Pastel Portraits and Commissions

Capturing the Spirit, the Grace, and the Beauty

The Artist

 

Alicia in her Peterborough studio (with help from her family cat Annie)

 Born November 1984,  Alicia Quist is a self taught artist from Peterborough Ontario.

Drawing and painting for as long as she can remember, her favorite subject has always been animals; but her real love is horses. Through the years, she has taught herself to be an accomplished artist. She works mainly in pastels, but also enjoys oils, and acrylic. 

Alicia's ability to capture the heart and soul of her subjects is remarkable: Her portraits come alive! 

"I just love what I do. I put every effort into capturing the emotion and the spirit in each special animal that I paint. I hope to convey these feelings to others through my work.

 "I always love to hear the stories my clients  share with me about their amazing pets. Thank you to all of you who have given support to my work; without you, I wouldn't be where I am today."

 

Alicia is currently living in High River, Alberta, and working in Calgary as a Veterinary Assistant and Receptionist.

Spending some time with a lynx

She finds inspiration every day just by looking out her studio window at the Rocky Mountains.  

My Inspiration

 
Ever since I could talk, all I ever wanted was a horse. Like most little girls, every Christmas, every birthday, I excitedly would wake up and run to look out the window expecting to see my dream horse waiting in the backyard for me. (We lived in the city) I spent the majority of my childhood drawing, and writing stories about all the beautiful horses in my head that I so desperately wanted, but could never have.
As most girls grew out of the pony phase and into the boy phase, I still dreamt about one day having my very own horse. I was as obsessed as they come, and after much nagging,  my parents decided that they could afford to send me for riding lessons when I was 13. This only lasted a year, but  added tremendously to my desire to own my own horse.
I bought Hummer when I was 20. I was in such a hurry to buy this perfect horse, that he was only the third horse I had looked at. I remember my boyfriend and I driving up to the barn at The Ranch and tied to a post were two horses. I saw him, and I said right away "he's the one...look at him! He's beautiful!!" My boyfriend agreed, but we had no idea if he was even one of the horses for sale!
He was PERFECT!
I rode him, but had already decided I wanted to buy him before I got on. This 5 year old, green broke gelding was perfect for a girl with barely any horse experience, who knew nothing about buying a horse even.
Well, a few years later, we have an undeniable bond and have been through a lot together. We are learning from eachother every day, and he teaches me so much about patience, and that hard work really pays off. He is my best friend.