The Artist
“I paint horses both because I love the way they look and because they can express emotion and mood far more effectively than humans. Where we are often hindered by our attempts to communicate with words, horses express themselves physically. In addition to a full range of facial expressions, they also use their moveable ears, bodies and four legs to show a mood or concept.
My paintings fall in two main categories: “horse paintings” that capture horses’ pure joy of movement or the way light falls across skin in dappled sunlight or a hip in the light of early dawn; and “human paintings” expressing social issues or coping with everyday life issues. The latter category becomes a collaboration with the viewer. I paint my experiences, and the viewer adds the depth of their own personal interpretations.”
Kate Esplen was born Catherine Van Toch in Montreal, Canada. She studied at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts under Group Of Seven member Arthur Lismer, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Sir George Williams University (now Concordia), worked in the interior design and graphic design fields, and established Van Toch Designs Limited. The firm served national and international clients and over a period of fifteen years won awards for art and design, including prestigious Toronto Art Directors Club awards and a Canadian Direct Marketing award.
Kate has exhibited in the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts annual juried show, Deland Museum of Art, Deland Florida; Mt. Dora Center for the Arts, Mt. Dora Fl; Left Side Gallery, Flesherton, Ontario; Loft Gallery, Clarksburg,On., Collingwood, Ontario; Georgian Bay Arts and Crafts Association gallery; Toad Hall Gallery, Costa Rica, Ormond Beach Museum, Ormond Beach, Florida, and private galleries. Her work hangs in private and corporate locations in Canada and the USA.