Susan von Borstel

About the Artist...

Susan von Borstel ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is an internationally known artist of horses, wildlife and people. She offers original oil paintings, commissions, portraits and fine art prints.

Crazy about horses and wild about art she started painting and drawing horses at a young age and went on to receive a BS degree from the University of Colorado in Zoology and Art.

Susan won the Peoples's Choice Award at the 2012 Cattlemen's Western Art Show.

After being chosen to illustrate the horse breeds for the multimillion dollar Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, she went on to join the American Academy of Equine Art and won the People's Choice Award in the AAEA annual art show. She won first place for oil paintings at the Western States Horse Expo in 1999 and 2000. She has since judged that show several times.

Susan's work has appeared on numerous magazine covers, in magazine articles and at many art galleries. She works full time in her studio in Davis, California.

Artist's Statement

I've always loved to paint! Hours go by quickly when I'm lost in a project and I often wish there was more time.

Several years ago, while riding horses with a group in Southern Spain I became intrigued by the patterns in old stone walls and walkways. Like seeing images in clouds I began imagining images of horses, animals and scenes in these old worn stones.

I worked with several chemists to develop an archival process for painting on stone, whether very hard like granite and marble or softer like onyx, travertine or slate. After working on a way to make them hangable, I took five to an art show and they all sold while I was hanging them. I've been creating them with great joy ever since.

Since the patterns in stone often suggest animals in unusual positions I use my "artist's license" to distort or smplify them so they aren't photographic but work with the stone's unique texture and pattern.I think our subconscious mind enjoys filling in the details of paintings, whether plein air, impressionistic or my work on stone. Like children, we don't want to be told too much if we can discover it for ourselves. For me the stone's patterns are always inspiring new ideas.