"I have never really known which came first: my love of art or my love of horses. From early childhood I was completely captivated by the beauty and grace of the horse. I was obsessed with horses as many little girls are. I attempted to capture that passion on paper and in sculpture whenever I had a chance. The idea of capturing the beauty, power and spirit of each unique creature never tires for me. That is why I enjoy doing portraits. I like the challenge to portray the spark, the essence that makes that individual. My goal is to recreate for you your horse as you see him and feel him. What more can any artist strive to do."


I have ridden and drawn horses all of my life. My uncle was one of the first breeders of registered Palominos in Texas. I remember riding his horses as a very small child and the joy it gave me. I never got over it.

    I was raised a "city kid" in Houston, Texas but my
 heart was always in the country. I never owned a horse
 as a child but somehow over the years I managed to have
 horses to take care of and ride. After high school, I was
 fortunate enough to be accepted to the University of
 Texas at Austin where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts
 degree in 1969.



Olva at age 1 year on her uncle's Palomino mare, Bonita Mia
being assisted by her father at the family farm in Bay City, TX

    In 1970 I returned to Houston where I worked for many years in the field of advertising art, designing logos, brochures and display advertising for oil companies and banks and other industrial companies in the Houston area. My heart was always with horses. I started taking English hunt seat lessons and learning to jump first at Edgepark Stables from Charles Zimmerman and later at Parish Stables.

    For many years I had been enamored with all things British.
 In 1975 in a fit of romantic impulse I sold all my belongings (including
 my precious MGB) and moved to London. It was the experience of
 a lifetime. I rode horses and got hired as the Art Director of a Blood
 Stock (racing) magazine called Stud & Stable. The office was in
 Ascot and it was my job to go to the races and take pictures.
 I learned a lot about journalism and photography, England and the
 English. But I could not get a "green card" so I finally returned to
 Texas inspired and tested.



STUD & STABLE MAGAZINE

    I started creating logos and advertising for local stables and equine organizations, such as the Area V USCTA Adult Team (event logo), the Houston Dressage Society (enhanced logo), USET Texas Endowment Campaign (special event drawing), and the Greater Houston Horse Council (logo design).



    In 1977 I acquired my first registered horse, an Appendix
 Quarter Horse named "Heza Splash", bred in Louisiana for
 the race track. He was a 3-year-old and 3 months gelded.
 We all know the story of "green horse/green rider". We
 were the epitomy. It is a long story but we finally got it
 together. I renamed him "Calaveras County" after the
 Mark Twain story. With the help of a number of very
 skilled and patient trainers (Terri Beck, Kevin Cleveland,
 Keith Merifield and Teri Bludworth to name a few) we went
 to a lot of shows and won a lot of ribbons.



Olva and Calaveras County, aka: "Splash"
showing in Adult Hunter Division

    This was the 1970s. As I became more involved in the equine community I realized
"the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing"; there was no communication
between the activities and no way of knowing what was going on right around the corner.
(There was no Horse Gazette, no Lone Star Horse Report,
no Southwest Horse Trader in Texas.)

    In 1980, I took on the job of communicator and started a magazine called
The Horse Sheet. It was the last word, no the "only word", on hunter/jumper, dressage &
combined training events, shows, and clinics in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana & New Mexico.
By default I became a photo/journalist, following Texans to horse shows from Arizona to
Florida. I also started The Stable Farm & Trainer Directory which I re-named the
Texas Horseman's Directory, which I still publish online. 2010 marked its 30th Anniversary.
You can find the Texas Horseman's Directory online at: www.texashorsemansdirectory.com.

    After 6 years of publishing (1980-1986) The Horse Sheet went bankrupt along with a lot of
my advertisers and many other unfortunate Texans. Bad times in the oil patch. (You think 2009
was bad!) It was a learning experience though; I learned a lot about photography and journalism
and the horse show scene. I carried on for a while as a freelance photo/journalist doing articles
for The Chronicle of the Horse, HorsePlay, Dressage & CT and Horse Illustrated.

    In 1987 I became Assistant Editor of Horseman Magazine. It was the second largest horse
magazine in the U.S. and was published in Houston, Texas, by Scripps Howard Publishing Co.
along with a number of sport oriented publications. I reported on the top Quarter Horses in
Texas. I covered the Quarter Horse Congress and got to do three (3) really nice covers.
When Scripps sold the magazine and a new editor took over I decided it was time to go.

    After that I took a hard look at my life. I decided I had forgotten to have kids. It took a few
years but on 28 December, 1989, Alexander William Pharo was born. My beloved horse,
Calaveras County, died 6 weeks earlier. I was now horseless and in semi-retirement as a
fulltime mother.

    One day in 1993, I sat down to see if I could still draw. I had been attending a few horse
shows just taking photographs. Using one photograph as inspiration, I created "A Kind Eye,"
as a drawing of an idealized Grand Prix dressage horse. Using a framed print of this drawing as
an award, I created the "Calaveras County Adult Amateur High Point Award" to be presented to
Houston Dressage Society adult amateur member competitor at the annual Houston Dressage
Society Spring Show.

How it all began:
    The following year I used a another framed print for the 1994 Calaveras County Adult
Amateur High Point Award but this time the drawing was an actual portrait of a particular horse
still in competition. A competitor walked up to the drawing and said, "Is this Adelssohn?"
They had recognized the horse from the drawing, the Trakehner Stallion, Adelssohn, owned by Hans Boone. Then she asked, "Can you draw my horse?"
    Then and there "Equestrian Portraits by Olva Stewart Pharo" was born. The idealized Grand Prix horse drawing, "A Kind Eye", became my logo.

    Over 200 individual commissioned pencil portraits later, I renewed my passion for sculpture
by returning to bronze casting in 1999. (At the University of Texas I was one of two students in
1968 to build a foundry and cast a bronze under the guidance of Ishmael Soto. We were the
first UT students to work in bronze in over 25 years.) Today I offer sculptural portraits of horses,
dogs, and cats in bronze. (See examples of sculptural portraits and limited editions in bronze
and resin.)

     In 2001, inspired by the "Cow Parade" I started "Horses of a Different Color" giving new life
to old Breyer Horses by painting and reshaping them to new and various designs. I have gone
farther with them now creating "Exotic Horses" with Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian and Ancient
Greek themes. I even offer custom portraits on Breyer Horses.

    Portraits are aways my main area of concentration. Making a portrait of a beloved pet, be it
horse, dog, or cat, is very rewarding. The pleased and happy look on the face of a client or the
kind words in an email or letter make the challenge all worth while.

    In 2005 work truly took off for me. I was gratified and overwhelmed by your commissions and
your attraction to my art. So was my immune system. In May of 2006 I came down with
Shingles and have been playing "catch-up" ever since. Shingles put me flat on my back for
6 months and took my energy away.

    By the end of 2008, I was on my way to catching up. Many of you who have been waiting so
patiently are now seeing your commissions delivered. With that in mind I returned to the horse
show scene in the fall of 2009. I managed to make it to Pin Oak and The Spring Gathering and
the National Reining Breeder Cup.

    Then in the summer of 2010 disaster struck. My brother died unexpectedly while on safari in
South Africa. It turned my life upside down. I was unaware that he had made me Executrix of
his estate. My life became a series of lawyers, accoutants, bankers and real estate agents. I did not made it to any 2010 fall shows.

    In 2011 I decided to get back to normal and made plans to attend the spring shows:
Pin Oak, The Spring Gathering, NRBC and the Houston Dressage Society Spring Shows.
Everything was in place to set up my booth at these shows. Then just as Pin Oak was getting
started my mother fell ill. She died March 27, 2011, at the age of 97. Never did I expect to
loose my mother and my brother in less than a year. I truly could not predict
what life had in store for me.

    Early in 2012 my father-in-law died naming my husband executor of his estate. I made it to
Pin Oak and The Spring Gathering. Being completely stressed out I decided to take some time
off for a little fun. In 2011 Georgia Griffiths of Encino, California, commissioned a perpetual
trophy for the Del Mar National Dressage Show held each spring. It is the Two Dancers
Perpetual Trophy, commissioned by G2 Software, Ms. Griffiths' company, to be awrded to the
winner of the Grand Prix Musical Freestyle Class.
    In 2011 the winner was Steffen Peters on Ravel. But the actual bronze trophy was not ready. It would be delivered in early 2012 in time for the 2012 event.
    I flew out to Del Mar in April, 2012, to present the trophy for the first time. Steffen Peters won again, but this time on Legolas 92. Ravel ws being saved for the Olympics.
It was a wonderful opportunity to meet some new people and forget all taht was a home for a few days.

    Now with 3 estates to settle and 4 houses to sell life is complicated. I do want to make an
appearaance at the fall shows at Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy.Look for my booth in October and November. See my On the Road page for more details.

     What is sure is that we will eventually move to the Hill Country near Austin. My husband and I are both Texas Exes and have always wanted to move back to Austin. But I still plan to keep a presence at Great Southwest through sponsorship and advertising. My billboard.

Horses and art are my passion and will remain so.