Susan Monty - Second Chances - Summer 2008 Issue of Horses in Art Magazine

Susan Monty - Second Chances

Remembering Triumph – Colored pencil by Susan Monty.
“I have always loved painting horses, and they will always be the subject I enjoy the most. Second Chances gives me an added reason to paint – the opportunity to tell stories that might otherwise be forgotten.”.
Second Chances is a new series of paintings by New Hampshire artist Susan Monty honoring rescued horses and the people who help save them. For this series, Monty is working with several rescue organizations to complete paintings of rescued horses.

Susan Monty visited Pure Thoughts Horse and Foal Rescue in Loxahatchee, Florida, to spend time with the horses and to attend the yearly fundraiser. At the event Monty displayed paintings from the Second Chances series that portray horses rescued by Pure Thoughts in November 2007 by outbidding slaughterhouse buyers for 82 horses, a feat that inspired Monty to tell the horses’ stories through her art.

Some of the paintings in the series, such as Remembering Triumph, display the sad reality faced by many former race and workhorses. Named Triumph by Pure Thoughts volunteers, Triumph was so tired and sick that he was humanely euthanized at the auction sparing him transport to a slaughterhouse. His rescuers gave him a few hours of kindness, soft voices and warmth from a blanket before he died. Other paintings show the good that can come from the efforts of rescue organizations. At Rest is a portrait of Cheyenne, who has been adopted and is now getting lots of love and care. Monty works in acrylic, colored pencil, oil and pastel to create a realistic, but artistic likeness of her subjects. “I let the subject suggest a medium, and then I get to work,” she says. She will be using this variety of mediums as she continues to work on Second Chances, which will be an ongoing series.

Monty comments, “I have always loved painting horses, and they will always be the subject I enjoy the most. Second Chances gives me an added reason to paint – the opportunity to tell stories that might otherwise be forgotten.”

For more information visit Susan Monty’s web site at www.susanmonty.com

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