To contact Karen, e-mail her at: horseart@tcsn.net

What's New!

January 2007

Karen and her horse Ginny, photo by June Rust.

Camargue in Elko

January 27 – February 3 2007
Meet Camargue ranchers Patrick and Estelle Laurent
at the 2007 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, in Elko Navada.

Karen's paintings will be on exhibit along with various artifacts from Camarge, along with singer-songwriter Lorraine Rawls and cowboy-musician-filmmaker Gail Steiger. Lorraine and Gail have put together this exhibit and have made a documentary film to be released on DVD on the gardian culture. The weeks events can be found at www.westernfolklike.org/

The show will run until June 22, 2007 at The Wiegand Gallery in Elko.

Camargue Mares and Foals in the Marsh, 2005
36" x 48" oil/canvas
Sold

Camargue Mares and Foals in the Marsh, 2005
36" x 48" oil/canvas
Sold

The mares give birth to their foals in the wild marshy areas. They have to know not to give birth where the foals will drown. Only this special breed of horse has been able to survive the harsh conditions of the Rhone delta of the Camargue on the coast of the Mediterranean sea.The foals are born with dark color coats and then turn to grey then white as they grow older. The horses have to be able to withstand the Mistral winds and freezing cold of winter, and biting insects in the spring and summer. They have adapted to eating the reeds that are growing right in the water. The mares were used for threshing the grain until modern threshing machines came into use in the 1950's. So the mares live their lives in the marsh raising foals. The young horses sometimes stay with the herd for a year or two, learning to run in the mud, up and down uneven slopes, play-fighting, mutual grooming, and all the tricks of the trade that will come in handy when the colts are gelded and become riding horses. The fillies will be kept for future brood mares.Herds of horses still often live with herds of historic Camargue cattle, so are very brave and useful when it comes to using the horses to work the cattle.

Gardians Herding Cattle in the Camargue, 2005
30" x 40" oil/canvas

The Gardians are accomplished horsemen who established a society in 1512, with specific duties and regulations pertaining to the raising of the cattle and horses.
The Camargue cattle are fierce, black, with white horns shaped like the musical instrument known as the "lyre".
In this painting the cows and calves are being quietly herded in a lush pasture. (This painting was derived from a photo by Lorraine Rawls). Before the 1950's there were no fences in the vast delta area. The herdsman lived on his horse keeping track of the herds of horses and cattle. It was very important to keep the herds with stallions separate so that deadly fights would not erupt among them. Cattle similar to these are found in paintings dated to 35,000 years on the cave walls of Chavaux, just inland from the Camargue area in Rovence, Southern France.

Camargue Horse and Rider, 2005
60" x 40" oil/canvas

Oil painting titled "Around the Bend" (sold) and below is "c'mon cow".