Sharon Christensen Arabian Art - Fall 2008 Issue of Horses in Art Magazine

Sharon Christensen Arabian Art

by Jeanne Grunert

Vase – with a hand-painted Arabian mare and foal by Sharon Christensen.
Iowa-based artist Sharon Christensen creates original Arabian art on “found” items. Each hand-painted crock, jug, cookie jar, vase or gift item features a unique portrait of an Arabian horse.

Sharon loves Arabians, both for their beauty and intelligence. “My herd is a motley crew of hay-burning rascals,” she says. “All the gates on the farm must be chained and double secured with bungee cords to keep them from visiting the neighbor’s horses up the road!”

“My goal when painting my own, or anyone else’s horse, is to be as accurate as possible in anatomy and conformation, and to try to catch each animal’s individual expressions and other unique physical characteristics,” Sharon said.

Sharon’s favorite model is her Khemosabi granddaughter, Spirit. Sharon currently trains and rides Spirit in competitive trail riding events, while her grandson competes with two of her horses in the Arabian Horse Society of Iowa horse shows.

Jewelry Box – with a hand-painted Arabian by Sharon Christensen.

Each work begins as a photograph of one of her five Arabian horses. Next, Sharon sketches the portrait onto the item. Sharon then completes the painting using acrylics, sealing the work with glaze or sealant. The items she chooses to paint vary from vintage crocks, jugs and cookie jars picked up at local farm, estate and antique sales to jewelry boxes and vases. Another artisan provides Sharon with scrap pieces of agate upon which she likes to paint Arabian horse silhouettes. No two works are ever the same, but every work is lovely.

In addition to her painted giftware, Sharon also creates portraits in pencil, pen and ink, and acrylics. Although Sharon began painting in high school, she set aside a commercial art career to pursue nursing and marry her sweetheart, a local farmer. She has once again picked up her paintbrush to create one-of-a-kind Arabian art.

Sharon’s work is available through EquinArt Creations, www.equinartcreations.com.

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