Hello ~
”Sweet Dreams” is a portrait I just completed for my client Jen from a childhood photograph depicting her with her childhood pony.  The photograph was so filled with love and innocence and peace, that I could feel it rippling through time to touch my heart even 50 years later.  I knew her painting would be beautiful, but the adventure of receiving the insights that led to her portrait, was a journey in and of itself.

The circle of our love
Ripples outward through time and space
This is where we intersect…
Where we can always touch.

In the reflections at the water’s edge
The light of the moon can illuminate our dreams
And remind us of the magic that is there waiting
Behind our closed eyes…

"Sweet Dreams" NEW RELEASE by Kim McElroy

Sweet Dreams Insights

In thinking of the word insight I looked up the definition.  It means a penetrating understanding and the ability to perceive clearly or deeply the inner nature of things.  My inner world that is expressed through my artwork and writing has always been the way in which I receive insights.  In this case the insight of “Sweet Dreams” is something that came to me in a meditation with the pony’s spirit which you can read more about on my website here>>

A few years ago I ran across a quote I thought was so fantastic in explaining the drive to create or write about what we want to understand.”

“First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.”
~ Robert Cecil Day-Lewis ~

In my experiences as an artist I have come to understand that when we seek and receive insight, we have the potential of connecting on a deep level with all of life, in that place where there is no separation.  It is in the place where there is only, connection.

In parting this week I’d like to share another favorite quote from the book “Enduring Traditions ~ The Art of the Navajo”
“It is the medicine men who are true artists.  They must question and interpret.  They must journey back within themselves.  Artists are just doing what medicine men do.”
~  Jo Ben Jr.

Hi, I am sharing this with you today because “Avenger” is one of my favorite paintings and a horse that is very close to my heart. I never tire of looking at him and it still amazes me that I created this beautiful painting of him.  When I look at it I remember the moment I first met him in 1989.  That was the beginning of a long 20 year long distance love affair with him which I share a little more about below in the “Insights” section.  Avenger is a universal truth and he is a spark that I hope will ignite you all.  I look forward to reading your comments and hearing how he touches your heart!
~ Kim

“Avenger”

"Avenger" by Kim McElroy

Avenger Insights

Hello – and welcome to the first entry to my blog.  I am so excited to share my art in this manner that allows me to hear from people who view and read my e-Inspirations!

My art has always been about connecting and communicating with others who feel as I do about horses and life.  In this painting, the spirits of horses combine with the waves as a tangible reminder of the energetic power and wisdom in Nature. I hope you feel as I do about the mysteries of horses and the sea…
~ Kim

“Night Run” Nine horses running in the crest, two appearing in the mist”

Custom signed prints of “Night Run” available at www.spiritofhorse.com

From the distant corners of the earth… we have come

Across the oceans of time… we have come

Horses…

Horses…

Horses…

We are ancient myth

Formed of salt and water

Earth and air

Feel us as the stillness in the air after a storm

Hear us as the roaring waves of a thousand hoofbeats

We have come to fulfill our destiny

Join us…

Night Run Insights

All my life I have been fascinated with the unseen, with spirits, and with hidden images in aspects of nature.

I grew up in the city of Long Beach – where the only touch of nature was a calm breakwater beach bereft of shells, or digging clams in the mud by concrete piers. The weather a mild sunny constant and the rain only smelling of wet pavement.

Then my parents bought vacation property on the Hood Canal in Washington State. In contrast, Washington was a lush wilderness that filled me with fascination. I loved the dense mysterious woods, miles of oyster beaches and the tide pools, rivers, and waterfalls. The gentle rain had the smell of green, and the sky was as complex a world as the woods, with its dark cloud formations in layers of light and shadow. The sunsets lit up the clouds over snow-capped mountains, and reflected on the brilliant water. There I reveled in Nature’s mysteries of the salmon spawning, and eagles and deer were a common encounter.

I would often find driftwood on the beach and see in it the shapes of dragons and sea creatures. My skill at carving the driftwood wasn’t satisfying enough, so I turned to drawing the creatures in the wood. Always my desire to draw was a desire to reveal to myself and to others, what I could perceive.

This love of Nature and what I could see and feel in her presence was the true beginning of the “Horses in the Elements” series. When I saw the horses in the waves that inspired “Night Run” I hearkened back to the magic of my childhood, when I could see dragons in driftwood, and almost hear the voice of the sea.

Kim McElroy