Horses in Art Magazine - Art for the Horse Lover

Mystical and Poetic Overtones: Reine River

by Sarah Crampton

"Malibu Girls"
Acrylic by Reine River
The paintings of Reine River reflect her artistic flair for poetry and appreciation for music. Her cowboy poetry is performed with live music as a backdrop at such venues as the Gene Autry Museum in Los Angeles, California, and cowboy poetry shows throughout the country.

Reine comments, "My poetry is an extension of my paintings. I am a little bit of a story teller. There is a magic in words, as there is making that brush stroke across the page."

Using photos as a starting point, Reine returns to the studio and remembers what that feeling was like to make the painting her own. Her poetry also comes from photos or objects that hold sentimental value or some kind of importance. Reine accentuates the role of color to a significant element in her painting.

She comments, "I have been told by many that I am a colorist. I love color. I love to make color dance across the page and evoke some kind of emotion. Sometimes playful, bold, demure, aggressive, calm, a peacefulness or erratic. Color can do that. Color is as important as my subject."

One of her newest paintings titled "Knight Mare" was painted toward the end of summer. Reine remarks, "The stars were out, it was hot and just a little breezy. There were a number of shooting stars I had been seeing in the high desert where I live. I felt as though the horse was moving with the stars. It's as if you could see inside its soul and you can feel the wind in its mane. That horse was definitely a free spirit and I was rumbling inside so I new I had to paint at that moment."

Reine River was raised in France and moved to the United States as a young girl. Her formal education is in fine art with an MFA from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, California. She has lectured at the university level and lives on her ranch in Southern California.

The horse that Reine strives to portray is kind but definitely an animal with enormous power and inner strength. Her own distinctive interpretation of the contemporary western lifestyle is painted in a loose manner to capture the essence of her subject, and achieves a canvas with mystical and poetic overtones.

"I would like to help people feel the importance of being able to identify with a place that makes them feel outside the mundane - a fantasy, a passionate moment, a mystery."

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