Success in the field of animation was rewarding in many ways and he went on to become an Emmy award winning television producer and director in Hollywood. Yet Hal Sutherland's desire to paint and his fascination with horses continued throughout his life.

His obsession with horses began as a boy in Massachusetts. He waited on the curb outside his parent's home for the neighborhood milkman and garbage man who used horse-drawn vehicles. He spent hours sketching those horses in harness, and their memories stayed strong enough to create artwork with horses and buggies many years later.

Finally in 1974, he embarked on a fulltime painting career. Undaunted by his color blindness, he persevered even after an art dealer asked loudly at an art show, "Where and how do you get those horrible greens in your work?" Today the mistakes are less frequent but he relies on others to see the colors, and works with a limited palette to avoid confusion.

Sutherland's paintings successfully create a mood and without concern for being overly sentimental, he includes a bit of fantasy and humor. His canvasses exude charm and we are enchantingly swept up in the moment. The kindly old man in the moon, gazing down on the couple in "Lovers' Moon", immediately brought to mind a line from a well-known children's book describing the moon as "big and round and warm and bright". The words and Sutherland's paintings feel just right.

His subject matter visits the many worlds of the equine throughout history. In the days of the horse-drawn vehicles, the farmers depended on the reliability of a good team of horses and they were considered an absolute necessity. The cowboy driving cattle and the pioneers with their struggles are glimpses of the past that contribute to the lives we live today.