Not long ago, upon her retirement from the horse world, Sandy Dimond galloped into a career as a painter.

, the 79-year-old 91原创 artist focuses on the animals that have been a big part of her life for five decades, along with steam locomotives, landscapes, florals and more.

Dimond鈥檚 paintings of horses line an entire wall of the gallery on 72 Avenue.

鈥淚 was a horse trainer, coach, competitor, rider, all of that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not able to ride anymore after a serious injury that could have killed me, but didn鈥檛, 15 or 20 years ago, although I kept working in the horse industry. I miss riding, and wish I still could, but it鈥檚 too painful.鈥�

In her latest 鈥淎CS Gallery Talk鈥� video, fellow artist Wendy Mould interviews Dimond, who got serious about painting only a couple of years ago, and .

鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to paint and would do a little here and there,鈥� Dimond noted, 鈥渂ut when I was transitioning away from the horses, that鈥檚 when I said, 鈥楴ow I can paint,鈥� so I went to town on it.

鈥淚鈥檝e had a couple of wonderful mentors and have really benefited from their help with painting,鈥� she added. 鈥淥ne is in the Cape Cod area, a breeder named Brenda Bradley, and every morning we chat on Messenger 鈥� she sends me pictures, and I work with those.鈥�

Born short-sighted in Calgary, Dimond likes to 鈥減aint big鈥� due to her visual impairment.

鈥淚 work with a large TV screen, and all of these paintings are done with photo references because I don鈥檛 see perspective very well,鈥� she explained.

Dimond鈥檚 鈥淧rogression of an Artist鈥� show is on view at Newton Cultural Centre until Jan. 30, and also .

鈥淢y deep desire in producing paintings it to share the beauty and vibrancy my life has been filled with, a desire for people to experience the animals and landscapes in my images,鈥� Dimond says in a statement. 鈥淧ainting have the capacity to take their viewer to experiences and locations which might otherwise never be available to them.鈥�

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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