Anita began doing pen & ink illustrations for her clients requesting sculpture commissions. The illustrations allow the client to easily visualize the proposed sculpture, often drawn in its final environment, and are provided with all formal commission presentations.
These illustrations quickly became very popular with the general art public and soon requests started coming in for portraits of children and animals. Anita really enjoys creating these illustrations and finds them a welcome interlude in her sculpture work.
Anita is now taking requests for commissioned portraits in pen & ink, and will be glad to discuss your requirements for a personalized illustration. She is very adept at finding and illustrating the unique traits that make your child or your pet so extraordinary.
Charlotte is a talented young woman who has owned two remarkable horses. Whether riding trails, or showing in equitation, or jumping a new course in a show Charlotte knows how to connect with her equine friends, Story & Timber.
This is a self-portrait of me with my first pony “Patsy”. At five years of age I thought I was ‘hot stuff’ with my cowboy hat and chaps… riding my pony on my grandparents’ farm. However, I was very shy and tended to hide behind the comfort of the big hat. The title of this drawing refers to a horse training technique of ‘imprinting’ new born foals so that they are easily trained as they mature. Here I was being ‘imprinted’ into the love of horses at an early age.
Patriott was a foaled during the Gulf War and named after the Patriot missiles. As a tribute to this wonderful companion, I did this memorial portrait for Jim and Ellen Reck, after Patriott’s untimely death.
Patriott was shown by Ellen as a 2nd Level Dressage horse and he also earned winds in Purebred Arabian Halter, Sport Horse Halter, Western Pleasure, Hunter Pleasure, and Hunter Over Fences, in Local, Open and Class A Shows.
Ellen and Patriott were quite a pair and you could often find them in the woods of State Parks quietly navigating the trails. I could not do a portrait of Patriott without showing Ellen’s presence in his life.
This drawing was a proposal for a life-sized sculpture for installation at the Preble County Animal Shelter. It was designed to show the curiosity of the cat and dog as they cautiously check each other out, or in Anita’s terms…’Make the Connection’. The small Jack Russell looks up at the cat which safely rests just out of reach, looking down in its superior attitude as only a cat can do.
Jacob was a wonderful upstanding 17 yr. old from Bethesda, Maryland. “Jake” was riding his bicycle home from his High School, and was tragically hit and killed by a motorist. Jake is greatly missed by the entire Bethesda High School body, due to his uplifting cheerful attitude that he exhibited daily. Jake also dressed in his school’s Mascot uniform to march with the High School Band at Sporting Events. Anita did this drawing in his memory, to be presented to his parents.
I did this Pen and Ink Drawing of a little three-year-old sitting on her parent’s sofa at Put-In-Bay. On the blanket thrown over the back of the sofa you will find the historic landmark of the Round House. While the girl sat and read her favorite story book, I did some quick sketches. Then I came home to my studio to work out the final composition.
Anita especially enjoys exploring textures, both in her ink drawings and in her bronze sculptures. Rich textures contrast with silky smooth hair and skin tones, to add visual interest to this portrait. Pen and ink is a wonderful medium to express light and shadow and it fulfills my interest in line and texture.
Roni has had many Arabian horses, but Musketeer was her special friend that shared many trail rides through the woods and across the creeks. They had that special trusting relationship that it takes to “Create the Connection”. Anita always looks for this unique relationship between two of God’s creations to feature in her drawings and in her sculptures.
Arabian horses also have their special connections, and Mystique and Bey-Rose Gal stayed close to each other whenever they were turned outside. They depended on each other both in times of playfulness, and in times where they felt in danger of an unknown sight or sound. I enjoyed portraying their close friendship in this sketch.
These Arabians, Bey-Rose Gal and AJ Mystique, grew up together on our farm. They were foaled the same year and were bosom buddies. Anytime you saw one of them you saw the other nearby. When I created this pen and ink drawing, they were about three years old. Alert and on guard to what was approaching, they relied on each other. I like to contrast the dark textures of the mares’ coats with the fine delicate lines of the trees behind them.
This Painting was designed to show the noble pride of the Indian and how he stood tall through all the discrimination his people had to endure during the settlement of America. Remember this: Revelation 7:9 promises that every Nation, Tribe, and Tongue will be in Heaven standing before God’s Throne!
The Arabian is the oldest recorded breed of horse, with credible documentation extending back at least 2,000 years. The Arabian horse is characterized by natural beauty, graceful movement, and athletic endurance. The political upheavals of World War I wiped out most of the breeding studs of the Polish aristocracy. Poland was declared an independent nation in 1921 (a status it retained until the Russian and German invasions of 1939) and breeding continued at the Polish State Stud at Janow Podlawski.
This Drawing was made of Keith Kinney and his Grandson, Oliver, at the Annual Reunion of the Pioneer Engineers Club of Indiana Show in Rushville, Indiana. This show meets at Caldwell Pioneer Acres, 3 miles south of Rushville every August. Anita was captivated by the look of wonder and trust from Oliver toward his Grandfather, Keith, as Oliver drove his new tractor around the show grounds. Thus Anita named her drawing “The Ultimate Gift” given & accepted in Love.
