The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Lynda Sappington
Artist Whimsy Hill Studio, LLCLebanon Ohio 45036 United States Cell Phone: 937-272-7691 Website: Lynda Sappington’s Art
Bio
Lynda Sappington’s first word was “pretty” and her second was “hoss” – true story. A life-long rider, Lynda has owned and loved many horses over the years, and now follows her daughter (Jennifer Truett, owner and head trainer at Team Dream Training Center, Lebanon OH, http://www.JenniferTruett.com) as she brings her horses up the levels of dressage in national and international competitions.
As a self-taught sculptor, Lynda produces sculptures of horses, wildlife, etc., in bronze and resin, which are collected worldwide. She has made custom trophies for horse shows, horse breed associations and racetracks across the US and Canada. Montana Silversmiths had Lynda do two sculptures for them, “The Rookie” and “C’Mon Boys.” She made a monumental bronze of a Friesian stallion for the Fenway Foundation of Friesian Horses. Two of her bronzes are the top perpetual trophies at the Global Dressage Festival (GDF) in Wellington, Florida. Another is a USDF year-end award and one of her sculptures resides in the USDF Hall of Fame.
Among Lynda’s awards are Best of Show 3-D in the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Black Stallion books and the Joel Meisner Foundry Award at the American Academy of Equine Art. She has also written a book, “Sculpting 101: A Primer for the Self-taught Artist” now in its second printing. It sells worldwide on Amazon.
In 2020, the Harmon Museum in Lebanon, Ohio, hosted a one-woman show of Lynda’s sculpture. She was part of a two-woman show (with Nancy B. Frank) at Ohio Wesleyan University’s Ross Museum in Delaware, Ohio, in 2018, and was invited to be in a museum show in Zanesville, Ohio, several years prior to that. There have been many other shows. Interviews with Lynda have also been featured in various magazines, including A&E, Voyage LA and Equine Images.
During the pandemic, Lynda began taking painting classes online. She has learned a wide variety of techniques from Jennifer Vranes (http://www.letsdabbleart.com) and Bruce Marion (http://www.BruceonArt.com). Since she began painting, she has done several commissioned paintings and sold many others. What can she make for you?
Artist Statement
As a 3-D thinker, I had a lot of trouble with drawing until I learned how to compress space into two dimensions by sculpting low reliefs and jewelry. After 26 years of sculpting, I started painting and finally, I can produce the images I’ve been trying to for years. I still don’t draw if I can avoid it, but I can paint!
My painting style now resembles my sculpting style: elegant portrait-style work showing details that help the viewer recognize what they’re seeing, but not so many details that they weigh down the subject. It has taken me some time to get to this point in painting, but I am thoroughly delighted with the hours I spend painting every day.
Before I started painting, I was a self-taught sculptor. A lifelong horsewoman, I’ve spent many happy hours grooming horses, checking them for injuries and exploring the feel of their structure with my hands. For my first bronze commission, a ¼ life-sized bust of a stallion, I took the clay sculpture to the horse’s barn and ran my hands over his head with my eyes closed, then over the sculpture itself, also with my eyes closed, adjusting the clay until it felt like the horse did exactly, although much smaller. My hands just knew what to do. People who knew that stallion recognized him despite the bronze having a traditional brown patina, rather than having a bald face (a blaze that spills over the sides of the face) like the real stallion.
I try to create art that breathes and that moves the viewer. My clients’ usual reaction is that my sculptures look as if they’re going to trot right off their bases. Every time I see a painting evolving on what was a blank canvas, or a new horse appearing from pipe, wires and clay, it amazes me. The joy of creating such beauty is something I can’t explain. It just “is.”