| Cathy Bercier-Choyce Sculptor of Jethro, Amirah, Ballycor and more! |
Artist and sculptor Cathy Bercier-Choyce, with
her new Thoroughbred hunter, Toby.
her new Thoroughbred hunter, Toby.
Meet the Artist
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"Art in one form or another has always been close at hand in
my life. I am largely self taught and characterize my style as
realistic. Drawing from the moment I could hold a pencil, my
favorite subject was horses, and plenty of them.
Clay was also a favorite medium in which I liked to create my
much loved equines. At the time, the only type of clay that was
available was the common school variety of plasticine and in
plain gray. It was pretty dull stuff, but the figures that I created
with it were larger than life to me. At that age, begging for a
pony was futile, so I had to create my stable of equines in clay
or draw them.
My love of art continued on throughout my high school years,
and I was able to experiment with a variety of mediums, but
was always drawn back to clay and painting, oils in particular.
"Once out of school and now pursuing a much dreamed of
career as a horse trainer, I was able to continue to use my
artistic talents by doing equine portraiture in oils. Working so
closely with these magnificent animals, enabled me to develop
an ease at capturing their expressions on canvas. It wasn’t
long before I was commissioned to paint several portraits of
Olympic team horses at the United States Equestrian Team
headquarters in Gladstone, N.J., which was also where I was
working at the time.
"Many years later as life evolved and my career path
changed, I was no longer training horses for a living, but still
owned one or two for my own pleasure. I was able to devote
more time to my art work and began branching out into other
mediums, pastels being one. Sculpting and clay kept calling to
me, however, and eventually I knew that was were my heart
and hands wanted to be.
Unless I am working on a commissioned piece, my imagination
takes me on a creative journey that I don’t always have
control of. Sometimes I feel like the piece I’m working on leads
me to discover what “it” wants, not what I necessarily set out
to create. My sculptures take on their own personalities and
my hands intuitively know what to do. I don’t always make
conscious decisions, they just happen.
"Always in search of ways to improve my artistic abilities, I
have taken several week long workshops offered by The
American Academy of Equine Art. The latest being a sculpture
workshop taught by renowned sculptress, Kathleen
Friedenberg. A life long love of draft horses inspired me to
create my most recent piece during this workshop, a Shire
stallion. It is currently under production as my first resin
sculpture. The sheer power and majesty of these immense
horses just takes my breath away.
"I live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in the
heart of horse country, and share my life with my husband,
Jim, our two dogs, an irascible African Grey parrot, and
several aquariums of fish. My pride and joy is my young
Belgian draft horse, Tyler (aka Thunder Rolls Supreme) who
was the first subject of my venture into sculpture.
"Besides portrait commissions, I also like to do one of a kind
equine related sculptures and am preparing some work which
will be featured in a new gallery down in Aiken, SC in the early
winter of 2005. Life is very exciting right now and I look
forward to many creative years ahead of me!"
my life. I am largely self taught and characterize my style as
realistic. Drawing from the moment I could hold a pencil, my
favorite subject was horses, and plenty of them.
Clay was also a favorite medium in which I liked to create my
much loved equines. At the time, the only type of clay that was
available was the common school variety of plasticine and in
plain gray. It was pretty dull stuff, but the figures that I created
with it were larger than life to me. At that age, begging for a
pony was futile, so I had to create my stable of equines in clay
or draw them.
My love of art continued on throughout my high school years,
and I was able to experiment with a variety of mediums, but
was always drawn back to clay and painting, oils in particular.
"Once out of school and now pursuing a much dreamed of
career as a horse trainer, I was able to continue to use my
artistic talents by doing equine portraiture in oils. Working so
closely with these magnificent animals, enabled me to develop
an ease at capturing their expressions on canvas. It wasn’t
long before I was commissioned to paint several portraits of
Olympic team horses at the United States Equestrian Team
headquarters in Gladstone, N.J., which was also where I was
working at the time.
"Many years later as life evolved and my career path
changed, I was no longer training horses for a living, but still
owned one or two for my own pleasure. I was able to devote
more time to my art work and began branching out into other
mediums, pastels being one. Sculpting and clay kept calling to
me, however, and eventually I knew that was were my heart
and hands wanted to be.
Unless I am working on a commissioned piece, my imagination
takes me on a creative journey that I don’t always have
control of. Sometimes I feel like the piece I’m working on leads
me to discover what “it” wants, not what I necessarily set out
to create. My sculptures take on their own personalities and
my hands intuitively know what to do. I don’t always make
conscious decisions, they just happen.
"Always in search of ways to improve my artistic abilities, I
have taken several week long workshops offered by The
American Academy of Equine Art. The latest being a sculpture
workshop taught by renowned sculptress, Kathleen
Friedenberg. A life long love of draft horses inspired me to
create my most recent piece during this workshop, a Shire
stallion. It is currently under production as my first resin
sculpture. The sheer power and majesty of these immense
horses just takes my breath away.
"I live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in the
heart of horse country, and share my life with my husband,
Jim, our two dogs, an irascible African Grey parrot, and
several aquariums of fish. My pride and joy is my young
Belgian draft horse, Tyler (aka Thunder Rolls Supreme) who
was the first subject of my venture into sculpture.
"Besides portrait commissions, I also like to do one of a kind
equine related sculptures and am preparing some work which
will be featured in a new gallery down in Aiken, SC in the early
winter of 2005. Life is very exciting right now and I look
forward to many creative years ahead of me!"
EquinArt Creations. The bronze version won
honors at the Draft Horse Classic Art Show.
honors at the Draft Horse Classic Art Show.
Cathy's work has even been featured on the
cover of international magazines! Above is
Cathy's sculpture "Ballycor", featured on the
cover of the American Connemara Society
magazine.
cover of international magazines! Above is
Cathy's sculpture "Ballycor", featured on the
cover of the American Connemara Society
magazine.
| EquinArt Creations Inc Serving collectors since 2004 1220 Hixburg Road (Rt 627), Prospect, VA 23960 General email equinartcreations@yahoo.com Visit us online at www.equinartcreations.com Telephone: NEW PHONE NUMBER 434-574-6253 FAX: 801-331-1432 |