Art more than horses
BY CARLA ROCCAPRIORE • croccapriore@rgj.com • June 11, 2008

A solo show featuring expressionist works on the character of horses is on display at a downtown gallery and the public is invited to meet the artist this weekend.

A free reception for Reno resident Maria Partridge is planned from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Truckee River Gallery, 11 N. Sierra St. Partridge said her exhibit will be on display through June 23 and consists of 31 pieces. The largest is about 60 inches by 50 inches.

"They're paintings, not horses," said Partridge, 49, a part-time art professor at Truckee Meadows Community College. "They're more about our relationship with horses and horse relationships with each other. I try to capture the essence of the animal."

Mixed media drawings, charcoal, watercolors, pastels and various types of paint are among the forms she has used.

Partridge also has had nature work shown at the Nevada

Museum of Art, the Nevada State Legislative Building and Sierra Arts Gallery. Her work has appeared in several Sacramento-area galleries and at the Agora Gallery in New York City.

Nature exhibits led Partridge into doing works that depict horses, which have been a part of her life from childhood.

"I wanted to do something different, and I've ridden horses forever," Partridge said. "Every painting is a combination of several images."

She also expressed concern about local horses, some that are caught between "the mythology of their origins and the plight of survival," which she said is caused by a lack of available grazing land.

"I paint horses, too, sometimes, but she, through keen observation, is able to capture the essence of the animals and transform them into a more universal metaphor," said Naomi Nickerson, Truckee River Gallery manager. "The horses are a vehicle for big ideas."