Contemporary Artist Stacey Mayer

Stacey Mayer is a contemporary artist who grew up riding her horse in the Woodinville area north of Seattle.

"Because my parents took us to Seattle's Lake City Library frequently, I always had plenty of books to help me explore the subjects that have become my lifelong favorites." From horses to dinosaurs, Stacey still spends time reading and drawing, just as she did as a child. Today she practices her distinct way of drawing with her young grandson, Benjamin.

Stacey's modern-style drawings and paintings had an immediately recognizable style even when she was a child. Her drawing style became distinct even while she was an elementary student. She developed her way of drawing from reading books and drawing the animals at the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo. She loved to draw all over the large pages of discarded computer paper her Dad would bring home from work. With a never-ending supply of paper and crayons, her imagination was full of her favorite animals from the zoo. Even today, Stacey's contemporary acrylic paintings and sculptures of animals, and the horse and rider, are her specialty.  

As a young mother, she would create images on newsprint paper of fantastic birds, dragons, unicorns, mermaids, and wild mustangs all running and prancing together to delight her four girls. Placing long pieces of paper on the floor, her daughters would sit down with their crayons and pencils to draw together for hours. "We loved using the colors of the big crayon boxes, and we made the most colorful horses, birds, and fish possible," she relates. Most of her drawings were of horses, but she would also spend hours sketching all of her daughter's favorites.

Now a grandmother, she still draws beautiful horses of all breeds plus imaginary beasts to share with children and the young at heart all over the world. Her work also includes numerous wild birds, North American animals, native fish species, and even prehistoric animals of every type, while her horses remain her trademark.

Beautiful Arabian horses are still a great source of inspiration. "I've found a truly beautiful horse may come from any breed. It's their symmetry of line, fluid motion, and conformational balance that speaks to me," Stacey adds, "finding exceptional horses and watching them as they move still makes my heart sing."

Her equine art shows the influence of seeing many champion horses from several breeds, such as Arabian, Appaloosa, Friesian, Haflinger, Morgan, Paint, Quarter horses, and Saddlebreds in person. These are a few of the famous horses she still sees in her mind's eye; Bear Paw, Calico Girl, Carolina Caberet, Crystal Vision, Ga'Zi, El Hilal, Khemosabi, Mondo, *Muscat, Sander Charge, *Tjeert, and TheEgyptianPrince. Her distinctive horses are frequently spotted in leading equestrian lifestyle magazines worldwide.

Many species of animals eventually find their way into her sketchbooks. From Appaloosas to Friesians, birds to fishes; regardless of what she's drawing, Stacey's style can be immediately recognized. Thankfully, it's a style particularly suited to coloring books and graphic applications, too. As her drawings turn into new coloring book pages on AWhiteHorse.com™ they may also find their way into original hand-made mosaics, sculptures, and digital paintings she turns into prints, apparel, and household gift items. As requests for new favorites come from Benjamin, and her extended family, they are soon shared with you.

Stacey often has her grandson in the studio drawing and painting beside her. Currently, they're learning about turtles, trucks, and dinosaurs.Ben loves to draw and paint beside her, and just as important, he's very good at picking up all of his crayons and remembering to clean his brushes. 

With the wonderful Houston Zoo just down the road, they'll be able to see many of the same animals Stacey loved to draw as a child. They're looking forward to seeing elephants and flamingos, ocelots, and anteaters together in 2022. Stacey believes, "you start with regular visits to a friendly local barn, (Royal Legend Egyptian Arabians,) frequent trips to the library, and the zoo, then you add generous amounts of paper and crayons. That's the tried and true recipe for growing a young artist."

We hope to encourage many new generations of horse and animal lovers through the pages of Stacey's online projects and coloring books.

Stacey moved with her family to Bryan, Texas in the summer of 2020. They're within easy driving distance of the Houston Zoo. 

Benjamin has his backpack packed and ready.

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