98 SIDELINES OCTOBER 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
Larger Than Life:
Gisela Pferdekaemper
Brings Whimsical
Sculptures to Life
By Dani Moritz
W
hen Gisela Pferdekaemper’s friend ordered a life-
sized fiberglass horse about a year and a half ago,
Gisela was tasked with painting it. Something clicked
with that first horse, because since then she has added five life-
sized painted fiberglass horses to her collection.
While the collection may be a bit out of the ordinary, it fits in
perfectly with German-born Gisela’s humorously whimsical style,
which boasts the lavish fiberglass sculptures, fat-bottomed mares
and other unique products like African ceramic cookware, called
tagines, used to slowly cook meats and vegetables to perfection.
Life-sized sculptures certainly aren’t Gisela’s only out-of-the-
box creations.
The sculptures, which exhibit various scenes such as polo,
the Florida tropical environment and wild horses, are quite the
process to create. After being imported from Mexico, Gisela must
sand down the pieces, clean them with acetone and prime them
before she can begin painting any designs.
“The greatest challenge is to find and mix the right colors,” she
said. “The paint is oil-based marine paint.”
You can find Gisela’s work across the country, including West
Palm Beach’s airport and city halls and horse shows in Florida
and New York. However, Gisela’s favorite place to showcase her
work is at her home as
part of the Wild Things art
exhibit to benefit the Rare
Species
Conservatory
Foundation (RSCF).
Gisela began working
with the foundation, which
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving biodiversity,
when they held their first local fundraiser at the International Polo
Club.
isela quickly built a relationship with members of the foundation
and spearheaded art projects to generate donations. From that
partnership, the idea was born to create a wildlife art show, which
was founded more than 10 years ago.
“The idea was to invite artists from around the country to come
and create works inspired by wildlife,” she said. “The show is
called ‘Wild Things’ (naturally) and participating artists donate
25 percent of show sales to the RSCF in support of their wildlife
conservation.”
The show is held at Gisela’s home in her ceramics studio,
which was converted from a barn on her property. The show is
held annually in February and continues to grow. The event will
celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2015.
“We’re looking forward to even more great art and artists to join
us,” Gisela said. “It’s a great opportunity to support local art and
artists, while also supporting a local non-profit organization doing
great work.”
Be sure to visit Gisela’s website at
to get
a closer look at her whimsical artwork that is sure to make you
smile!
All photos courtesy of Gisela Pferdekaemper
One of Gisela’s painted
horses among her other
whimsical creations
Gisela paints a polo scene on a fiberglass horse.
These fat-bottomed paintings,
which resemble pregnant
mares, helped Gisela make a
name for herself in the world of
equestrian art.
