Maria Partridge grew up riding horses. Now, as a professional artist and teacher of art and graphic design at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, she uses images of the horse as a means to explore nature.
"Wild Horses," paintings by Partridge, will be on exhibit at the Western Nevada College Gallery in the Bristlecone Building, Monday, Sept. 20-Friday, Nov. 12.
"My current work uses horses as the imagery while focusing on the paradox of vulnerability and power that they represent," Partridge said. "I am very concerned about the future of the West's wild horses as they are caught between the mythology of their origins and the plight of survival due to lack of available land on which to graze."
She describes her work as "a poetic inquiry, exploring the essence of the horse and presenting that to the viewer so they will experience and share my empathy with these noble creatures."