A lifelong horsewoman, Lynda (Burton) Sappington's first word was "pretty" and second word was "hoss" (much to the surprise of her parents!). She's had cats all her life (currently has three), been riding since she was five, and drawing and sculpting horses and cats since childhood. On her summer breaks from college, she was a riding instructor and trainer.
Lynda with her Half-Andalusian gelding, El Paso Aricos
Lynda's art training began at an early age, with private painting classes starting in grade school. She moved on to pottery and some small sculptures on her own during her school years. In 1993, Lynda finally had time to pursue her dream and became serious about sculping.
Lynda and her husband "horse show parented" through 4-H, with Lynda coaching their kids as they showed in showmanship, halter, western and hunt seat riding and equitation, pleasure driving, jumping, reining -- many times all on the same horse! (Quarter Horses really DO "do it all"!) Their daughter went from Quarter Horses to Pony Clubbing, jumping and eventing on a Thoroughbred, got hooked on dressage and moved on to warmbloods. Now in her mid-30's, Jennifer (Sappington) Truett is a USDF Bronze Medal Award winning rider and has won a Bronze Medal in Musical Freestyle, as well as many regional and East Coast championships. Jennifer now has a training farm Dancing Horse Farm in Lebanon, Ohio.
Lynda got back on the show circuit showing her Quarter Horse gelding Impowered for Time ("Jack", who was the model for "Frolic") in hunt seat and western events. In 2008, Lynda decided to try dressage and now rides El Paso Aricos, a Half-Andalusian gelding, with Jennifer as her coach.
Primarily a self-taught artist, Lynda has taken equine sculpture workshops from Gwen Reardon, Kathleen Freidenberg and Karen Kasper, all at the Kentucky Horse Park; a stone sculpture workshop from Annie Pasikov in Colorado; a figurative sculpture workshop from Tuck Langland at the Scottsdale Artists School; and a painting workshop from Elin Pendleton at the Kentucky Horse Park. Lynda has also taken workshops or classes in mold-making and resin casting, patinas and drawing to improve her skills. She is an Associate Member of the American Academy of Equine Art as well as a member of the Equine Art Guild.
"The fun thing about art," Lynda says, "is its endless possibilities. There's so much to learn, and so many ways to be creative with various media. Art is endlessly fascinating. I don't see how I could ever get tired of my work when there's always something new to learn or explore."
Lynda Sappington's work is internationally collected, and has been in galleries from California to Ohio to Florida. Her sculptures are also in use as trophies all over the USA and in Canada, both as championship trophies and year-end awards. Three of her bronzes are at the Kentucky Horse Park: "Elegance" in the Friesian Horse of North America (FHANA) headquarters, "Frolic" as a perpetual trophy in the US Dressage Federation headquarters, and "Harmony" in the USDF Hall of Fame.
Lynda Sappington is not only an award winning sculptor and photographer, but a writer, as well. The first edition of her book, "Sculpting 101: A Primer for the Self-taught Artist" sold out. The second edition, which has been revised and had two chapters added to it, is available through this website as well as Amazon.com and other outlets. Sappington's fantasy novel, Star Sons - Dawn of the Two, was published in the Spring of 2008. The second book in the Star Sons series, Star Sons 2: The Gathering Alliance, will be published in early 2010.
An avid Harry Potter fan, Lynda got back into fiction writing by playing in Harry's world, resulting in two huge novels covering his sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts and several other shorter stories, which you can read on her Yahoo group, HPRefinersFire. You can order her novels and her sculpting book on Amazon.com as well as other sites. Check Whimsy Hill Publishing for information on when other books by Lynda Sappington will be published.
Lynda's awards have earned her a place in Marquis Who's Who in the Midwest, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Women. One notable international art award she has won is the Joel Meisner Company Foundry Award from the American Academy of Equine Art in their Fall Showcase in 1998 at the Kentucky Horse Park. Her bronze, "Ecstasy" won Best in Show at the Black Stallion Show in Florida a few years ago, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first publication of the Black Stallion books.
Lynda has written articles for numerous publications, including Equine Images, Horses in Art, The Equine Art Guild's newsletter, "The Palette." From 1998-2002, Lynda was Editor-in-Chief of ARTVoices, an online art magazine, part of the ARTFaces | ARTPlaces gallery, as well as an AFAP Vice President and Board member. She contributed many articles to ARTVoices, including a regular column on sculpting called "Sculpturally Speaking."
An article in the "Bits and Pieces" section of the June/July 1998 issue of The Equine Image magazine featured her sculpture "Presence" and the Mid-Ohio Dressage Association trophy made from that edition. In 2008, Lynda was interviewed as one of several featured artists who make trophies (including the artists who make the Oscars, the Emmies and the Country Music Awards) in A&E Magazine. Her sculptures have been on the cover of "The Chronicle of the Horse" magazine seven times so far. She has been interviewed for a show on RFD-TV and for several other magazines and newspapers.
In 1999, #3 of the "Presence" edition became a special award at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, Palm Beach, Florida. Number 2 of "Presence" edition is the Stallion Perpetual Trophy at the Mid-Ohio Dressage Association Classic, Delaware, Ohio. "Harmony" #2/18 is the Grand Prix Special trophy at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, starting in 2002. Lynda's latest big trophy is the Concourse d'Elegance World Championship Driving Trophy, using #2 of the "Elegance" edition, for the Friesian Horse Association of North America, which was awarded for the first time in October 2007. She has also created trophies for the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Great Lakes Downs, the American Warmblood Society and other race tracks and breed organizations.
Stop by and say "Howdy!" if you find Lynda's booth at Equine Affaire, or in other trade fairs and horse shows. She'll be glad to see you!
