The Point Arena Pintos, their Environment and Beyond

The Point Arena Pintos
Their Environment and Beyond
The abandoned Point Arena Pintos have been part of the local scene for many generations, and Jacqueline McAbery adopted them in 2007. The present herd consists of eight, three who are wild and five who have been trained and live on McAbery’s land. They all come from solid stock,  their line goes back to the quarter horse. Two of the horses have one blue eye and one brown eye, which is a distinctive genetic trait among pintos.

As a photographer McAbery captured the life of the pintos and sold photo cards and  calendars of them locally. Her photography led her eventually into becoming a painter.  Her expressionistic abstract and landscape paintings are inspired by the essence and spirit of the natural world filled with the light and color of the Northern California Coast. These delightful horses have become an inspiration for her recent paintings.

The paintings include the wild stallion Thunder who is over 35 years old and his offspring. In this collection McAbery combines realism and abstraction in her work using oil and mixed media. As an occasional  plein air painter, she enjoys painting the horses in their environment in a somewhat realistic style; however, her abstract voice mostly presents the land and horses in a more playful manner.