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 Azteca 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 as she was growing up. Various craft classes occupied her time as her children grew up. In 1993, as "empty nest syndrome" set in, Lynda finally had time to pursue her dream and became serious about producing sculptures. Her first sculptures were a pair of cartoony baby dragons, "Sidney" and "Seymour." Lynda continued to work on her skills until she could make realistic horses she could be proud of.
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, 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 early 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 in Lebanon, Ohio Dancing Horse Farm, 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, an Azteca gelding, with Jennifer as her coach.
Primarily a self-taught artist, Lynda has taken an 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. These skills have been nurtured so Lynda can broaden her artwork into other media and explore different styles of work. She is currently 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.
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, will be available through Amazon.com and other outlets by December 2008. Sappington's first published fantasy novel, Star Sons - Dawn of the Two, was published in the Spring of 2008. 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, which you can read on her Yahoo group, HPRefinersFire. You can order her novel 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. Lynda has written articles for numerous publications, including 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 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 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 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!
