Do you worry about how others view your actions or what they think about you?
This is not something author, artist , photographer Linda Finstad has ever struggled with. In fact as a young girl, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up her response was always the same I really want to be an eccentric old bat - they seem to have so much fun and are allowed to colour outside the lines.
50 years later She is living the dream, Linda has always been kindly referred to as “one of those creative types”. She earned her living as an equine photographer and author however when she decided to retire from horse show photography she let go the need to create images that would please others and sell. When her livelihood was no longer tied to her creativity it allowed her to reveal her authentic self and let loose the eccentric old bat.
She focused on painting rather than photography and using all the colours in the paintbox developed a brand new style of equine art which she calls “Prism-Equus” this made up word means equine personality depicted in colour. Her brightly coloured horses were a hit and the new art term was added to the “Urban Dictionary”. Her paintings are extremely popular and sell almost as fast as she paints them.
For Linda the next step was obvious - if she derived her inspiration from horses perhaps she should paint a picture whilst riding a horse. This presented a couple of technical issues. Number one her paint brushes were not long enough to reach the canvas - easily rectified with a garden stick and duct tape. Problem number two Linda didn’t have a horse and hadn't ridden in over 20 years. But as the horse show photographer she knew lots of people who did have horses and it didn't take long to locate the perfect painting partner a part bred Fjiord called Sven. Finstad’s very first horseback painting took place at New Horizon ranch and was a huge success.
Creative Genius or just an eccentric old bat?
You decide.
