Patience, a portrait of Jt MFH Penny Denegre and her champion sidesaddle mare Garnet

Patience, a portrait of Jt MFH Penny Denegre and her champion sidesaddle mare Garnet is a painting by Gail Guirreri-Maslyk.

"When I moved to the area in 2008 I had my canon camera with me everywhere I went. Having been away from hunt country for 20 years, art inspiration was flowing in no matter the job at hand. I spent much of my time on call with Dr. Ley driving the country side. We had to make a big effort to get to Warrenton the year I took the reference photos for this painting. After an emergency call to an alpaca farm on a very hot day we had to stop at a wallmart for a change of clothes and some soft spray. The light ended up perfect on the show grounds but it was hard for me to get the rail position to get the one photo I wanted without blocking someone's view. I have painted two other portraits of Penny prior to this composition but had not figured out how to work Garnet in. Garnet captured my heart from the moment I first saw her. Together they were a perfect match. As I went back through photos preparing for Tally Ho Holiday art show I found one of just Garnet touching the stirrup. It's a terrible photo by itself cropping Penny off and tilted at a strange angle but combined with others, I had what I needed to work from 10 years after the fact."

"As the law of attraction would have it, Garnet ended up with us for breeding a couple years ago and we have enjoyed building new friendships with her family. I have had the chance to watch Garnet in her stall, in the field and with her foal studying her mannerism. I hope one that knows horses and elegence of a rider in perfect harmony can taste their aura of presence in my painting."