July 2024
This month, I am delighted to introduce one of the first artists to attend the Equine Art Days, through the blog, and showcase some of the artwork that was inspired by the day.
I organized the equine art days to provide a small number of talented, local, professional artists with an opportunity to spend “A Day In the Life of a Horse”, get up close to my horses, gather inspiration and create some amazing pieces from the experience.
Stuart Speer is an established, part-time, professional artist, creator and photographer based in Yeovil, Somerset, UK. He joined my Equine Art Day held in August 2024.
Broad range of talents
Stuart was born in Bromley in Kent, but moved to Somerset in the early 1990s with his work, and settled here. He has specialized in pencil and pen portraits for over 40 years, but also paints in various media including watercolor, oils and acrylics, on both paper, canvas and murals. While he studied art at school, Stuart taught himself beyond this.
His first artistic inspirations came from rock and pop music in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially New Wave and New Romantics/Synth Pop. Over the years, his artistic influences have included Dali, Escher, Vettriano, Banksy, and Van Gogh, as well as many others.
As a key member of Yeovil Art Space, Stuart exhibits drawings and paintings there, and also in the Somerset Art Weeks Festival, a well-known, annual, creative event held across the county. Stuarts photography has been showcased in Yeovil Art Space’s “Story of Yeovil” Project. Additionally, a selection of his drawing artwork has been exhibited in the Yeovil Octagon Theatre.
He also runs beginners Drawing and Sketching workshops through the Yeovil Art Space Group in Yeovil and Guggleton Farm Art Community in Stalbridge, Dorset.
At home with art in Yeovil
Yeovil is a small town in the south of Somerset, close to the border with the county of Dorset. It lies in the center of the Yeovil Scarplands, a natural region of England, on the River Yeo.
The name ‘Yeovil’ means ‘town on the river’. It was first settled in ancient times on a major Roman route through the West Country and identified in a Saxon charter that dates from 880. It was known then as ‘Gifle’, which was derived from old language for “forked river” and formed an earlier name for the River Yeo. The Yeo estate was bequeathed in the will of King Alfred the Great to his youngest son, Aethelweard. Yeovil was mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Givele’ and described as a thriving market community.
The town developed around several industrial specialisms. It was once the hub of the UK’ leather industry and had become a glove-making center of excellence by the 1800s. In addition, its role as a center of the UK’s aircraft and defense industries continued into the 21st century, with helicopter manufacture still continued there. Leonardo Helicopters is still the town’s biggest employer. Arts and crafts are also an important part of Yeovil’s scene.
“The art landscape is currently thriving in Yeovil. Unfortunately, the town has lacked certain levels of investment over a period of time, but local authorities and people are trying to change things for the better. Art has helped bring Yeovil alive again, and hopefully will continue to do so.”
“There are many sources of inspiration in the town itself, due to its rich past. And beyond it, there is also the surrounding countryside, rivers and railways, as well as some of its past and present people.”
Stuart Speer.
Capturing spirit
As an artist, Stuart loves to discover, explore and understand the passion and life drivers that make other people ‘tick’.
“My story with equine art has been about accompanying those who know their horses best, and I have many friends who are devout horse owners and lovers. I can totally understand their connection with their horses from sharing even small snapshots of their time with them and their animals.”
”“Horses are such intriguing, beautiful, powerful, intelligent creatures with a great deal of character and sensitive feelings. I enjoy capturing their features, life force and spirit whenever I see them.”
Rekindling an idea
Taking his own photographs to work from at the first Equine Art Day, Stuart also met each horse in turn, observed them up close and from a distance and asked many questions about them.
In particular, Sapphire, my young mare, immediately caught his attention. She is an Irish Thoroughbred x Irish Draft mare with Champion Irish Draft in her breeding lines and a very endearing and curious temperament.
Sapphire’s markings rekindled an interest that Stuart has held for many years in one of his favorite artists, MC Escher. Renowned for creating complex drawings, Escher also developed some that showed various shapes drawn closely together that ‘emerged from one another’ as the drawing moved across the page.
“There was one overriding impression when I saw Sapphire’s markings….and that was ‘Fire’. The way her markings spread from top to tail, across her torso, and across her hind legs ignited an idea in me: Spreading like wildfire.”
“You light the spark in my bonfire heart.”
James Blunt.
Explore the amazing photos that Stuart took to use as a creative reference from the Equine Art Day held in August 2024.
Setting creativity alight
Sapphire’s markings and energies inspired him to first write a poem:
Flickering eyes and
A roll of your head
A swish with your tail
Your soul to be fed.
A glance in my direction
A turn on a sixpence spot
Moving to a call or command
Twisting till told to stop.
You show loyalty without question
Like a soldier till you die
With a bond so rare so deep
It’s a code you live by
Deep and dark and trusting
Affectionate, straight and true
The love you hold within you
Is etched on your skin too
You love like a bonfire aflame
Wildfires tattooed on your skin
A map of burning embers
For the spirit that lies within
In addition, he developed the resultant creative themes into an oil painting.
“I have literally just started learning/dabbling with oil painting, and after an encouraging session with an established oil artist, I wanted to challenge myself further and create something unique to me.”
“I like using and shaping my art using new tools, like knives. Also, knowing that oils take several days to dry, means that you can change things numerous times over to get the results you want.”
“Final quote from Stuart about the results, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore. Dolore magna aliqua, ut enim ad minim veniam.”
Follow the photo story of Stuart’s artwork here:
Explore more of Stuart’s work here:
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“People like us,
We don’t,
Need that much.
Just someone that starts…
starts the spark in our bonfire hearts.”
Bonfire Heart – James Blunt
