Time and time again, I am impressed by the dedicated equestrians that have connected their love of horses with their education and/or skill set to create a unique business. Betsie Millsap is a competitor on the hunter/jumper circuit, but by trade she is an illustrator and earned her masters degree form the highly selective and specialized Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Ms. Millsap has combined her two passions to create The Artful Equine, which offers "Fine & Functional Artworks for the Equestrian Lifestyle" including greeting cards, mixed media portraits, custom pillows, brushes and much more. The Artful Equine hosts pop-up boutiques called "The Amazing Traveling Show" at multiple horse shows throughout the year including this year's prestigious USEF Pony Finals in Kentucky.
Ms. Millsap has a unique talent to work across various mediums of art, but my personal favorites are her mixed medium portraits that combine watercolor paintings with embroidery. Various ready made items are available, but if you would like a special gift of a beloved horse or dog, i highly recommend contacting The Artful Equine!
Salut!
Kristin
ABOUT THE ARTFUL EQUINE-
IN THE WORDS OF BETSIE MILSAP:
I am an Illustrator by trade and graduated with a BFA & MFA in my field. My passion lies in watercolors, but I am just as comfortable and competent working in oils, acrylics, and all sorts of mixed media. I discovered a great love of embroidery and sewing right after grad school and eventually developed my unique signature style of using hand-embroidery over watercolors to bring my fun & whimsical illustration designs to life. This process eventually led to hand-tinting patterned fabrics with acrylic paints and then using appliqué and hand-embroidery to create a finished piece.
After grad school I worked a seasonal freelance job that left me with several months of down- time, so I decided to re-visit a childhood hobby and ended up getting back into horses! I grew up riding Western trails/pleasure very casually and had one of my first jobs running weekend trail rides through the Girl Scouts. I got out of horses during college and so ended up with an 8-year "break" plus a major switch in disciplines. I ride and show H/J now & own a wonderful TBx Hunter named Legend. When I'm not busy riding, working in the studio, or vending at a horse show, I also travel as a professional groom for a top H/J barn... so basically it's all horses all the time and I love it!
I was "pushed" into starting what became The Artful Equine a few years ago by my trainer. I was making things for myself and painting portraits as gifts; she saw potential and gave me some great ideas on what items I could create! I started out making pillows, which led to tea towels, which led to saddle pads, and then hand-painted brushes, stall signs, etc etc. My business is definitely all about offering high-quality, unique/one-of-a-kind, & custom handmade fine & functional artworks for every horse (or dog or cat!) lover & equestrians practicing any discipline.
My "pet" project right now is definitely my (slowly) expanding line of greeting cards. I hope to develop unique designs for every equestrian in any discipline and offer a huge line of greeting cards/stationary products! I currently have specific H/J & Dressage sets available but am developing and working on many more: an Eventing set, Arabian horse breed set (this one is quite large as a plethora of disciplines are represented), an "ABC" Breed set, and several Occasional Card sets. I currently offer a custom design option where I will create an original illustration or traditional portrait painting using clients' photos and use that piece for custom greeting card sets.
I also keep a photo archive of every fiber art piece I've made (the artwork from custom Tea Towels, Pillows, Saddle Pads etc) and use these artwork photos as card designs as well! I do all my own printing in my studio on beautiful archival-quality artist paper and also assemble every card by hand...I'm really "big" on everything I do being handmade!
All of my fiber pieces (tea towels, pillows, etc) are entirely made by hand, to-order, and customized using clients' photos.
SHOP/SOCIAL/CONNECT
SHOP: www.etsy.com/shop/theartfulequine
EMAIL: theartfulequine@gmail.com
FACEBOOK: @theartfulequine
AMAZING TRAVELING SHOW:
USEF Pony Finals
August 8 – August 13
The Artful Equine is thrilled to announce that it's Amazing Traveling Show is headed to PONY FINALS 2017 to set up the booth and vend some beautiful wares! If you or someone you know is attending please drop by and say "hello" to Betsie Milsap (and shop!). Some new artworks are planned for this event as well as some specials and give-always. Be sure to follow on Facebook @theartfulequine for more details!