Horses & Birds - New Paintings

The horse has always been a major factor in Tory Lawrence’s life and this deep connection informs her work.

Daughter of a racehorse trainer, herself an eventer and show jumper, known for great speed over fences and across country, at the age of forty Lawrence abandoned competitive riding for art.

Her exhibition at The National Horseracing Museum in 2012 featured horses working on Newmarket Heath. However in these new paintings the horse re-emerges, still full of delicacy and power, but now with exotic colour in an imaginary world. In each one the horse is realised as a magical and timeless creature.

By contrast, Lawrence’s birds inhabit the natural world. It is as if they have suddenly arrived to observe the viewer just as the artist, in turn, has observed them.