Equestrian Artist EJ Lazenby, Specialist in Animal Art and Paintings

A little bit about the Artist.

I was born in Barnsley in 1969. As a child, drawing and painting always held a special interest for me; constantly drawing horses and ponies - being utterly horse obsessed as a child but unfortunately allergic to them also, which only seemed to fuel this obsession!

After 6th form, I decided to pursue my interest in painting further, studying fine art at Newcastle University. My speciality at University was the study of human form through portraiture and the Life Room.

I graduated from Newcastle University in 1992 with a BA(hons) in fine art and was one of 9 UK finalists to have their work chosen for exhibition in New York, USA. Upon returning home, I concentrated on animal portraiture, enjoying painting not only pets, but also all forms of portraiture and landscape, equestrian themes being my speciality. This has kept me happily occupied in the studio for almost 20 years painting a diverse selection of breeds and characters.

Why Horses?
Horses have always been an inspiration to me... as a child I collected pottery ponies and spent many hours sewing them rugs and carefully making them real leather bridles with fuse wire bits. At 13 I graduated to a real pony, Barnaby, whom I rode wearing swimming goggles to try and fight the allergies.... He lived to the ripe old age of 36 and was suceeded by Gem, a 4 yr old ex-racehorse who galloped me about for 15 exciting years before I discovered dressage and finally managed to slow her down. When she began to age, I bred my own foal from her, choosing a son of the great Dutch dressage stallion Jashin to be the sire... the resulting little foal, Iszara, is now 19 years young... how time flies when you are having fun!

Not only am I a horse owner, I'm now an almost qualified Lead-rein mum. My little girl, the 'Junior Artist' to give her full title, now has Shelby, a darling 38" Shetland rescue pony, so there is never a dull moment here.

So horse obsession led to horse painting... I suppose this transition was only natural.

The 'Junior Artist'

The latest ‘main event’ has been the birth of my first child, an adorable little girl, Lena Francesca Ann, in September 2006, who has blessed me with the joys of motherhood and the job of juggling a child alongside a busy painting and teaching timetable – she enjoys watching me paint and can't wait to join me at the easel; in her younger years, she has often been caught 'helping mummy finish' a painting... to my utter horror!

Show-ring action

I not only paint horses and am a fully qualified art teacher, working in Adult Education ... I also judge at horse shows (Turnout, Equitation, Riding Horse, WH and WHP classes are my preference ). I also used to compete on my homebred mare Iszara in dressage and Riding Club events reaching the Northern Championships and working towards Medium level. I am very familiar with a horse's conformation and action which enables my paintings not only to convey a true likeness, but to also capture correct movement and the animal's individual character and presence.

Since 2010, I have become a 'lead-rein mum', and can be seen on the local circuit with the Junior Artist and our little fat black Shetland mare, Clivocast Shelby.

It was a shock to the system to be back in the showing ring after a break of almost 15 years! Luckily my old jacket still fits and I can just about keep up with the pair of them while attempting to look glamorous! We all just go out to have some fun, coming home with a rosette is a big bonus, especially if it's a pink one!