90 SIDELINES OCTOBER 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
in Millbrook, New York, and earned
degrees in drawing, painting and
film. Eager to further hone her skills,
she continued her studies in Europe
and through studying acclaimed
artists.
She spent 20 years apprenticing
with the great Crow Indian painter
Earl Biss. “He knew the chemistry of
paint and how to make oil painting
translucent and opalescent,” she
reminisced. “He taught me to make
magic with it. It’s something that
can’t be done with acrylic paint.”
She has also studied with
celebrated artists Peter Howell, Jean
Bowman, Heather St. Clair Davis
and more recently Boothe Malone.
“I have been blessed to work with
brilliant artists,” she said.
In 2007, Louisa became a full-time
digital photographer with her work
landing her countless magazine
cover photographs and securing her
position as an official photographer
for some of the largest horse shows
and competitions around the world. She has covered the PBR
(Professional Bull Rider) Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as
the last three FEI World Cups, The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day
Event, The Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, and
Cheyenne Frontier Days.
“I love capturing what’s alive and moving,” she said. “I have
a great love of shooting
the raw athleticism of
rodeo.”
The artist admits that
access is a huge part
of success. “If you can’t
get to good vantage
spots, you might as well
leave the camera at
home,” she said.
While she’s in high
demand as an event,
equine, canine and
wedding photographer,
the artist still finds time to
sculpt and paint. “I hope
to start up sculpting
with plastaline,” she
said. Plastaline clay,
unlike other clay, never
dries out, but remains
firm enough to go to
Louisa Davidson Sees the Light
By Katie Navarra
F
or Aiken, South Carolina-based
artist Louisa Davidson, light
is
arguably more important than
finding an ideal subject to feature,
selecting the right brush to paint with
or choosing a lens to shoot with. “I
love to explore the sensation that
light stimulates in the organs of sight,”
she said. “To paint light is endlessly
fascinating.”
The internationally collected artist
grew up between Long Island, New
York, and Vermont in a family that
wasn’t complete without horses. “My
parents were professional horsemen;
it’s simply a part of my DNA,” she said.
“I was ensconced in horses and animals
from the time I was young.”
Convinced animals are easier to
interact with than people, horses and
dogs have always claimed center stage
in all forms of her artwork. “I think I
relate better to animals than most of the
human species,” she laughed.
She can hardly remember a time when she wasn’t drawing or
painting. Her natural talents earned her commissions before she
graduated from school. “I was designing horse show and event
programs before I was in my teens,” she said.
Though her talents were obvious, it was a high school art
teacher that encouraged her to pursue a career as an artist. “[That
teacher] turned the light
on and opened doors for
me,” she said.
Winning the Top High
School Art Award in the
North Shore Community
Arts Center solidified
Louisa’s decision to
attend art school. The
highly
competitive
contest included entries
from the tri-state area,
which included New
York, New Jersey and
Connecticut. “I won that
award back in 1969 and
it still blows me away,”
she said. “That award
got me into a top art
school.”
She went on to
attend Bennett College
e
Ann Wolf of The Arapahoe Hunt with Breezy, 24x18 oil on canvas
“To paint and capture light is to never be bored.
Light creates not only form, but life beyond form.”
— Louisa Davidson
Photographer and artist Louisa Davidson
