Top Of The World By Shelley Hunter

Artist Shelley Hunter grew up in Michigan and has had a passion for art and horses since childhood. She has a bachelor’s degree in art from Michigan State University and spent time as a painter and ceramicist, but she never found the artistic satisfaction she sought until she discovered sculpture. Then, as she describes it, “Bells and whistles went off, and I knew that this was it. This was what I was meant to do.”

Hunter specializes in equine subjects and said that translating the beauty and power of the horse into clay and metal is a constant joy. She likes to describe her style as “the inevitability of the next movement. I like to push my pieces to the point where there is only one possible place it can go. The next movement becomes inevitable, beyond the point of balance.”

The bronze Top Of The World is 26″ x 24″ x 12″.

Hunter is a full member of the American Academy of Equine Art and currently serves as the organization’s executive director. After working for years as advertising director for several retail firms, she said that the AAEA position and studio at the Kentucky Horse Park is the best job she’s ever had.

“I’m surrounded by horses and art every day. Who could ask for more?” she asked.