Synergy

When I was a very young girl (6) I started drawing horses. I looked at horse magazines like "Penny" and "Hoefslag", the pretty pictures in equine photography books and start doodling. I sniffed up the smell of the horses skin at my riding school. Touched and stroked their necks, jawline and muscles. I took it all in. And collected pretty horse pictures.

It inspired me so much that I bought an oil paint starter set when I was 19 years old (in the picture above I am about 17 years old and a lot of my drawings got featured in the schoolpaper) and began to just paint what I saw in an equine calendar with stunning horse pictures in them. I just grabbed a slab of wood, put some tex on it and did my thing. Without a painting lesson to my name. I later donated that very first oil painting (shown below) to the father of my boyfriend back then, as a "thank you" for all he had done for us.

Pretty pictures

Ever since then equine photography has inspired me to paint. Colors, poses and compositions. I copied some of the greater well known photographers and set that work aside. However after I started my business as an equine artist, I realized... I did not want to just grab a picture and make a painting out of it. I needed good material that was expressing my love for horses, how I see and perceive them...

My taste changed and my moods aswel. The pictures I loved back then do not work for me anymore. They fail to give me the same buzzz. I wondered if that was me losing interest... but then I realized it was just the opposite. I was more and more in love with horses but not just in the 'regular' way anymore.

Next step

I came across Nikki de Kerf's work a few years ago through Facebook. And the energy of her work blew me away. I could tell that she photographed with the same passion as I paint. As some of you may already know, I then approached her with the question if she would be interested in working with me. She agreed and we made a pact. I would have new inspirational material to work with and she would allow me to use them and I would hire her when my clients needed a photographer for a photoshoot of their horse(s). I believe this is called a partnership.

It all comes together

We work individually of course, we are not a set. We run our own business but we are considerate towards each other. She can work with other artists and I can hire different photographers, there is no exclusivity. However the photos I use as inspiration are with exclusive permission. And this way the photo wont be re-used by other artists. I also order my own photoshoots by Nikki at stables and clients who love to work with us.

Now a fantastic synergy has developed between us. I create artwork with her photo as my inspiration. She shows me some of her new work and mostly I freak out because I am so excited with the result. So with my enthusiasm about certain photographs, she goes out and creates even more. This pushes me to experiment and try out new things. And Nikki keeps experimenting aswel. I can tell she will surprise me even more in the near future.

How it works

I put loads of photographs up my board and walls in my studio and leave them there for a while and let it sink in. Then I make choices which images resonate the most. I start creating my artwork, send updates to her on WhatsApp and she is stunned with what I have done with it. It encourages me to take it even further. It sometimes takes days or weeks for me to figure out in my mind what I want to do with a photo. What material shall I use, what color scheme... Is it going to be like the image or will I divert from the original. How much will I divert... What is the power for this photo and why... How do I capture that on canvas or panel. Do I simplify the colors or over-color. Size... what would suit it best. Do I want to go big with this one... or not (big isn't always better they say :P). Is it going to be more modern or more classical... What do I do with the light... etc.

I am still searching and developing. Sometimes with photo's... sometimes without... I just have a need for the horse to look 'right'. Maybe I should let it go. I do not know (yet). At this moment in time I am thrilled with the synergy. We seem to trigger each other to do better with every single artwork we make. We develop on our own, but stimulate each other. And what also helps is asking for feedback from other artists on your work in order to get different views.

Extravert

But there also lays a risk for me. Why? I am a communicator. (OH YES! one of those...) I feel a drive to verbally communicate everything. In these last few years I have learned that I need (inner) silence in order to connect with myself and listen to my intuition (but who doesn't huh). Learning how to do this, is still a process but one I am getting better at with each passing day. Some days better then others. This also means to keep some pieces to myself for a while. To not show them off right of the bat. To sit down on the steps in my studio, just grab a cup of tea and look at my work. Just watching... and watching... My mind goes off somewhere else. I leave the work alone. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes and sometimes days but then there is that moment when I look at it and.... "I KNOW WHAT TO DO"... or at least a few strokes. And suddenly it flows again.

Moving forward

It's hard for me to be content with my work for a long period of time. I believe that my perfectionism is the way to keep developing myself as an artist. It took me a long time to believe in myself as an artist. I thought when I was a lot younger that without an academic degree in art that I would never be more then an amateur. I have proven myself and some others wrong over the years. I am not just an artist but also turned out to be an entrepreneur by heart. It's a difficult path of art and business. Creating with your heart but also making sound business decisions.

I am glad tho that I have realized that you do not have to do everything alone. You do not have to be a star in every field. You gather people around you whom you can trust and have certain gifts that are beneficial to you and in return you offer yours to them.

And now THAT is called synergy.