Anita Gersch The Grandeur of the Horse - Fall 2009 Issue of Horses in Art Magazine

Anita Gersch - The Grandeur of the Horse

by Sarah H. Crampton

The View – Oil Pastel, 24 x 32, “I was very flattered when this work took first place in the juried 2008 NJEEA “The Art of the Horse” competition! I wasn’t sure how viewers would take it because of the stark background. But, I thought this horse had an elegance about him – the way he stood and carried his head, and the beautiful show harness he wore. From behind, he was like a rainbow of subdued colors. For those unfamiliar with the art of driving, there is a certain feeling and look to your surroundings that you get from being up higher and behind the horse than you do when riding. I call that perspective “the view from the box seat” and I’m not sure if I titled this one The View because of that, or because the horse was such a lovely sight, clearly seeing something he was interested in!”
Attempting to capture and record the current horse world is a thrill and a challenge for equestrian artist Anita Gersch. “Things are changing so rapidly that many of the things we take for granted may not be seen often by horse lovers somewhere in the future,” Gersch explains. “I hope that I am producing a good body of work that shows how I feel about the horse and his place in the world.”

Gersch feels that she has no real control over whether she is an artist or not. The creative urge is overwhelming at times, and she simply must go with it. Often it doesn’t matter what it is; she is compelled to make something out of nothing but an idea.

After formulating a concept, Gersch does several sketches to explore different compositions. Her time spent as a commercial artist has taught her several shortcuts such as scanning the sketch into her computer and trying out various sizes and positions to avoid getting halfway done with something and wishing she had moved the horse or tree an inch to the left.

In Full Swing – Oil Pastel, 25.5” x 20.”“This piece was a real challenge and I hope I was up to it! I wanted to depict the concentration it takes for an upper level dressage horse to maintain a long half pass across the arena. When done to perfection people say that the horse is In Full Swing. I hope I captured the soft eye this horse had, even through the fierce concentration necessary to do a good job in this movement.”

Gersch comments, “My work is usually of a split second in time at a show or event, so the subject matter is generally recognizable from the start. I feel like I’ve accomplished my job if someone can look at the work and recognize that moment in time as a common equestrian occurrence and think –‘Yes, that’s exactly it! I’ve been there!’ I try to keep my backgrounds simple, if not minimalist, and let the subject matter keep the viewer’s attention.”

She continues, “I guess I’d say the best way to describe my style would be to call them vignettes of contemporary sporting art. Or, maybe genre art of a slightly contemporary sort?”

Gersch tries to be disciplined and work at her craft every day; and if you include the time spent stepping back and looking at the piece, that total time spent goes up a lot. She comments, “Some days the muse rejects me and is nowhere to be found and those days are hard but thankfully, the bulk of days are spent trying to work as fast as my mind can see.”

“Maybe because of my commercial and design background, I rarely just feel the urge to swirl colors around or experiment too much with no thought in mind, she continues.” “Usually, I completely enjoy trying to capture whatever it is I’m working on, but I want to keep the work headed toward the target I set at the beginning.”

Gersch uses color in some non-traditional ways to convey the way the light plays on a horse’s coat or tack. As in this Horses in Art’s cover image of the beautiful grey dressage horse, she also often enlarges or crops a subject in a slightly non-traditional way to really get up close and personal with the subject matter.

Gersch states, “I hope I convey an understanding of the horse, and his emotions --– as well as his grace and athleticism. Most of all, I hope that my work shows the grandeur and dignity of my lifelong friend – the horse.”

View more work by Anita Gersch at www.anitagerschequineart.com.

Her First Go – Oil Pastel, 26”x 38” on 555lb, Fabriano Artistico Cold Press Paper – “When I first saw this adorable little girl on her grey pony, I was completely captivated and knew I would have to make a painting of them. She was so tiny that her boots barely hung below the saddle flap, and yet the pony was listening to her intently. Not your typical short stirrup rider and clearly in complete control of the situation! I was very happy with the watercolor-y sort of effect I got with the oil pastels and the way they were able to capture the intensely bright, nearly blinding sunlight that day.”

His Fastest Pony - Oil pastel, 18 x 24, by Anita Gersch, “There is something about all the color and raw power of the game of polo that make it so exciting. I wanted to single out just one horse and rider in a moment of explosive speed, and depict them outrunning the rest of the field. I wanted to convey the tension of the moment and the intensely athletic abilities of both horse and rider on the enormous playing field. I hope that when someone looks at this piece, they become involved and feel the need to lean forward just a bit to “help” the rider drive the pony on for just a bit more speed.”

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