Don Turner
Special to the Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
The River City Art Association and the Vigo County Public Library will present the equine art of Karen LeVan.
Time has flown by since LeVan retired and began exploring creativity again.
After majoring in art in college, there seemed to be too many years in between when she was busy working and so distracted by everyday life that sitting still long enough to paint anything was never a reality.
Twelve years ago she had just moved here from upstate New York and by 2004 had some extra time to think about painting again.
“I had no idea that Terre Haute had such an active arts community and so many versatile and talented artists,” LeVan said. “It has been an interesting decade and I seem to have found a small niche to fill with equine art.”
You might think after owning horses for 43 years and making a career out of horsemanship that LeVan would be tired of looking at them. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
“Everything equine is easily as magical to me as it was when I was a child and would draw horses on any piece of paper I could find,” she said.
The tricky part, she admits, was and still is, trying to match each individual horse’s unique personality in every painting.
LeVan’s ultimate treat would be to illustrate a children’s book. “Even people who would be totally intimidated by a 1,200-pound beast can appreciate equine grace,” she said. “And watching children’s eyes light up when they first see a colorful acrylic painting of horses makes any effort well worthwhile.”
Equine art: Karen LeVan’s “Sangre De Espana,” a full body view of a red, bay horse with arched neck (at right) and “The eyes have it,” a close up painting of a horse’s eye and halter (below), are on display at the Vigo County Public Library.
