Susan Crawford | Peter Curling | Graham Isom | Stephen Smith | Jacqueline Stanhope

Susan Crawford was born in the Scotish district of east Lothian. Her father was a racehorse trainer & she grew up on the family farm, inheriting her parents affinity with horses & the countryside & learning to ride when she was just a toddler.

She spent two years at the Florentine drawing school of Signorini Nera Simi but is an entirely self-taught painter, using a classical old master technique of applying oil in thin glazes.

Her main inspiration has come from the works of the very classical horse painters George Stubbs & Sir Alfred Munnings.

Susan Crawford now lives in southern England, where she paints & indulges in her favourite pastimes: horse-racing; dogs; birds & shopping for antiques.

Peter Curling was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1955 & bought up in County Claire & in England, where he went to school.

He studied under Nera Simi in Florence & worked with John Skeaping, The equine artist, in Spain; these two were formative influences on his work.

Peter Curling lived for some time in Newmarket, ridding out for Michael Stoute, & returned permanently to Ireland in 1975. He now runs a stud farm & training stables in Tipperary; His original paintings are so sought-after that he no longer paints to commissions but works on his own pojects.

Graham Isom was born in Kent in 1945 & was bought up around his fathers ridding school, where he first developed his love for horses. After studying at Ravensbourne college of art he obtained his degree which qualified him, amongst Other things, to be a teacher.

After teaching `A` level students for five years in Dorset, his private Commissions increased sufficiently to enable him to devote all his time painting. After two years specialising in figure studies he combined his love of animals & his knowledge of anatomy to include four legged models.

In 1998 he moved to Somerset & started to produce some of his most successful work. With regular exhibitions throughout the U.K & America together with his acceptance into both the American Academy of Equine Art & the Society of Equine Artists his work has become extremely sought after. Equally popular are his many limited & open editions many of which have become collectors items.

Stephen Smiths definitive and deliberate style is very popular with clients wanting a portrait or action oil painting of a particular horse. Not only is Stephen's style sought after in the UK and Ireland but he has completed commissions world-wide.

Stephen has three originals hanging in the reception at Coolmore, Ireland and other clients include Mick Kinane, Derek Thompson, Jamie Spencer, Richard Hills, Timmy Hyde, Aidan O'Brien & Thierry Doumen.

Some of Stephen's limited edition print runs have already sold out & this excellent artists work ranks among the best.

Even before she began school Jacqueline`s extraordinary talent for drawing set her apart from her peers. At the age of eleven she discovered oil paints and by fourteen had executed her first commission, a portrait of the legendary racehorse and stallion, Nijinsky.

Today, Jacqueline is as passionate about horses and racing as she was then. The colour, vibrancy and beauty of the sport are constant sources of inspiration, and her deep love of horses has led her to promote the subject as positively and as accurately as she can.

Established as one of the world`s finest sporting artists, Jacqueline has an international profile and her work is found in collections the world over.