My name is Jacqueline England and I was born in Nottingham, England, and moved to Canada when I was a young girl. Today I resides in Mississauga, Ontario, with my Husband, Robert. I am the mother of a daughter and proud grandmother of two lovely girls.
I returned to the U.K. as a teenager to further my education. During that time I developed a love for horses and spent many a day “mucking out,” grooming, riding and showing them. This was an important turning point in my life and, when I returned to Canada, I saved enough money to buy my first horse. That was the beginning of a wonderful relationship between me and several horses that over the years I raised, trained and showed. I recall one special occasion where upon showing at the CNE in Toronto, I booked myself into one stall and my horse into another… that’s commitment!
For most of my professional career, I worked as a computer analyst for a large organization in Toronto.
As well as horses, I adore cats, dogs, nature and wildlife, and these are prominent subjects in my art repertoire. I also took up the art of creating unique hand-designed bears that have appeared in numerous shows and gift shops throughout Ontario. My bears have also been featured in bear magazines throughout Canada, the United States and Britain.
Eventually my interest in horses turned to painting them (and other subjects) and, under the tutelage of Welsh artist/instructor, Michael Spillane (Spillane Studio of Fine Arts), I began a journey to realize my artistic ambitions of drawing and painting the subjects I truly love.
The first step I do is to create realistic drawings in fine detail before moving to canvas to paint. The drawing process gives me insight into the heart of the subject and provides for a good overall composition. My pencil becomes an imaginary horse grooming tool as I “feel” my way into the drawing.
I have worked in various mediums over the years, such as pastel, watercolour, gouache, acrylic, graphite and oil, but tend to focus a lot on oil painting due to the intense colours that can be achieved. Always striving to create photo-realistic paintings – especially for my equestrian subjects. My greatest wish is that upon viewing these paintings, the viewer will see what I see in my minds eye as I bring these gorgeous creatures to life on the canvas.
