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 About the artist: Olva Stewart Pharo 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 those horses as a very small child and the joy it gave me. I never got over it. I never owned a horse as a child but somehow over the years, as an adolescent and teenager, I managed to have horses to take care of and ride; always Western. After high school graduation, I was fortunate enough to get accepted to the University of Texas at Austin where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1969. 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. Around the same time 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 talented and patient trainers (Terri Beck, Kevin Cleveland, Keith Merifield and Teri Bludworth) we went to a lot of shows and won a lot of ribbons. As I became more involved in the equine community I realized "the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing", in other words, there was no communication between the activities and no way of knowing what was going on right around the corner. (In 1980 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 shows, clinics and events in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana & New Mexico. By default I became a photo/journalist, following Texans to horse shows from Arizona to Florida. 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. 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. In 1980 I had also started The Stable Farm & Trainer Directory which I re-named the Texas Horseman's Directory. I still publish it today. You can find it online at: www.texashorsemansdirectory.com. After The Horse Sheet failed I had to take 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. For four years I was horseless and in semi-retirement as a fulltime mother. One day 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. The following year I used a another framed print but this time the drawing was a portrait of a particular horse still in competition. A competitor walked up to the drawing and recognized the horse, the Trakehner Stallion, Adelssohn, owned by Hans Boone. 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 portraits have followed. 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 over 25 years to build a foundry and cast a bronze in 1968 under the guidance of Ishmael Soto.) 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. Then I was introduced to the model horse collecting world. (Tricked Out Pony Competition.) Portraits are still 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 it 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. And so was my immune system. I came down with Shingles in May, 2006, and have been playing "catch-up" ever since. Shingles put me flat on my back for 6 months and took my strength away. As of the spring of 2008 I feel I am coming back, but slowly. Many of you have been waiting a long time for your commissions and I truly appreciate your patience. Commissions and Special Awards and Trophies I have been involved with: * 1996 - Official Portrait of the Border Fiesta Grand Prix, graphite pencil portrait (18" x 24") "Peter Pletcher and Uncle Sam", now in private collection. * 1997 - Official Artist for the United States Equestrian Team Texas Endowment Campaign, "A Very Special Evening at the King Ranch," graphite pencil drawing, 18" x 24", auctioned at this gala fund raiser at the King Ranch in Kingsville. It was bought by a member of the King Ranch family and resides at the ranch. * 1997 - "A Labor of Love", graphite pencil drawing, 18" x 24", is a special drawing I donated to SIRE Therapeutic Riding to honor the dedicated volunteers. Sales of prints and note cards still benefit S.I.R.E., in privae collection. * 1997 & 1999 - drawings have appeared on the cover of "The Chronicle of the Horse", "Labor of Love" and "Ribbon Guard", one of the few cats to ever appear on a Chronicle cover. * 1998 - commissioned to do the cover art for the 51st Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, program, colored pencil drawing of past POCHS champions, 18" x 24". The design was used for prints, posters and t-shirts. A portion of the proceeds benefited the Ronald McDonald House of Houston. * 2000 - commissioned to create a trophy for the Texas Dressage Classic, held annually at Las Colinas Equestrian Center in Irving, TX. It is awarded annually to the high point amateur at the show. The first award was given April 29, 2001. * 2000 & 2003 - drawings featured on the cover of the "Lone Star Horse Report", the portrait of "Gigong, the Elite Hanoverian Stallion" and a color drawing called "A Colt, a Bucket and a Big Red Barn". * 2000 - "Gigong's" portrait along with a portrait bronze of "Pintus, an Irish Hunter" appeared in an article on equine artists in "Horse Illustrated". * 2002 - commissioned by Positive Step Farm to create a perpetual trophy for the Detroit Dressage Society, Detroit, MI. Awarded annually with plaques. * 2003 - "Gucci", a bronze portrait of Canaan Ranch's champion dressage gelding, was awarded the Equine Visions Choice Award for sculpture in the Equine Art Guild's Annual Show and was featured in Equine Visions Magazine (now called "Horses in Art"). * 2003 - created the "Calaveras County Lifetime Achievement Award" for the Greater Houston Hunter Jumper Association, to be awarded annually to the GHHJA member who has made a significant contribution to the club and horse showing in general * 2004 - commissioned portrait of Jennifer Price's horses appeared in an article on equine artists in Horse Illustrated showing how such a drawing of two horses together was created. * 2005 - created the Calaveras County Perpetual Trophy" for the Annual Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. In 2005 it was awarded to the winner of the $5000 Adult/Junior Gamblers Choice. In 2007 and 2008 it is being awarded to the winner of the $20,000 Children's/Adult Jumper Classic. *2005 - Reserve Champion Adult Division, "Tricked Out Pony Contest", 50% of proceeds to animal shelter groups, contest to make a Peter Stone model horse into a "Tricked Out Pony". * 2005 - colored pencil drawing "Farrier's First Horse" appeared in December, 2005, EQUUS magazine as an illustration for an article on new horse owners. * 2007 - Jane Queener Perpetual Trophy Best Young Horse Award to be presented annually at The Spring Gathering Hunter Jumper Show held each April, Katy, TX *2008 - Kickin' Cancer Out of Texas, Lawndale Art & Performance Center, Boot Painter - January 10, 2008 Olva Stewart Pharo, artist & horsewoman - Houston Dressage Society (HDS), member since 1979 Greater Houston Hunter Jumper Association (GHHJA), member since 1984 Founding member of the Greater Houston Horse Council, newletter editor, 1993 Equine Art Guild (EAG), member since 1999 Realistic Equine Sculpture Society (RESS), 2007 Women in the Visual and Literary Arts (WIVLA), 2007 The Glory of Horses Mural Project, 2007 |
