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Sunday, August 07 2022 / Published in Weekly Feature

Kesia Finley: Overcoming Obstacles to Pursue Her Passion

By Shya Beth 

Even though Kesia Finley’s path to the world of horses and art was paved with obstacles and heartache, you could say she was destined to bring her artistic talents to the world. In March of 2020, right after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when Kesia was furloughed from her job, her father passed away from a heart attack. She immediately ordered art supplies, as drawing brought her comfort and a creative way to express her feelings. 

It didn’t take long for the skills she had honed as a child to come rushing back and propel her forward into her artistic journey. “I suppose my story is unique in many ways,” she said. “And perhaps that sets me apart. I had so many odds stacked against me, for a very long time, but I found my way.

“I began to share my work on my personal Instagram page,” she explained. “People liked it, and began to ask to purchase my pieces—I was scared by the reality of losing my job the way I had, in a manner completely out of my control, and I decided I wanted something I had control over—where I could essentially pay myself, doing something that I loved.”

Kesia is self-taught, illustrates in pencil and intensely studies her subject to re-create what she sees. “Sometimes I use several reference subjects in order to complete one piece, but I’m a highly visual person, and this is the method by which I’m able to bring them to life.”

Since returning to her job as a regional manager of 32 stores, it’s been a balancing act. Kesia works on her art within her 550 square foot apartment that she shares with her 12-year-old Australian shepherd, Kaia, and her husband, Alexandros. “It’s a tight squeeze,” Kesia admitted. “But after six years in NYC, you become highly resourceful and adept at miraculous feats of organization.”

From Landscapes to Cityscapes

Kesia was born in 1987 in Kansas and is the youngest child in a family of seven children. “My parents are both from the Midwest, and I still have a Midwestern tendency to over-enunciate when I speak and leads people in NYC to believe I’m from somewhere interesting like Prague,” she said. “I’ve moved around a lot since then, but it’s always stuck.”

When Kesia was six, her family moved to Atlanta, then to Seattle, and at age 13 they moved to Utah, where Kesia lived until her young adult years. This is also the place that resonated most deeply to her, and where her love of the mountains, Western way of life and the wildness that comes from that part of the world has impacted her art. “I always either had my nose in a horse novel, or I was drawing horses. I had horse encyclopedias where I would study tack, and anatomy, and learn all the different breeds, and with a trusty stack of printer paper and a #2 pencil, I did my best to bring them to life.” 

Since Kesia was always obsessed with horses, her family found a stable where she could ride. At 14 years old, Kesia was breaking 3-year-old Arabians, learning the ins and outs of it all. “It was here where I also found the love of my life, my sweet Silvy, WM Mono’s Choice. She was a 4-year-old dappled grey Polish-bred Arab filly sent to the farm to be broken and sold, and I fell head over heels in love with her at the age of 15. When I was 16, my parents bought her for me—it was the happiest day of my life! I trained her in everything and showed her in local Arabian Horse Club and All Breed shows in Salt Lake City.”

Turning Challenges Into Opportunities

With the monetary cost of attending school, Kesia never entertained the idea of college. She taught riding lessons on the side, started working retail jobs and moved into management by age 22. She worked for a company that would relocate her every few years to repair businesses that had poor management or to open new locations, and not wanting to lose one of their best employees, the company agreed to Kesia’s requirement: Wherever she moved, her horse must be relocated to her new home, too.

“From Utah to California, Philadelphia and Connecticut, my Silvy and I found our way around the country and learned to like the Northeast a great deal,” Kesia said. 

In 2015 while living in Connecticut, on a cold March day, Silvy came down with a horrible colic. Not wanting her to suffer, Kesia had to let her go peacefully.

A few weeks later, Kesia accepted a job and relocated to NYC, where she now balances her art, work and personal life. “Having a creative escape is the best part for me,” she said. “I’ve experienced a great deal of pain in my life. I lost a brother when I was 25, my father two years ago, the tragic loss of my Silvy, the process of leaving the church I grew up in and navigating a divorce. All of these things contribute to a great deal of emotional and psychological pain for me. But finding my art saved me in a way I can’t fully express.”

Kesia recently completed one of her most detailed works yet: “Cochise,” a bison in graphite. “I donated a chunk of the profits from the original and prints to a Native American organization, and it helped me realize that I can create work that evokes emotion in people. I can do things to help and to educate. What a beautiful thing to be able to do that through art.”

For more information, visit kesiafinleyart.com or follow @kesiafinleyart on Instagram

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Tagged under: artist, equine art

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The✨April issue✨ of Sidelines Magazine is here The✨April issue✨ of Sidelines Magazine is here and we are so excited to feature three-day eventer Liz Halliday on the cover! Big thanks to photographer Melissa Fuller for the beautiful photo of Liz and Cooley Nutcracker- Liz Halliday-Sharp - HS Eventing. Liz and her horses have taken the eventing world by storm - and find out how Liz is at the top of the sport as a female eventer! As the horse world gears up for the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event 2023, it's the perfect time to enjoy our eventing issue!! We also feature eventer and woman entrepreneur Frankie Thieriot Stutes, who is not only an eventer, but also runs Athletux and FRANKIE CAMERON handbags and accessories. And don't miss our eventing story on Robert "Bobby" Costello, who will be leading the US Eventing team to the 2024 Paris Olympics- and US Equestrian has named Bobby the eventing technical advisor/chef d'equipe!! Liz, Frankie and Bobby all have GREAT stories - don't miss any of them and don't forget to get your tickets for the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day event! We are also excited to introduce you to hunter-jumper rider Casey Lorusso Smith, who is not only a talented rider but also a psychotherapist and incorporates horses into her career. If you are up for adventure, then read the story on dressage rider Priscilla Baldwin who certainly doesn't let any grass grow under her feet! We also head to the west coast to catch up with hunter-jumper trainer Jim Hagman of Elvenstar Farm, we feature beautiful art by equestrian artist Tammy Tappan, and we get to know Miranda Jones and her family. Miranda is not only an attorney who spends a lot of time in the courthouse, but she's a rider and spends lots of time riding, and is joined by her daughters also! We are excited to feature Stephanie Lightner in our Unbridled column, and don't miss our columnists George Williams, Robert R.L. Jacobs and Margie Sugarman! It's a great issue - and you can read it online, but don't forget to go to the website and order a subscription and get every issue delivered to your mailbox!! Enjoy this issue and enjoy the ride: Link in bio!!
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Marie Meyers has been around the world because of Marie Meyers has been around the world because of dressage, but it’s her farm in Moorpark, California, that has captured her heart. The farm and the business that thrives there represent Marie’s lifelong journey—a journey made up of good friends, spectacular horses and relationships made to last.

Marie was raised in Southern California, and spent her childhood playing just about every sport under the sun, but she didn’t discover riding until she was 14 years old. “I loved animals so much, so I started taking lessons. I did jumping at first, but I was very bad at that, for sure!” Marie laughed.

After some time, Marie moved on to take lessons at Foxfield Riding Academy and began riding dressage. “I fell into dressage by accident,” Marie said, “At the beginning, I thought it was extremely boring, but then I got hooked. By the time I graduated from high school, I had plans to travel to England to work for Franz Rochowansky, a former head of the Spanish Riding School.”

In 1988, Marie’s hard work paid off, and the pair was selected as alternates for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. “They didn’t take the alternates that year, so we didn’t go to Seoul, but the experience, the training and the European Tour afterwards set me up for the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, Sweden,” Marie said.

In addition to having success representing her country, Marie was busy with her life—marriage, a business, teaching lessons and clinics. 

Learn more about Marie in this month's edition of Sidelines Magazine. Click the link in our bio for more 🦄

📸Photos by Lindsey Long Equine Photography, www.lindseylong.com

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We are starting a ‼️new series‼️ here on o We are starting a ‼️new series‼️ here on our socials where we share some of the lovely stallions, and their breeders featured in each month's magazine. Our first feature on this #STUDSunday is...

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Fairfield, VA

Contact Cheryl Maye at (703) 431-9096 for more information
https://www.mayeshowponies.com/more-info/stallions

You can find ALL of the stallions featured towards the back of the magazine in the equestrian gallery. Keep a look out EVERY Sunday for a new handsome STUD muffin🧁 and don't forget to subscribe to get your very own edition of Sidelines Magazine, the magazine for horse people, about horse people 🦄

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