Held every year at the Phippen Museum in Prescott, Arizona, the Hold Your Horses! Exhibition & Sale is a celebration of the loyal and hardworking horse. Highlighted within the event is an array of remarkable artwork by some of the top Western artists working today, all dedicated to accurately capturing the minute details of the equine form—from proper anatomical features to the shine of their coats to horses in motion and at rest. This beast encompasses both grace and elegance, as well as grit and raw power.
Sherry Cobb-Kelleher, Evening on Buttermilk Creek, oil on linen panel, 11 x 14” And for each of the many artists exhibiting in the event, one thing is certain: they all have a deep personal love for horses.
Among those artists is Sherry Cobb-Kelleher, who comes from a long line of ranchers and farmers and has spent her life working with the land and animals that dwell on it. “Light, shadow and animals are what inspires me to draw and paint,” she says. “Quiet moments of a horse patiently waiting for the day to begin, to horses in the fading light of a peaceful evening on the creek are all the stories of my life and the world that I’m surrounded by. I’m drawn to light, from quiet light, to bold dramatic moments of time caught by the movement of an animal and rider. These are the things I’m blessed to share, through my art.”
Dan Knepper, The Lost Calf, oil, 18 x 24”
Cobb-Kelleher says she has been told by collectors that her art “‘makes them smile,’ so with that said, buy what you love, make room for the piece that makes you smile! In the world we live in these days that is so important.”In her oil Evening on Buttermilk Creek, part of this year’s event, five horses graze in a field under skies that foretell of a coming storm. But for now, there’s peace and quiet as a soft evening light settles over the land.
Another piece in the show and sale is artist Dan Knepper’s The Lost Calf. The oil painting features a woman on horseback wandering through rocky terrain in search of a young, lost horse.
Sherry Cobb-Kelleher, Waiting in the Shade, oil on linen panel, 14 x 18”
Hold Your Horses! Exhibition & Sale takes place July 8 through September 24. Tickets for guests run $20 at the door, and admission is free for members. An opening reception and members preview will be held on Friday, July 7, at 5:30 p.m. —
Hold Your Horses! Exhibition & Sale
July 8-September 24, 2023
Phippen Museum, 4701 AZ-89, Prescott, AZ 86301
(928) 778-1385, www.phippenartmuseum.org
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