected in the times of steel machines and electronic era.
References
- Katter, Eldon. “Animal Worlds.” School Arts 1997: 4.
- Yood, James. “Deborah Butterfield.” Artforum International 1993: 104.