The 2021 Heels Down Spark Awards aims to highlight creative individuals making their mark in the equestrian industry.
The winners will be selected by a panel of expert judges (75%) and a public vote in the Heels Down Spark, our daily equestrian newsletter (25%). The judges have weighed in. Now it’s your turn.
The art and design category includes all various mediums, i.e. sculpture, painting, graphic design, textile art, woodworking, etc.
Meet the finalists here. And don’t forget to cast your vote on Friday, August 6, in the Heels Down Spark. Subscribe now.
Nadine Ewing
About: “Just a lady doing her thing with the support of a wonderful husband, the love of her child and the company of amazing animals. My work is inspired by my love for horses, it centers around myself and my horse Ripley, we even have a social media fan page to showcase our work. I do drawings as well but lately I’ve been more into photography and turning my images into mythical fantasy scenes.”
How horses inspire her: “I’ve grown up with them, and I own a beautiful TWHx mare who is the center of my inspiration.”
Find more of Nadine’s work here.
Samantha Sherry
About: “Much of my childhood was spent on a horse’s back. I competed nationally in barrel racing events and was a member of my university’s rodeo team. I am a currently a full-time artist living in Tennessee with three dogs and a 4-year-old Quarter Horse I am training.”
“In the fall of 2019, I was invited to be the Artist in Residence at Tryon International Equestrian Center and I exhibit work nationally at various museums and galleries. Most recently as part of several exhibitions; including Cowgirl Up!, where I was awarded the Western Art Collector’s Award of Excellence, the Mountain Oyster Contemporary Art Show and Sale, the Western Spirit Art Show, Art of the West, America’s Horse in Art, and a solo show at the American Quarter Horse Museum in 2020.”
“Often varied in style and media, the pieces are unified by subject and theme. Within the work, equine imagery is symbolic and provides the vocabulary and distance necessary to explore deeply personal issues and motifs. My work examines the relationships between memory, family, identity, and loss. The collection, reassembling, and integration of non-traditional materials (i.e. horsehair) with more conventional art mediums and methods aid in the exploration of the continuums between these complex domains.”
How horses inspired her: “Like many young girls, I was obsessed with horses. I dreamt about horses. I drew and painted them. I poured over books dedicated to them. Eventually, my weekly horseback riding lesson evolved into horse ownership. I understood instinctively what a privilege it was to be in the presence of such majestic creatures. Despite countless extracurricular activities and commitments, horses were my priority. Horseback was where I was challenged and comforted, it was the one place I felt myself.”
View more of Samantha’s work here.
Hailey Sullivan
About: “My name is Hailey and I am 23 years old. For as long as I can remember, my strong interest in both horses and drawing have always been present. It helped to have a family member who had a horse to put a foot in the door for me. Even as I continued to grow up and go through the transition from childhood to adulthood, my passion for the two stay connected within me. In my free time if I wasn’t at the barn, you could find me at any table or couch in my house with my drawing supplies working away. If I ever knew one thing, it was that drawing was my safe space, 1,000% I could find myself doing this for the rest of my life. With that in mind, I thought going to higher education was the way to get there. As a former Wisconsinite, I underwent my Freshman year at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 2015, but after a couple of months, I felt my creative growth was not progressing in an academic arena. Since 2017, I stepped away from higher education and relocated to San Diego, California for further inspiration.”
“My goal is to transfer as much detail from my reference photo as I can to the paper to make the subject look as accurate as possible. I adore preciseness, strong values, and making it look like a picture from a glance. I would be considered a realism artist. I use graphite pencils that are numbered. The numbers indicate how dense or soft the graphite is, making my pencil strokes either darker or lighter. This helps immensely to create the illusions I am going for.”
How horses have inspired her: “I’ve always been captivated by horses since I can remember, but I think being able to have the barn experience and have that group of people and horses shape who I am really let me know that I am capable of anything in this lifetime. The one horse that I used for lessons and I grew up with gave me a bond with him that I had never experienced and it was the best feeling. We were so in sync. Us horse lovers can never explain it, but if you’ve had it happen, you know exactly what they’re talking about. So I like to think that little things all comes together: my certainty of my talent and using it to create those animals that give people the same sense of feeling they can cherish forever.”
Find more of Hailey’s work here.
Alexandra Lederman
About: “I have always thought of myself as being more of an equestrian than an artist; I’d rather go watch a Grand Prix on a Saturday night than go to an art gallery opening. I became a proud member of the weird horse girl club at ten years-old when my parents signed me up for one of those horseback riding summer day camps. Since then, I’ve been blessed with owning three horses and have been fortunate enough to compete at incredible show venues like the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, the Kentucky Horse Park, and the World Equestrian Center in Ohio. When I would compete, however, I tended to get so caught up in my head. I would lose focus of why I loved to ride and forget how wonderful it is to have horses in my life. Knowing that I couldn’t be the only equestrian that experienced these dark, anxiety-filled thoughts, I wanted there to be a way where myself and other riders could, at least for a moment, snap out of our mental funk so we could get back to doing what we love to do with the horses we adore.”
“This passion guided me throughout my four years as an art student/equestrian at Otterbein University where I came to understand how truly special and rare it is to continue to have horses in your life as an adult. A year after I graduated college, I created my business Lederman Art & Design, where I create custom and original oil paintings that celebrate the equestrian lifestyle. While the two horses I used to compete with every summer in high school and college are now enjoying a happy and well-earned retirement, nostalgia for summer horse shows and weekend riding lessons have further instilled in my mind how important it is to not let negative thoughts spoil any moment of joy with our horses.”
How horses have inspired her: “Horses have always been the solid foundation from which I could support myself whenever I was feeling lost or overwhelmed. As a little girl, I fell in love with everything to do with the outside of a horse; I couldn’t get enough of their big eyes, powerful legs, and flowing manes. I was amazed with how a massive, powerful animal could also be so gentle and still. With 15 years of living as an equestrian, I’ve since fallen in love with the inside of a horse as well, namely how horses behave as individuals and the connection we build with them through riding and competition. Taking the time to notice all the little details that make up my horse, either while we were tacking up at the barn or getting ready to compete, helped to ground myself whenever negative thoughts became too overbearing. This grounding method of appreciating different details and moments of a horse made its way into my art where now I create paintings with the intention of inspiring equestrians to fall in love with their horse and equestrian sport all over again.”
Find more of Alexandra’s work here.
Subscribe to the Spark to learn more about our finalists all week and to cast your vote on Friday.