Current Issue:
Winter 2001
Visit Elin Pendleton's website
- Living Life to the Fullest - by Sarah H. Crampton
A vast array of life experiences contributes to the art Elin Pendleton creates. Her boundless energy is transmitted to her canvasses, and the resulting paintings are rich in color, design and story. An accomplished horsewoman Elin Pendeton raises and trains her trail horses, hikes with pack goats, gardens organically and was a snow ski patrol leader and sail boarder. These many interests are at times in conflict for her time, but she has created a portfolio which currently contains more than 150 paintings.
No miser of paint created these images. Pendleton liberally uses paint and brush work with the goal of capturing the light of a moment in time while telling a story. Painting in oil or acrylic on canvas, Pendleton's imagery comes from personal feeling for the subject.
"I don't paint things that I haven't actually seen or done. You won't see paintings of skydiving, because I haven't been able to get over a fear of flying. But the draft horses are from experience, as are the horse packing and English show paintings. I still have my harness and collars for both the ponies and mules hanging in the barns."
Now a full-time artist, Elin worked for 18 years as a teacher. "It wasn't easy to teach all day, then come home to the animals and the chores and then start painting. But I had the goal of being a full-time artist, and I was determined to do whatever it took to get there."
To leave the teaching profession wasn't easy for Elin, and she still opens her studio to artists and also gives painting demonstrations.
Equine subjects are close to her heart, and that love led to a study of anatomy and drawing of horses. Elin states that it is difficult to do accurate horse work without good drawing skills and a sound knowledge of horse anatomy. Her professional memberships include the Women Artists of the West, Oil Painters of America and the National Acrylic Painters Association. She was recently accepted as an Associate Member of the American Academy of Equine Art.
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