Nancy Soulliard

Art show at the DreamLight Gallery Nov. 1 - Dec. 13

2008-10-10T12:08:00.007-04:00

I just wanted to let you know about the art show I have coming up. It's at the DreamLight Gallery in Englewood NJ. It's a new gallery showing my work for 6 weeks beginning November 1 at 6 pm. I'll be showing about 25 pieces of my abstract figure and equine artwork. The press release and poster is below.

---Press Release---
The works of NJ artist Nancy Soulliard will be featured at the New Light Art Exhibit at DreamLight Gallery, 150 Engle Street in Englewood, NJ. The opening reception is November 1 at 6pm. The show will run through December 13, 2008. The exhibit includes a collection of painterly montages of the human and equine subject radiating energy, texture and form.

Nancy Soulliard’s passion for horses began as a young girl in Pennsylvania. Receiving an Associates Degree in Equine Science from Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA, Nancy began her exploration of form and figure. In 1999, she earned a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts (Communication Design/Illustration) at Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, working primarily in pastel, watercolor and acrylic. In 2006, Nancy joined the Equine Art Guild and began actively showing figurative and equine artwork. Currently, residing in Clifton, New Jersey with her husband, dog and horse not too far away.

This unique collection offers selections that are perfect for home or business, reasonably priced to reflect the challenges of the current economy. Homemade refreshments will be offered.

DreamLight Gallery provides a venue for local artists to show their work in a space primarily used as a photo studio and marketing office. The ambiance of the gallery floor is unique; complimented by two candle-lit fireplaces, ornate moulding, hardwood floors, 12 ft high tin ceilings within a Victorian building built in 1850 located the boutique section of Englewood. Designed and operated by photographer Frank Aiello, its purpose is to encourage forums of artistic stimuli, and to offer the public exceptional works of art for every budget.

Unfold

2008-08-26T16:55:00.005-04:00

Unfold grew from one figure tightly wrapped around herself. As the piece evolved, she began to stretch out and the relax.
This is an 18 by 24 inch pastel.
It will be shown this fall along with many others for six weeks from November 1 - December 13, 2008 in a solo show at the Dreamlight Gallery in Englewood NJ. The address is 150 Engle St., Englewood NJ 07631. Opening night will be November 1 at 6pm.

Twist

2008-08-18T15:03:00.006-04:00

This piece began with one torso and as I moved the piece and drew again the other turning torso fit perfectly in the space. I liked how simple this one became. It's a pastel about 11 inches wide by 17 inches high.

Release

2008-08-07T11:23:00.007-04:00

I've been working on some new abstract figure pieces for a show in October. I'll have more details about the show soon.
This is one of the newest. I work with the models at the Art Students League in New York. It's a pastel that's roughly 24 inches by 18 inches.
The theme and title of this piece is Release. As I drew, the idea emerged of the arms and hands opening and letting go.

Bath Time - Mural Mosaic Panel #235

2008-06-22T20:49:00.005-04:00

A few months ago I joined the new Mural Mosaic equine artists team. The title of the mural is Le Cadeau de Cheval-The Horse Gift in celebration of the horse.
You can check out the impressive list of artists here: http://www.muralmosaic.com/Horse/artists.html
As the pieces are finished, they're updated here: http://www.muralmosaic.com/Cadeau.html
Each artist was sent a panel painted with part of the design. We were to paint an equine-themed piece that fit with the color and design of the panel. I received a bluish panel that reminded me of water. Looking through my reference photos, I found a great picture of Rose playing with the hose during one of her summer baths.
The finished mural will be displayed at various locations across North America beginning with THE MASTERS at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Alberta Canada on September 3, 2008. A book will also be made featuring each panel.

Bath Time

Since I was 14 years old, my horse Rose has been with me. When I got her she was a 6 year old retired racehorse who had far more energy than I knew what to do with. Luckily for me she was always a great teacher. I learned how to be calm and patient and ride through Rose’s happy energetic explosions. Early on it certainly was frustrating but she made me work hard to be a better rider. She wouldn’t allow me to be just a passenger. Rose has always pushed me to ride better, to find new solutions to her issues and to understand what she’s telling me. Through the years we have participated in 4-H together, moved to college, and eventually Rose and I settled in New Jersey. Because of all the gifts she’s given me I felt she was a perfect fit for the theme of Le Cadeau du Cheval.

This piece depicts bath time which is one of her favorite times in the summer. She loves to lean into the spray on her head and drinks from the hose. She always seems to be smiling at me when she’s getting cooled off and no matter how many times it happens it always makes me smile as well.

Now at 24, although a bit arthritic, she’s content to be a wonderful trail horse. I can’t imagine any other horse being such a consistent teacher and friend for 18 years.

The original panel:

Last 3 pieces going to the Grand National Art Show

2008-03-18T17:39:00.015-04:00

I finally finished the work I'm sending to the Grand National Art Show. I'm sending the 2 from previous posts called Listen and Patience. I'm also sending Determination that I created for the art show called Driven in Maine the other year. I posted it below if you haven't seen that one before. They're all pastels since that's what I've been into lately.

"Determination"
There’s a strength and determination in a carriage horse. These quiet workhorses are built to willingly pull a heavy load. Focusing on the bridle, ears and legs, this piece was based on the carriage horses of Central Park in New York City.

"Landscape on Horseback"
The delicate Arabian. The strong Friesian. The aged Thoroughbred.The curious Thoroughbred colt. The horse’s back is perfectly shaped to carry their rider. There are so many variations of shape from breed to breed and the back changes with the age of the horse. Looking over the backs of these horses reminded me of a landscape. They created undulating hills and valleys. The ears of the colt like the trees atop a mountain.

"The Jumper"
Some breeds of horse are specifically talented at jumping fences. Their powerful legs catapult them over enormous obstacles. The launch, the flight and the landing require precision without which the horse or rider could easily be injured. By concentrating on the legs, this piece draws attention to the agility and power of the show jumper’s stride.

Listen - Abstract horse drawing

2008-03-01T18:11:00.007-05:00

This is one of the pieces I recently finished to send to the Grand National Art Show. I focused on the horse's ears. There's so much that a horse tells you with their ears. You know when they're focused on you when you're riding by the way one ear cocks back to check on you. Their ears also show when they're paying far more attention to what's going on outside the ring than to their rider. There's many times when out on trail that my horse has warned me of four-wheelers, dirt bikes, bears and other horses long before I heard them approaching just from the flick of her ears. Horses also display their hostility and aggression when they flatten their ears back. Every horseperson knows to use caution around a horse with their ears back. This piece is called Listen. It was created in pastels and is 18 inches square.

After Longeing - Watercolor horse painting

2008-02-23T17:13:00.004-05:00

This painting shows a trainer leading a horse she's just finished longeing. It's about 10 inches by 13 inches. I posted the sketches in an earlier post so you can see how this piece started and how it turned out. I still have some work to do on it but I think it's mostly done.
I started it as a piece I was going to send to the Grand National Art Show in April but I decided to go a different direction and send my abstract work. I have some pieces done that I hope to post shortly.

Abstract Friesian drawing

2008-01-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

Last fall I went to a Friesian horse show with two other members of the Equine Art Guild to photograph the horses as reference for future work. It was a rainy day so we weren't sure what we'd get but the sun came out and we ended up getting some great pictures.
I'm working on some abstract artwork for an art show in April. I started this piece awhile ago from the photos I took at the Friesian show. Friesian horses are known for their black coats, long mane and tail and feathered hooves. They also have an intelligent, willing spirit. I called this one Patience. The stallions that posed for this piece seemed so calm and patient. It's 20 inches by 16 inches.
This and other pieces will be at Grand National Art Show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA from April 4-12, 2008. The show runs in conjunction with the Grand National Rodeo, Horse and Stock Show.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-27T20:01:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a happy holiday whichever holiday you chose to celebrate! Here's our card for this year. We all decided to go sledding! I hope this next year I have more time to create. Now that the wedding album I started 2 years ago is finally finished I have a lot of painting plans for the coming year.

I'm also a finalist in the monthly art contest on www.asingularcreation.com. The theme this month was Feeling Blue. I submitted one of my abstract horse drawings entitled Determination. There's a lot of interesting work submitted this month.
Check out the gallery of all of the work at the link below.
The Feeling Blue Gallery
You can see and vote for the finalists at the following link. You have to be a member of the site to vote. If you feel inclined, it's a free membership and you can sign up and vote for the art you like.
The Feeling Blue finalists list

Children's book story and calendars

2007-11-02T10:41:00.000-04:00

So it's been awhile since my last post. I've been so busy working on things that I haven't had a chance to get back to my blog. Since there's been other things going on at home in the evening, I've been drawing on the train. I can get quite a bit done in my 45-minute ride depending on where I sit. I'm lucky if I get a window seat in the middle of the train car. There's a better chance that I won't get crowded in and my drawing hand won't bop the person next to me or vice versa. Also, the middle is a bit further from the brakes so my seat doesn't get quite as much vibration which of course wreaks havoc on my drawings. The downside of the middle is that I don't get a good view of sleeping commuters to draw. No matter! I was working on sketches for a children's book story written by Erik Soulliard about a girl that dreams of a pony. How fitting! Below are two pencil sketches. I have about 10 of the 30 or so done. Some of these may even be a part of a mural I'm doing in a little girl's bedroom in the coming months. She really liked my Cute Pony art and this is in that same style.
My art was also chosen to be in the ArtWanted Animals and Landscapes daily 2008 calendars! My art in the Animal calendar will be featured on February 19, 2008 and another piece will be featured on June 21, 2008 in the Landscape calendar. You can Pre-order a calendar at http://www.artwanted.com/ps/Calendar
It's recommended that you pre-order by November 15 if you're interested in one because they sell out of these quickly.
They also have a new widget that adds the portfolio I have on their site to my blog. Check it out at the bottom of this page!

Avalon NJ ACEOs

2007-10-07T22:02:00.000-04:00

I spent much of September on vacation. The end of September we went to Avalon to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. I painted some small ACEOs while I was hanging out on the beach. What's an ACEO? It stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. They're always 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Sometimes it's nice working in small scale. Especially when you can so easily take your artwork with you. Since they were done on the beach there's likely some errant sand mixed in with the paint since they did try to blow away on me a few times.

St. John view and new art show

2007-09-18T10:06:00.001-04:00

We returned from St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands last week. We had a wonderful time on a beautiful island. I painted this small watercolor while sitting on the deck of our house one morning. Our house was called Grandview and you can certainly see why. That's the view overlooking Cruz Bay.

I also have another show coming up on Saturday September 22. The skateboard show that's currently at Avenue.A is moving to the new york-tokyo music festival for the day. It's a big skateboarding and music festival in Central Park.
You can find all the info about the festival here:
music.newyork-tokyo.com
You can get tickets here:
www.inticketing.com/evinfo.php?eventid=17931
You can get $10 off with the promo code: SKATE

Reflections Equine Art Show

2007-09-09T19:42:00.000-04:00

My artwork is showing in an online equine art show sponsored by the Equine Art Guild. In this show you were to have 2 pieces– one you created before joining the Equine Art Guild and one after you joined showing how you've improved or changed through your affiliation with the Guild. I chose one watercolor I did years ago of Rose chasing Thief down the fence and the second was from the show in Maine last fall where I used the driven horse as the subject for some abstract pieces. It's a really interesting grouping of artwork that shows the growth and changes in many artists since they joined this group. I've certainly gotten a lot out of the Equine Art Guild after joining just 2 years ago.

And it's really cool that my artwork was used in the banner too. :)

The banner above links to the show but here's the actual link if that doesn't work for you.
http://www.equineartguild.com/gallery

It's in alphabetical order. My work is on page 4 at the bottom.
Reflections page 4

To keep up with what's going on with the Equine Art Guild you can always check out the What's New page.
http://www.equineartguild.com/whats-new.php

Treedancers Skateboard

2007-08-25T22:17:00.001-04:00

So I finished my skateboard! You can see where I went from the original sketch. The bottom of the board has some tree roots on it that are kind of obscured by the bent end of the board. It was painted in glazes of acrylics and some shellac. I tend to use a good bit of shellac I suppose. I think it's an underused medium. If you're in NYC on Thursday August 30, come down to the show at Avenue.A. My friend Rosa's skateboard will be hanging in the show as well. The flyer with all of the details is in a previous post. This skateboard is for sale as well.

Next weekend we're heading off on vacation and I'm bringing my watercolors. Hopefully I'll have some lovely plein air island paintings for you when I get back.

Sketches

2007-08-22T21:49:00.000-04:00

So I just realized that I've been working on things and didn't post new work yet for this past week. So to make up for that...here's 2! I've been working on the skateboard painting for this other art show and am posting the original sketch. It's decidedly not something you'd normally see on a skateboard but there were no rules so I'm painting it as I want. In this sketch I've combined figures of dancers to create a gnarled, aged-looking tree. You'll see how this turns out in a later blog.

The second sketch is for my next equine watercolor. A trainer and horse are walking away after longeing. I'll probably paint this sometime in September.

Barrel Racer watercolor painting

2007-08-09T07:30:00.000-04:00

This week's painting is an 8 by 10 in. of a barrel racer. Even though I don't ride western, it's always fun to watch the speed and agility of the horse and rider as they race around the barrels. My horse Rose even likes to try it every once in awhile. Hope you enjoy this week's painting. It's for sale for $110. Please contact me if you're interested.
Check back next week. I hope to have the skateboard started for the show that's at the end of August.

Avenue.A Art Show

2007-08-04T23:06:00.000-04:00

Some of my abstract figure work is showing at the Avenue.A Japanese Restaurant Art Gallery at 103 Avenue A in New York. The opening was on Thursday August 2 and the show runs until the end of August. I attached a photo of what I have there. To see larger versions of these, you can go to my website at www.nancysoulliard.com and click on the link for Drawing & Painting then the Figures link. And they're all for sale if you're interested.
Hanging in this show is:
Contemplation (Pastel, 12 in. by 15.5 in.)
Disintegration (Pastel, 18 in. by 23.5 in.)
Integration (Pastel, 24 in. by 30 in.)
Multitude (Textural acrylic on canvas, 30 in. by 18 in.)
Thought (Textural acrylic on canvas, 10 in. by 8 in.)
Check it out if you're in the area. They have really great sushi there too. :)

My work will also be in the show after this on August 30. The flyer is below. I'll be painting a skateboard. It should be fun! I'll upload a pic once I have it done.

Small watercolor horse painting

2007-07-31T16:21:00.000-04:00

So I suppose you’ve noticed that I’ve begun a blog because here you are. This is my own way to update anyone that’s interested in my artwork. I’m also hoping it will drive me to create new pieces on nearly a weekly basis. I’ll probably switch back and forth between my figure drawings and horses. pastels and watercolors. We’ll see where this goes.

Thanks for your interest and here’s my piece of the week. It’s from some of my photographs of horses. These were grazing in a field in Maine outside the Skyline Farm Carriage Museum where my artwork was shown last October. I'm not sure what I'd like to call it yet.
It’s a 5 inch by 7 inch watercolor and is for sale for $60. Email me if you’re interested in purchasing it.