Life-size sculpture commission for Public Park	"Nashua as a foal" Model for foal in Thoroughbred Park, Lexington, KY Private commission, NFS	"Storm Cat" Model for life-size private commission
Life-size outdoor installation at Reba McIntyre's Starstruck Studio	Five life-size racing horses installed at Santa Fe Downs	Detail of Thoroughbred Park, Lexington, Kentucky racing group

 

If there was one thing young Gwen Reardon knew with great certainty, she wanted to ride horses. They were a part of her life from birth, her father was a horse trainer and equitation instructor. Her days would start with talking her father into taking her with him to the stable, hoping she would get to ride. Usually the agreement was that she had to stay where he put her and not bother him while he was working horses and teaching customers. On a good day she would get to ride about noon; there would be horses made of mounded shavings, tanbark or just dirt, manes and tails of straw or hay, depending on the bale she had been told to wait on and where the base was. Her determination to ride paid off when at age five; Gwen became the state equitation champion. She grew to prominence with winning rides at major shows including the being the youngest competitor to win the ladies championship at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Showing horses consists of a lot of "hurry up and wait"; the waiting she filled with drawings on her show programs. Surrounded by impressive subjects representing many different breeds, she developed her skills. While not in the show ring, art museums and fine art galleries were her haunts. It followed that her program drawings would become sought after, leading to a demand for her paintings. She developed a habit of making small wax sculptures that she used in the composition of her paintings. Gwen discovered the technique after reading that Charles Russell had used it. While she did not cast any of these early wax sculptures, there was one for every painting. Wax evolved to clay and clients wanted the sculptures.

When asked what it is that inspires her artwork, Gwen explains that it is the day to day experiences of her life, working with the many different horses that have come her way. This coupled with an artistic intent to honor the integrity of that which became the subject of her work, while seeing the spirit of it's being.

The most publicly visible collection of her work is in Lexington, Kentucky's downtown Thoroughbred Park. There are seven life-size horses depicting a race toward the finish line. Also in the park are brood mares and foals and the great stallion Lexington. Her work is also featured at the Kentucky Horse Park as well as in private collections and museums around the world. Two important sculptural groupings are in Nashville, Tennessee: one at Starstruck, the studio of country western star Reba McEntyre; and the other at the entrance to beautiful Belle Mead.

Recent work includes a life-size portrait of the leading thoroughbred sire Storm Cat, along with limited edition smaller models of the same, as well as, a collection of three, free-spirited equines to be placed in a large fountain pool near Atlanta, Georgia. She has received many awards for the quality of her work. Gwen is a Full Member and currently serves on the Board of the American Academy of Equine Art, Inc. She lives outside of Lexington, Kentucky on a small farm where she continues to ride and enjoy her horses.