Featured Artist Sharon Crute

Enjoy this collection from oil painter Sharon Crute, whose portfolio reflects her lifelong fascination with horses. Learn more by visiting her website.

 

 

I was born a horse crazy kid. I began my equine journey as a trail guide at the age of 12 at the local riding stable. A few years later, I received my first racing license at the track when I was age 16. Starting out as a hotwalker, I was completely smitten with thoroughbreds, racing and the lifestyle.

 

 

My parents, however, were more impressed with my artistic abilities. They tried to steer my focus toward more creative endeavors and away from the race track. I was placed in a vocational high school where I focused in graphic design.

 

 

After graduating from high school, I attended a private art school where I majored in painting. Upon acquiring my degree, I went straight back to the race track life.

 

 

I married a thoroughbred trainer and immersed myself in the racing culture. We worked together, training his stable of horses on a daily basis. He urged me to paint the life I was living. My artwork began to depict all aspects of the racing life, including the races, the training, and the beautiful quiet moments spent with these magnificent animals. This continued for the next 40+ years.

 

 

Within the last decade, horse racing has become much less popular. Politics interceded and the advent of gambling casinos and their partnership with horse racing began to decline. The casino owners’ voracity for profits combined with low overhead superseded the horse racing venues.

 

 

My husband and I made the heart wrenching decision to retire from the races just two years ago. This was momentous for me in several ways. Not only did I mourn the absence of our racing careers and especially the horses from our daily life, but also a lifetime of depicting the entire milieu in my painting practice. I was lost and quite distressed.

 

 

I began to question what else could I, should I, paint? Landscapes? Portraits? I’ve painted other genres involving horses such as hunter/jumping, polo, western, etc. to try to embrace other disciplines but I quickly lost interest. My husband suggested that I paint horses just as they are: grazing in a field, running free, natural and being themselves. I tried it and loved it.

 

 

Not only was this a therapeutic reprieve for my sense of loss, but the “just horses” has proven to be a profitable turn in my long painting career. It’s new aspect that I truly love and enjoy.

 

Sharon Crute invites you to follow on Facebook and Instagram. 

 

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