About Malem, Glass Equine Artist

Love of horses, love of glass, love of nature

Innate love

Ever since I can remember I truly loved horses. I did love animals, even weird ones like frogs and snakes. I loved nature regarding horses it is just more!

Since my childhood I drew and sculpted horses. My fascination, wonderment and deep love for the equine creatures have no limits.

Artist Statement

Our playful eyes meet, an ear swivels, a nostril quivers, the manes shiver...
They take off, infuse my entire being with their frenzied games, ardour, intensity, grace, beauty and especially joy! I savour this moment allowing me to run inside my heart, because my body won’t allow it any more, sharing their frolics, feasts for my eyes that I try my best to engrave in my memory.

A sound emerging from me... they come galloping back and surround me. They invite me, welcoming me in their world for silence, where calm may only last a moment.
I slip into it, perceptive, I enter this unique universe, pure, where only a noble heart has access.
I lose myself and I find myself there, we are the same, we are one, we are the herd.

This relational privilege that horses offer me, this love, this generosity, this gentleness that can, at any moment, turn into spectacular intensity, I imprint in my heart as a sacred gift, so I may hold on to them during the storms of life. This treasured gift allows me to forget, for a moment, the pain that inhabits me.

These memories, these messages, these magnificent images, constitute what I try to share in my paintings. My art is a tribute to the deep nature of the horse, authentic, wild, free and untameable.
An interpretation of life, movement, emotions that I render with different mediums, as I am fond of more than one.

My favourite is, however, glass...
This crystalline material that dances with the light, whose transparency makes my art so alive, vibrant, deep... I choose it, it has conquered my heart, it fascinates me. I transform it, respect it. It constitutes the main voice through which I choose to share the joy that horses offer me, trying to : make the world a better place, one horse at a time...

A Special Challenge

This is hard for me to share because I am not proud of my condition, but I think you deserve it.

After years of equestrian sports, show jumping and dressage riding became painful due to a congenital condition that deteriorated. I started working on the ground and at liberty. Years later, running became too painful... and it resulted in a dead end in the training of my horses on the ground : I had to be faster!

Thanks to my innate creative mind, I thought that if I trained the boys to follow my ATV I could be fast enough to ask for trot, then canter respecting their level of training/fitness.

They were not so sure... but with time, patience, love, understanding, accepting failures, and lots of treats... well here we are!

They chose to gift me their trust and follow the ATV and even sometimes, if I am lucky, they will play with me and we can "run" together once more.

They run for me, make me feel the joy of unrestricted free movement and uplift my heart. They make me feel wild and free just like running did and we share an amazing connection! The fact that they allow me to "Run through them" trusting and letting me in their own feelings is a true blessing and makes life with chronic pain bearable.

Even if they have reached a level where they can trot collected slow enough to follow my lame walk, we enjoy faster paste with the ATV and wild games!

See pictures of the herd now...

Formal Professional Training and Career

My formal training in Graphics Arts led me to illustrate children’s books, corporate projects, educational material, hyper-realistic animals, create characters, logos, design and program websites. I was proud to create all graphics and illustrations for all my projects. I also studied animation and 3D. I have been a professional artist and artisan for over 30 years. I am a member of multiple art and crafts recognized associations. My art was granted by multiple grants and prizes.

Constant Evolution and Exploration

Interested as much in traditional media as computer art, I choose the preferred medium for each project. I now sculpt my jewelry horses in 3D on the computer as an example because I can perfect more details this way. I love oil painting for the richness of the colours, ink drawings and paintings to capture spontaneous impressions of life. But … my absolute favourite medium is glass!!

I discovered glass during a stained glass class. From then on, a true passion ignited. Followed by sculpting and blowing glass at the torch, I now joined my painting/drawing and glass passions in the art of Stained Glass Painting, fused glass, painting with glass on a never ending quest of finding new ways to recycle glass.

Fearless

I am always tempted to try different mediums. Indulging in drawing/painting pleasure, I always manage to find a way to get the results I want. Challenging myself this way is part of my artistic journey. With each medium I explore something different that is always has the goal to enhance my glass paintings. I explore colour palettes, drawing faster or more intuitively, being more spontaneous, anatomy, digital art studies, 3D modelling, so many tools ... love them all so : why choose if you don't have to! Each medium bringing its challenges help me evolve and improve. It is also just FUN! My love of Glass

My love of Glass

Glass found me during a stained glass class. Followed the torch, flameworking glass ignited a true passion for the medium. The transparency, the crystalline beauty, and the magical way it reacts and dances with light amazes me and it is this aspect I cherish the most in my glass horse sculptures and paintings. Glass can be deep, textured, shaped, but always magnificent! You can get lost into glass, entering a deep unique realm.

Walking a Different Path

Since I always do things differently because my goals always push the usual path. I had to experiment and find my very own way to paint or sculpt my subjects on glass.

Wild and Free

Horses remain wild at heart, pure and sensitive. Freedom is of utmost importance for them, something we share deeply. I allow my horses to be free, they almost always choose to come and do all the complex exercises I propose, learning and trying their best. This really touches me, their generosity, how they love to make me happy. The immense pleasure to witness their progress, their beauty, to see the reflection of my joy in their pride of knowing I am happy and indulging in their beauty.

Lifetime Study of Every Aspect of the Horse

My study of horse behaviour, training, movement, anatomy, kinesiology has been lifetime journey for over 30 years. Rider, show jumper, trainer, groom, massage, hoof health, name it, I always wanted it all! Just can’t get enough!

My art reflects my profound admiration for this magnificent and majestic animal.

From them to my eyes, from my heart through my hand, I paint and sculpt the horse in a continuous quest to share and express movement, life, emotion, beauty, grace and the wild side inhabiting every horse.