Meet the Equine Artist

FEATURED ARTIST: Nancy Alcott

I was first inspired to do art by my sister, Janet. I was particularly attracted towards images of horses, as I was a very "horse crazy" kid. I longed for a horse of my own, and my dream came true the summer I turned 13, thanks again to my sister. She was recently home from college, and followed up on one of the many "horse ads" that I had circled in the local newspaper. She encouraged our mother to take us to see a Welsh pony gelding named ‘Squirt.’ I drained my meager savings account to purchase the beautiful bay pony and I never went anywhere on foot again.
 
Art itself comes easy to me. It’s something that I HAVE to do. I think it was tough to figure out what "type" of art I do, and decide on the best way to market it. I have always worked as a graphic designer and illustrator in conjunction to producing acrylic, oil, and watercolor paintings. I  do ceramic design and small ceramic murals, and also work with digital images. The galleries that I contacted wanted the artist's work to be labeled as a particular style. When I spent time in the Art Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona, or at the Cowboy Artists Show in Phoenix, I would get a headache from all of the inspiration, but I never did see anything that really fit what I was doing. It was not exactly ‘Cowboy Art,’ it was not exactly representational art, and it was not exactly non representational. I wanted to paint the horse from my own perspective, which was as a girl who loved to ride horses more than anything. So it was modern horse art, or Equine Art as it is known now.
 
It took many years for me to build up the courage to approach some galleries in Scottsdale, and when I did, I faced rejection. They liked what I was doing, but "my style did not fit" into their mold. At first this discouraged me, but then I figured that I would keep doing what I liked, as maybe it was a good thing that I was not exactly like someone else. Another difficulty I faced was how to make time for painting when I also had a regular job, and small children to raise. I worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer’s assistant, all of which kept my hand in art every day.
 
Eventually I entered some art into the local fair, and into a National Equine Art Show. I had immediate success, and one of my pieces would be displayed at the Kentucky Derby Horse Museum in Lexington! Other pieces have been accepted and awarded prizes from the Western States Equine Expo and Art Show. The October issue of Today's Horse Magazine features one of my pieces, and I have some work at Emerald Downs. I have also served on the jury of the Equine Art Show at Emerald Downs a few times. Some of my original artwork in watercolor, acrylic and ceramic, along with limited edition prints of "Racing Home" can be purchased at The Gift Horse at Emerald Downs. Other originals and prints are available directly from me. Prints are available on paper or canvas.

Nancy lives at Promised Land Ranch, her family’s 40 acres near Yelm, WA where they keep about 20 horses, and teach and play polocrosse and polo. Her family (and two other NW teams) recently competed at the Polocrosse National Championship Tournament, and their PolocrosseEQUIP Team won the B division!

WEBSITE:
www.cowgirls.com/dream/scribbles
EMAIL: NancAlcott@aol.com     
residence: Yelm, WA