There’s a little stare a horse gives when commanded to turn and bump someone in a polo match, according to Michael Arnold.
The equestrian artist explains that his biggest challenge is trying to capture that split-second moment on canvas, “or when the horse is trying to muster that extra bit of energy, as they’re galloping down the final stretch in a race”.
“You can tell a human being to stop or correct the smile, turn your head a different way. But you don’t have that luxury with horses.”
The American can often be found with his sketchpad or camera on the sidelines of Dubai’s polo fields and racecourses; he later recreates them in his studio at Dubai’s Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. As well as painting oil on canvas, Arnold uses a mono-print painting technique.
He applies oil paint onto a foil base plate on a glass surface, layering oil paper and sketch paper on top to generate positive and negative prints, which express movement, energy and attitude.
“I’m always trying to chase light and energy, and within that I’m trying to capture the emotion of the horse and rider, and the oneness between the two. In a game of polo or a horse race, the rider and his horse have to be in unison. There’s something really elegant and exciting about that.”
When Arnold was in art school in Philadelphia, he recalls being struck by the way horses were depicted in the paintings of battle scenes at the Philadelphia Museum.
His affection for horses grew when he moved to Dubai 13 years ago. With the Dubai World Cup set to be held on Saturday at the Meydan Racecourse, the artist will have more opportunities to hone his skills.
“The love that people have for horses throughout this region was something I was captured by, even more because I was able to witness horses running in the desert, on the polo fields and on the track. There’s something a little bit more wild about horses here in the UAE.”
However, for the first 40 years of his career, Arnold was preoccupied with the structure of buildings, and was involved in the field of architecture. He quit his job two years ago to become a full-time artist. Arnold’s paintings can sell for up to Dh45,000.
“I love to depict the anatomy of the horse when it is running,” he adds.
“I like doing my work for polo players and equestrian experts, because I like to focus on making sure I’m catching the movement of the knee, the leg, the hip, the turn of the neck and the direction of the ears. All those elements are telling part of the story.”
Briton Dianne Breeze’s career as a dressage trainer guided her passion for painting horses.
Breeze, who worked for Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club until last December, has just returned to Dubai to coach riders and horses for the UAE National Dressage Championships and World Dressage Challenge.
“I collect reference photographs for my paintings, although it is much easier if I have seen the horse itself, to get a feel for their character,” she says.
“I sketch the outlines, then work on the light and shade, slowly working on the details until it is finished.”
Breeze got her first pony at the age of 7, while fellow equestrian artist Vineta Sayer grew up in the former Soviet Union, “where little girls didn’t have little ponies”.
“It didn’t matter whether you had money or not, the concept just didn’t exist,” she says, adding that her grandparents would occasionally borrow a horse from a neighbour for work around the farm.
“I remember when I was about 2 years old, the horse’s knees were at my eye level. I looked up and I wasn’t scared – I was full of awe for this huge animal. From that moment, I knew I wanted to be near horses.” Sayer’s paintings capture the heat of the moment in a polo match, a racing or a hunting scene, using multiple layers of oil paint in black and white, or stark reds or blues, to transmit dynamism. “I feel the horses’ energy as I paint,” she says.”
The 48-year-old sometimes visits polo matches and races to watch Arabian horses “for hours on end, totally absorbed by the form of the horse”.
Onlookers expect Sayer to take out a sketchpad or camera. “I say no, I’m just watching, and trying to understand what I see. It all stays inside me, and some time later, I spit it out in my paintings.”
Another enthusiast is Pakistani-Finnish artist Zari Jafri, who says living in Abu Dhabi has exposed her to the grace, power and beauty of Arabian horses.
Jafri uses phosphorous powder mixed into a gel to make her paintings glow in the dark, which “give symbolic yet spiritual experiences to the viewer”.
“The might of these majestic creatures inspired me to express my awe of the divine by hiding names of Allah and small ayahs [Quranic verses] in the pictures, connecting the inner to the outer,” she says.
• An exhibition of Sayer’s paintings is being held until the end of March at Desert Palm Per Aquum Resort while Arnold’s paintings can be viewed at Dubai’s Showcase Gallery and at his studio in Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. Breeze’s pictures can be viewed at www.diannebreeze.com
artslife@thenational.ae