This is the first painting of the new series ‘Whisper’, inspired by Paard Verzameld art challenge ‘whisper’. The titel really resonated. I’ve had the idea for the series for a while now, but it wasn’t clear yet and with the word ‘whisper’ I suddenly saw my whole series in front of me and I was emotionally touched by this.
‘Some people talk to animals, not many listen though. That’s the problem.’ ~ A.A. Milne
As a vet I see a lot of animal abuse. Things we see as ‘normal’, come with cruelty that we are not always aware of. This has been bothering me for quite a while and I decided to make a series out of this.
From each piece of the series that is sold, 25% of the profits will be donated to a charity.
For this piece I choose ‘The Old Horses Lodge’, based in Laarne, Belgium, a recognized shelter for abandoned, abused or sick horses. After rehabilitation they give new home to horses, which were confiscated by federal public service for animal welfare. More info: https://www.tohl.be/
This piece is called ‘Lucky’.
His name is Alvaro, which means warrior.
He was on a truck for the last 26 hours from Spain to Belgium together with 8 other horses. No food, no water. Exhausted and dehydrated. He has never been this scared, but the horse next to him is even worse.
Soon a vet will check him if he is lucky and he will get a better life when someone unknown will buy him for too much money because of his fake passport that tells he’s only 7 years old, while he’s actually 13. Someone will take good care of him. He will have enough water and a lot of powerfood which he can eat till his belly hurts. He will have a nice big stable of 3x3m2 with plenty of wet straw where he can sleep tight and draw circles for 23 hours a day. He will have a nice owner who will love him endlessly and will bump 1 hour a day on his back that hurts, drawing more circles but this time in the round pen. If he’s lucky he can also go outside for a couple of hours and if he’s even more lucky, he will get some friends. But that’s only for some lucky few.
