Horses in Art Magazine - Art for the Horse Lover

A Spiritual and Artistic Journey

by Michele Wing

On Golden Wings — Oil on gold and silver leaf, 1 meter x 1.20 meters, by Inge Dagmar Manders
The wings and writing in the circles and the quote from Kahlil Gibran are rendered in liquid lead.
My life was near perfect, or so I thought, until a tragic accident made me realize I had become so consumed by the busy-ness of life that I had lost my perspective as to what life was really about. On a fateful afternoon, my eight-year-old son’s left foot went under the blades of a ride-on mower. The injury was so extreme that in consultation with specialists, both here in South Africa and the United States, the decision was made to amputate his foot just above the ankle. What might sound horrific is actually not. The courage, strength and acceptance that Jonathan displayed from the moment the accident occurred has touched the hearts of people who heard the story. Incredibly, he helped others to come to terms with what happened…not the other way around.

What is very humbling is that I’ve learned more about life from this eight-year-old in the past twelve months than I have my entire life. My ten-year-old daughter, Kirsten, who was present at the time of the accident, showed a maturity and understanding beyond her years and has stood next to her brother every step of the way. It makes me wonder whether children are our teachers in life. Ron Wiid has that wonderful saying, “Seek the wisdom of the ages, but look at the world through the eyes of a child”.

The unconditional acceptance, simplicity and love for others and life that children display is often masked the older we get. Yet there is a child in all of us and from that stems the beauty, love and free spirit that can make life magical, regardless of what comes our way. It’s not what happens to us in life that is important, but how we react and deal with it. I commissioned Inge Manders to paint a portrait that depicted the love of life, the spirit, the beauty and intuition of children. After all, children are our future and we as their parents are not here to instruct them, but to facilitate their growth passage through the early years— to empower them to be true to themselves and their souls.

Horses are a large part of our lives and an extension of our family. I spoke to Inge about incorporating our five horses in the composition with Kirsten and Jonathan. As Jonathan is also a budding aviator, we wanted to include his love of the skies in the painting. This was no simple portraiture and I wasn’t even quite sure myself as how we were going to pull it all together.

I’ve learned not to try to make things happen. Given just a little time, if it’s meant to be, clarity will come. Call it divine intervention, as if someone higher was guiding her hand, but what I first saw from Inge in her initial sketch made me weep. She had not captured what I was hoping for, but expounded on it. The end result, On Golden Wings, is a painting that is not only beautiful to the eye but is full of symbolism. People seem captivated by it, drawn into its energy and power without even knowing the background.

As for Jonathan today, he tackles life with energy and enthusiasm. He is comfortable with his prosthetic and not at all self-conscious about it. Given the opportunity, he will explain to you how it works. He has gone back to riding his off-road motorcross bike, his pony Silver Star and playing all his school sports – swimming, tennis, hockey, and recently waterskiing. There seems to be no stopping him. It’s probably no coincidence that Jonathan shares the same birthday as Nelson Mandela and many of his wonderful humanitarian attributes. I am truly humbled by what is happening. The inspiration for On Golden Wings came from a quote from the great prophet Kahlil Gibran, “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”

Michele Wing lives with her family on a farm in the KwaZulu Natal Medlands in South Africa.

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