30 Dec Artist Spotlights: Mel Auberty

In Chinese astrological terms, the universe has literally aligned for Mel Auberty’s latest show at Gallery 123 in Dallas, Texas, which coincides with the Year of the Horse celebration beginning on February 17. “This is a dream project for me that began about three years ago,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate the horse and all the beautiful things it stands for.”

Equine strength, beauty, grace, and majesty are on full display in the exhibition. It features some 30 near-life-sized oil on canvas equine images — not only the blue horses that have long been signature works for the artist but also red ones like Dancing on the Moon, in radiant tones that express energy, passion, and transformation in the traditional Chinese zodiac. Also on display are 28 smaller portraits of the horses that, along with a dozen donkeys, live at Auberty’s rescue ranch, Blue Horse Sanctuary, on her family-owned property near the Texas Hill Country. Proceeds go to support the sanctuary’s good work.

Never Let Me Go | Oil on Arches Paper | 44 x 33 inches

Born in the Year of the Horse, Auberty’s love of equines and art has long been intertwined. A native Texan, she grew up spending summers on a farm where she had her own horse. “My horse sanctuary is on the ranch my family bought,” she says. “That’s where I’d climb trees and carve wood and paint rocks. My creative spirit comes from being in nature.” Auberty earned a BFA at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and went on to build a varied and successful career that included working as a graphic designer for American Airlines’ American Way magazine and running art galleries in New York City, Los Angeles, and eventually back in Dallas.

Dancing on the Moon | Oil on Canvas | 72 x 48 inches

“But I always had my sketchbook and did some oil paintings,” she says, “and my art continued evolving in the background until, around 2000, I was asked to take part in a three-woman show in Dallas.” She created three paintings of abstracted blue horses, all of which sold on opening night. Then, private and corporate collectors began contacting her. “Like William Wegman with his Weimaraner dog photos or George Rodrigue with his Blue Dog paintings, I became the blue horse lady.”

Over the years, Auberty’s paintings have grown larger and even more expressive. She has also ventured into other subjects and media, including a bonfire-like oil-on-canvas piece, Blue Embers, as well as collages, charcoal drawings, and limited-edition bronzes of horses and humans. Regardless of the subject or medium, they’re all distinguished by Auberty’s boldly expressive style. “Everything I do,” she says, “begins with gesture and movement in space.”

See Mel Auberty’s paintings at Gallery 123 in Dallas, Texas, where her solo show Year of the Horse runs from February 17 through March 28.

Based in Marin County, California, Norman Kolpas is the author of more than 40 books and hundreds of articles. He also teaches nonfiction writing in The Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension.