Re: Golden Goose Shoes painting

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Horse paintings take Queensland artist to corporate boxes of racing royalty

Laura Douglas' paintings of horses have taken her https://www.goldengooseshoesit.com/ from the family's cattle farm in south-west Queensland to the corporate boxes of racing royalty.

Ms Douglas refers to herself as a "pretty shocking rider", but she has loved horses for as long as she can remember.

"I think it's the majesty and the freedom that I see so clearly in them, particularly when you start looking at performance horses," she said.

The paintings are finished when they make me sing on the inside. Laura Douglas

A graphic designer, Ms Douglas has long embraced the arts, and started painting a decade ago when she decided to give away sculpting and welding heavy works, due to being pregnant.

"My work is inspired by traditional Chinese painting and minimalism," she said.

She works with acrylic paint, "but I use it lightly in a watercolour-style".

The words 'light' and 'spirit' dominate the conversation when it turns to her process.

"I find when I overwork things it can lose the sense of spirit and freedom," Ms Douglas explained.

"The paintings are finished when they make me sing on the inside."From hobby to day jobMs Douglas' work has struck a chord with horse lovers so much that painting has become her main occupation.

"I see there's a real call for true beauty in Golden Goose Shoes https://www.goldengooseshoesit.com/ our world, and it seems I can do that a little bit with painting," she said. External Link:link to melb cup painting

Home is a 20,000 acre cattle property at Mungallala, half way between Roma and Charleville, but every year for the past five years Ms Douglas has been invited to paint at the spring racing carnival in Melbourne as a guest of sponsors, trainers and horse owners.

For the past two years she has been the artist-in-residence for Robbie and Gai Waterhouse.

"It's opened up naturally," she said modestly. "For me, it's my path. I can paint, so I do paint."

Ms Douglas said the highlight of her painting career so far had come from an unlikely place.

"I had a show in a gallery in Brisbane, and a man walked in and didn't seem to know what was going on," she said.

"I said, 'Is everything okay?' and he said, 'I hate horses, I've been petrified of them my entire life, but looking at these paintings I feel happy, and I don't know what's going on'.

"He said, 'I don't want to buy one, but is it okay if I stay awhile?'

"He felt something. And that is the highlight for me."

Ms Douglas sees no end to her horse paintings.

"I could paint every horse I meet," she said.

"I really love their spirit and the difference between painting polo ponies and racehorses and kids' ponies and draft horses. Then within that there are all the individual horses.

"I don't think I'll need to start painting budgies," she laughed.