Traveling Artist Roaming the Congress Grounds Might Have Painted Your Picture
By: Brittany Bevis
If you’re at the All American Quarter Horse Congress this week, you might have noticed a man, toting a sketchpad, pencils, and pots of paint, roaming the show grounds seeking out subjects for plein art inspiration. The artist is Jim Riesenberger, who lives right here in Columbus, Ohio. He patiently waits every year for the Congress to arrive so he can spend a full month sketching and painting some of his favorite subjects, horses and their riders.
“I’ve been painting here for three years,” he says. “I wait every year for the horses to get here so I can enjoy painting and sketching. My whole focus, at this point, is sketching. I’ve been a professional oil painting artist with an equine focus for 12 years. I’ve been selling primarily down in Lexington, Kentucky. Most of that work was done off of computers, and I decided I wanted to focus on sketching live subjects- horses and people.”
We first spotted Jim in the Coliseum early in the week with small pots of brightly colored watercolors set up neatly along the stands as he picked out the most beautiful confirmation horses for his quick sketches. Later in the week, we ran into Jim in the Trail warm up arena, with a thick brush spreading a loose wash of black and white to capture the movement of riders putting horses through their paces before the competition. For Jim, the discipline doesn’t matter; he simply enjoys capturing the action.
“As long as they have four legs and are breathing and moving, I will paint them!” he laughs. “It doesn’t matter what class it is. I was here during the Ohio State Fair to do the heavier duty horses, and that was very interesting and different.”
Jim doesn’t have a favorite medium, per say. His choice of pastels, pencil, or paint depends on his mood that day. “I told my wife this morning that I was on my way to do pastels. I did that for about ten minutes, and now I’ve back to watercolors. I’ve been doing watercolors for about a week, which is totally exciting. I’ve been doing oil paintings, but that’s a little cumbersome to bring here and haul around. I’m working with water right now, and I’m totally loving it.”
Jim doesn’t do any custom portraits at this point. He simply enjoys capturing live subjects in action. “I’m just looking for subjects in motion, nothing static. I want something loose and fresh that will show the action.” Also, he isn’t an equestrian or horse owner, just an admirer. “I don’t have a horse, and probably never will, but I’m definitely an admirer. Horses are exciting to me.”
If you’re around the show grounds these last few days of the Congress, keep an eye out for Jim, because he might be painting your picture. “I will be here pretty much every day during the Congress. You never know; I could be painting them and they might never know it! I try not to make anybody notice me. I like to stay in the background.”
