Ride The Sky, 2012

The limbs of the horse and rider perfectly mirror each other, so perfectly aligned that they have become one being. Science has verified this phenomenon that equestrians have long believed in, and it is called a neural loop feedback. The action an...

The limbs of the horse and rider perfectly mirror each other, so perfectly aligned that they have become one being. Science has verified this phenomenon that equestrians have long believed in, and it is called a neural loop feedback. The action and response back and forth is so very fast, like nanoseconds fast, that it is for practical purposes instantaneous. That is what drew my attention to this photograph, which was part of an advertisement for a particular brand of horse feed. This is what union of horse and rider looks like. I searched for an image for the quote To Ride A Horse Is To Ride The Sky, and when I saw this picture I searched no more. I was trying to create sign art that was fine art, using signboard and sign paint, but also liquid acrylic airbrush paint for the airbrushed illustration of the horse and rider. I dabble in pinstriping as well, I’ve worked the bike rallies and car shows with intermittent success. So I wanted to create a painting which incorporated airbrushing, with graphically designed text, with brush calligraphy, and pinstriping. This painting matured in a very spontaneous way. It was a process of action and reaction somewhat comparable to the union of horse and rider it shows. I couldn’t resist positioning the pair so that they seem to be jumping right out of the picture plane, a technique famously employed by Rembrandt,. If memory serves it’s called repoussoir. As the painting matured to completion it became one of my very favorites. It is not for sale. This painting has an interesting history. In 2014 my sister and I were quarreling and I gave her this painting as a gesture of goodwill. She gave it to her daughter, who loved it so much that she threw it in the garbage dumpster at her residence. I called to ask what she thought of it, and received an unexpected reply. I asked my sister to retrieve it before it was lost, but she was busy and could not go. Her daughter’s roommate rescued it. Eventually I got it back. Not for sale.