SUMMER 09

Painted Ponies

Native Essence

Native Americans are masters at the use of color to convey spiritual significance. Vibrant colors bring traditional designs, symbols and costumes alive with special meaning. North, for example, is designated as yellow, because the evening in winter is yellow. West is blue for the Pacific Ocean. South, the region of summer, is red, while East is white, signifying the dawn. An artist who has developed a national reputation for her unique use of electrically charged colors, Maria Ryan has combined her distinctive palette with the imagery of "fetish bears" – believed to represent strength, courage and good luck – in a design that embodies the essence of Native Art.

Height: 17cm

Painted Pony

Thunder Horse

"When my grandson was young, he would become scared whenever there were thunderstorms," says Florida artist Barbara Brown. "To calm him, I told him the Native American story of the Thunder Horse, and how he would descend from the sky to the mountain tops, and how the tramping of his hooves caused thunder, lightning and then the rain that made the crops and grass and trees grow and be happy. After that, whenever he heard thunder he would smile and say, 'Grandma, there's the Thunder Horse.' I painted this Pony for him."

Height: 15cm