I loooove Robert Dutesco's series of photographs of the Sable Island horses. Sable Island is off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada and home to around 300 feral horses. The first horses were brought to the island in the late 1700s when the Acadians were deported to the American colonies from Nova Scotia by the British authorities. Apparently, they were forced to abandon their livestock so they left around 60 domesticated horses on Sable Island. The abandoned horses adapted to the harsh climate of the island and became wild. Throughout the 1800s and into the 20th century, Sable Island horses were regularly rounded up and sold at auction in Halifax. The prices were cheap and many of them ended up working in the coal mines of Cape Breton Island or as dog food. Since 1960, however, they have been protected by the Canadian government and it is now illegal to remove or interfere with the horses. Dutesco has permission to photograph the horses and the resulting work is stunning. I mean, there is horse photography and Horse Photography, and this is definitely the latter. Unfortunately, his work comes with a price tag to match. You should have heard me when I called to enquire about buying one of his pieces... hahaha oooh boy, did I feel silly. Thousands of dollars, people. If you want to check them out, go here.
So, I happened to stumble across a relatively high resolution image of one of his photographs. And I printed it out. And I framed it. And I hung it. I know... it's probably illegal or something and as an art-enthusiast I'm pretty embarrassed. Consider it a pledge to actually own a real one someday.
Phew, I'm glad I got that out of the way.
To frame it, I did my usual Ikea/custom mash-up. The print is a custom size and I had the surrounding mat custom cut to fit the print and an Ikea frame. I steered away from precious and went for dramatic by using a large frame and an unusual mat.
At the top of those two stairs, to the right, is our bedroom. Down the two stairs is the bathroom (to the left) and the spare room (to the right). A previous owner did a really good thing when they installed a skylight over the stairs. Keeps them from from being too dreary. You know what else will do that? WHITE PAINT.
It might not be your cup of tea, but you have to admit: if something makes you smile every time you look at it - you should probably hang it on your wall.
