Sharon Christensen
Meet the Artist
Sharon Christensen
Sharon Christensen
"I grew up on a farm near a very small town in Iowa. After receiving the
high school art award, I was accepted into a commercial art school after
graduation, but chose nursing instead - more job security! After
graduating from nursing school, I married a farmer from a neighboring,
bigger town (it actually had a stoplight!). We currently farm 1100 acres of
corn and soybeans, with some in hay and pasture. Now that our two
children are grown, and I have retired from nursing, I am trying to find time
for my two favorite hobbies, horseback riding and art.
"I currently own five Arabians. They are a motley crew of inquisitive,
hay-burning rascals. All the gates on our farm must be chained and
doubly secured with bungee cord, or they will have them open within a few
minutes. Then they are all off, at top speed, to visit the neighbor's horses
up the road, leaving me shaking my fist at them and muttering harsh
words concerning pedigrees and ungrateful behaviors. Our two rat
terries, Clifford and Maisy, encourage the runaways by yapping at the top
of their little lungs while dodging my foot.
"Despite their occasional departures from the farm, my horses have given
me much pleasure over the years, with many shows and trail rides with
friends.
"Currently, my 15 year old grandson has shown two of them to High Point
awards in several divisions of the Arabian Horse Society of Iowa, over the
past two years. This year he is starting a new gelding, Dreamer, that is
showing potential to be another wonderful, do-it-all Arabian.
"I am planning to try Competitive Trail Riding this year on Spirit, a very
perky black Kemosabi granddaughter. I suspect that her plans are to
ditch me as soon as possible. Should be an interesting summer.
"When not riding, I enjoy painting. I started with pencil, and pen and ink,
and am now into acrylics. Everything that I create is hand-painted and
one-of-a-kind.
"I first sketch the horse out on the item to be painted. Curved surfaces are
quite tricky. Then I paint the horse using acrylic paint. I have a friend who
is handy with the camera, and takes photos of my horses, so I often use
them as my subjects. I use photos rather than relying on my memory
while painting, as I can add more realistic detailing and make the horse
look like an individual, rather than generic or fantasy animals.
"My goal when painting horses is to be as accurate as possible in
anatomy and conformation, and to try to catch each animal's individual
expression and unique physical characteristics."
high school art award, I was accepted into a commercial art school after
graduation, but chose nursing instead - more job security! After
graduating from nursing school, I married a farmer from a neighboring,
bigger town (it actually had a stoplight!). We currently farm 1100 acres of
corn and soybeans, with some in hay and pasture. Now that our two
children are grown, and I have retired from nursing, I am trying to find time
for my two favorite hobbies, horseback riding and art.
"I currently own five Arabians. They are a motley crew of inquisitive,
hay-burning rascals. All the gates on our farm must be chained and
doubly secured with bungee cord, or they will have them open within a few
minutes. Then they are all off, at top speed, to visit the neighbor's horses
up the road, leaving me shaking my fist at them and muttering harsh
words concerning pedigrees and ungrateful behaviors. Our two rat
terries, Clifford and Maisy, encourage the runaways by yapping at the top
of their little lungs while dodging my foot.
"Despite their occasional departures from the farm, my horses have given
me much pleasure over the years, with many shows and trail rides with
friends.
"Currently, my 15 year old grandson has shown two of them to High Point
awards in several divisions of the Arabian Horse Society of Iowa, over the
past two years. This year he is starting a new gelding, Dreamer, that is
showing potential to be another wonderful, do-it-all Arabian.
"I am planning to try Competitive Trail Riding this year on Spirit, a very
perky black Kemosabi granddaughter. I suspect that her plans are to
ditch me as soon as possible. Should be an interesting summer.
"When not riding, I enjoy painting. I started with pencil, and pen and ink,
and am now into acrylics. Everything that I create is hand-painted and
one-of-a-kind.
"I first sketch the horse out on the item to be painted. Curved surfaces are
quite tricky. Then I paint the horse using acrylic paint. I have a friend who
is handy with the camera, and takes photos of my horses, so I often use
them as my subjects. I use photos rather than relying on my memory
while painting, as I can add more realistic detailing and make the horse
look like an individual, rather than generic or fantasy animals.
"My goal when painting horses is to be as accurate as possible in
anatomy and conformation, and to try to catch each animal's individual
expression and unique physical characteristics."
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