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Lesley Thiel shies away from the
description 'equestrian artist'. Although she is renowned for her
extraordinary paintings of horses, her compositions could perhaps be
better described as portraits, conveying the individual traits of
each magnificent subject. Although she was born and educated in
England, Lesley has lived most of her adult life in Germany,
Switzerland and the USA. Having originally trained as a scientist
and worked in various fields of scientific research, she formed her
love of horses while visiting a friend's Stud in the United States.
Despite her early love of painting and drawing, it took this
encounter with an inspirational subject to reignite her passion for
art, and it was here that she once again began to paint. Taking the
spirited Arabian horses around her as her subject, she was soon
producing work of great power and drama. In Lesley's own words: "I
have always loved natural life forms and the beauty of the natural
world. It was spending time around Arab horses that finally inspired
me to follow my dream and start painting and drawing again. Their
intelligence, grace and elegance captivated me. I didn't just want
to watch horses, I wanted to commemorate their beauty and grace, to
pay tribute to them as individuals and share this with others
through my work". Lesley's work has been exhibited at Mall Galleries
and all over the UK and the USA. Her opinions are also valued in the
academic world and she has delivered several guest lectures on art
at British universities. |
