I
f the pen is mightier than the sword,
can a paintbrush be more effective
than a rifle? It has been three years
since British equine artist Freddy Paske
swopped one for the other, trading in the
tours of far-off lands from his seven years in
the army for a barn-turned-makeshift-studio
on a friend's farm in Hampshire. On this cold
January morning, with the snow falling out-
side as he prepares another masterpiece,
does he ever stop to reflect on how big a
transition it has been? "It's been crazy," he
admits with a grin.
"I think people come to me because of the
way I interpret things. They know I special-
ize in racing scenes, and they might tell me
the colors they want, or they might say they
want Royal Ascot or the Kentucky Derby, but
they'll leave it up to me to create the compo-
sition, and there's a real element of freedom
in that."
Crazy is only the beginning. No longer are
Paske's days filled with military operations
in Afghanistan or Bosnia; instead he battles
deadlines, finishes up commissions, plans fu-
ture exhibitions and trips to races abroad –
purely for meetings and to gain inspiration –
and then turns his attentions to his personal
life, planning a potential house purchase this
summer and his wedding later in the year.
