Two horses, a mother and her foal, lean over a fence facing the direction of the viewer in Maria Blazzard Wamsley's pastel rendering. Facing away from the viewer, in the direction of the horses, a child leans over the fence, climbing to get closer. Mutual curiosity seems to define the scene, the foal leaning closer to try to understand the creature at the edge of his enclosure, while the child leans far over the fence to pet the mare's shoulder. In addition to their shared curiosity, the foal and child have the same reddish-brown hair, giving them a sense of kinship. It seems just a matter of time before the two make friends. The mother horse is a patient ambassador, and the fence merely a temporary obstacle.
"I have enjoyed art my whole life," says Maria Blazzard Wamsley. Her art education started as a teenager at South Summit High School where she studied with Jenny Phillips. She works in pastels, oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pencil. Her favorite medium is pastel, which she uses in the majority of her pieces. She lives in Laketown, Utah, where she raises quarter horses.
