Ghost Horse - The painting that meant everything!

Ghost Horse – The Painting The client would risk to save if there was a fire!

This is Ghost Horse, a piece I painted for a client who had a strong idea of how she wanted it to feel, but not a clear picture of what it should look like. She didn’t want a detailed portrait — she wanted something ethereal, like the spirit of her horse, not just its face.

I didn’t work from one photo. Instead, I looked at lots of images of her horses to get a sense of their character. I had to feel my way into the painting. There was a lot of back and forth between me and the client. It took time and patience to get it right — and I’ll be honest, it wasn’t easy.

The breakthrough came when I started layering thin glazes of titanium white mixed with linseed oil. That helped soften everything and give it that ghostly look we were aiming for. Each layer added more depth, and suddenly it all started to come together.

In the end, the client told me this was the one thing she would save if there was ever a fire in her house. That really stuck with me. As an artist — and especially as someone who’s dyslexic — it’s not always easy to explain what I’m trying to say through my work. But when someone feels that deeply about a painting I’ve made, it reminds me why I keep doing this.

Ghost Horse was never about getting every detail perfect. It was about feeling, memory, and connection. And that’s the kind of work I love the most.