About Debbi LerMond

With an equine art career that spans five decades, this self-taught sculptor and Seattle native was destined to become a household name when it comes to horses and art. Creating art at the age of four, Debbi progressed over the years with her art and developed a leaning towards three dimensional works, especially bronze. Debbi's love of the Arabian horse and her helping with the family Arabian breeding operation as a teenager, gave her a distinct advantage when it came to knowledge of equine behavior and anatomy. Her greatest advantage as a sculptor was recognizing that her talent was God given and that she was compelled to create as a fundamental human need, just as much as sleeping and eating.

Debbi formed the business, Maranatha II in the mid-seventies and began creating life-like bronze sculptures in 1980. In 1984, she financed the documentary produced by Starlite Productions called, "The Creation of National Treasures" which depicted the bronze foundry process from start to finish. Debbi's bronzes, along with many other well known sculptors, were featured in this documentary which has been shown around the globe, including The Museum of Man in Japan.

In 1985, she helped form the corporation, Hallelujah Bronze, Inc. The business relationship lasted 8 1/2 years at which time she broke away from sculpting to pursue other business ventures. Debbi found herself doing anything but sculpting for the period of time after she left the corporation to recover from an occupational hazard of bronze sculpting, CTS.

In 1994, while self-employed, Debbi fell in love with and was soon engaged to Larry Backstrom. A blind date set up by a mutual friend watching Larry take a jumping lesson turned into a fairytale garden wedding 4 1/2 years later. For the next six years, Debbi helped Larry build a highly successful software business. Working seven days a week with 16 hours days had its price and with the new millennium approaching, Debbi and Larry started a new business venture with HorseModels.com. Combining her deep love of horses and art with her husband's computer skills, the business took off. Today, she has created 20 resin limited editions from her studio on her five acre horse farm in Duvall, Washington which she shares with her husband, their two Toy Red Poodles and their two horses. Debbi enjoys listening to Classic movies or her iPod while sculpting in her studio. In spite of long hours working, she still finds time to go horseback riding, hiking, caving and camping in the mountains with Larry and the pups and enjoys living and working in the Pacific Northwest that inspires her so much.

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About Kitty Cantrell

In an attempt to represent the sheer magnificence of wildlife in bronze, many artists are able to capture the likenesses of their subject matter perfectly. Proportions are carefully measured. Textures are skillfully applied and the final representation is unmistakable. However, the ability to embody the artwork with the unique spirit of the animal is an elusive quality that is achieved by few. It requires an understanding of the life force of the creature itself. Being able to breathe life into a medium that is cool to the touch differentiates a skillful artist from an exceptional one. Creating the illusion of movement or expressing a behavior that is unique to a species is the subtle quality that defines a fine art bronze.

Artist and sculptor Kitty Cantrell has had a lifelong fascination with everything wild. She has studied the behaviors of animals with an artist's eye and imagination. Her driving passion has been to capture the essence of the animals she chooses to depict in her artwork. As a self-taught sculptor, she has refined her skills as an artist for nearly a quarter of a century. It is her unique ability to capture the emotion of how we as the viewer feel about the animals she chooses to create, which has won her countless awards and critical acclaim. Her identification with the subject matter has led her to be one of the most widely collected wildlife artists working in the United States today.

As a native of Southern California, Kitty Cantrell attributes her respect for all things living to a childhood spent in the Mojave Desert. It was in this arid environment that she became acutely aware of the rhythms of nature and she constantly challenges herself to incorporate this understanding into her artwork.

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About Caroline Boydston

Born in Bern, Switzerland, of Italian descent, Caroline Boydston moved with her family to the United states at an early age. Her love of God's creation in all things natural gave her a desire to be an artist or zoologist when she grew up. She was always inspired by the beauty and incredibly complex detail that God puts into everything, especially animals. Also inspired by the artists, Michelangelo and Caravaggio (particularly The Conversion of St. Paul), this self-taught artist started drawing as soon as she could hold a pencil in her hand and hit the ground running at the age of 7 by winning an environmental poster award against high school students. With a painting style that has been described as very detailed, vibrant, realistic, but with an added punch, Caroline strives to bring together the harmony found in nature with a unique style and at times almost obssessive desire to reach artistic perfection. Few artists ever come close to realizing this goal, and the works coming out of Caroline's White Horse Studios, come as close to achieving this as any artist could hope to reach.

Caroline's love of horses and the artwork inspired by them did not go unnoticed by some of the equine world's most recognizable names. Recently, Caroline was commissioned by Penny Chenery to paint Secretariat in a resin and bronze edition, along with Karen and Mickey Taylor to paint Seattle Slew in a resin and bronze edition. She also was commissioned to paint The Starlite creations series of sculptures by Kitty Cantrell and has done work for American Greetings, Churchill Downs and many private famous Thoroughbred owners.

Currently living in Yucaipa, California with her husband, daughter, Great Dane, three cats, a hamster and two horses, Caroline spends her days at times putting in 8 to 14 hours painting, riding and grooming her horses, working out with her friends, and being wife, mother, and friend to her family. She loves to paint to very loud, upbeat music in her studio, drive her speedy Mustang sportscar and yet sometimes slows down enough to brainstorm with Kitty Cantrell whom she collaborates with on many occasions. Caroline's paintjobs on Kitty's sculptures have garnered them both numerous achievements, including 1st Place at the Indian Wells Arts Festival 2005. Caroline also received the Milestone award in 2002 from the Peter Stone Company for outstanding achievement in the model horse industry. Caroline has found over the years that the toughest jobs give her the most satisfaction and she looks forward to each and every new artistic challenge that comes her way as another opportunity to strive for that ever elusive goal of total perfection.

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About Karen Caldwell

The painting style of Karen Caldwell has been considered ground breaking at the very least and it's no wonder. She was born in the Earthquake city of San Francisco, California and moved to Washington State to get away from the unstable ground, only to be replaced by volcanic eruptions of Mt St Helens! Living on a 3 1/2 acre farm in Chehalis, Washington with assorted pets and horses, Karen has always been an animal lover since her early childhood. She dreamed of becoming a horse when she grew up and her aspirations came close to that goal. Known by her close friends as "Elly May Clampett", Karen's love of animals can be seen and heard wherever she goes. Call her on the phone and you will undoubtedly hear a bird squawking in the background. Living in what she calls a pet shop, Karen is forever taking in stray critters, the newest being a Labradoodle she acquired the first week of May, 2007. She currently owns four Arabian geldings, taking time out of her busy painting schedule to train them for shows in halter and performance. Karen's life revolving around horses has become a lifetime passion which can be summed up with her website, Equinehabit.

Because of Karen's love of all things horses, her career gravitated to the horse field and includes 20 years of painting and customizing model horses. Inspired by the painting art of Rich Rudish and Leslie Harrison, Karen developed a unique style which is completely self-taught. She spent years perfecting her techniques which resulted in countless North American Nationals (NAN) Top Tens and Championships and Live Show Championships worldwide. Her painting style is best described as crisp, clean and above all, Live Show Quality (LSQ). She exchanges artistic ideas daily with a few close colleagues and can be found hand painting models until the wee hours of the morning. When inspired by a particularly challenging project, Karen takes little time out for anything not related to painting, including sleeping, eating and household chores. She loves listening to loud music while working and driving fast cars, but One of her greatest achievements is striving to raise her daughter in a wholesome environment to become a happy, well adjusted adult. One thing is for sure, it will include animals, especially horses!

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