Biography

Rebecca’s paintings focus on her passion for horses and horse racing:

“For me, drawing is an act of appreciation and devotion. There is a certain alchemy in capturing a photographic image and using it as inspiration for my art commissions. The athleticism, beauty and courage of racehorses consistently inspires me.

My artwork projects allow me to spend time around racehorses and their unique public/private world. Amongst other equine superstars, I have been lucky enough to photograph Frankel, the highest rated horse in the world, at work on the gallops in Newmarket, winning on the race course and also in his retirement at Banstead Manor Stud. I then use my photographic images to capture the spirit of my subject horse on paper or canvas, whether in watercolour, pencil or mixed media. The end product is, I hope, a true painted/hand drawn representation of a beautiful, powerful and graceful creature”.

Rebecca was born in Cheshire and trained in Fine Art/Painting at Leeds Metropolitan University.

On completion of her degree, Rebecca was awarded free studio space at The Florence Trust – a charity for national and international artists. Working as one of the nine artist’s in residence at The Florence Trust and having free studio space meant that Rebecca was able to concentrate full-time on developing her art work for a year and a half. Her tenure at The Florence Trust culminated in a two-person exhibition ‘As It Is’ (Rebecca Arnold & Alexandra Baraitser), at The Barbican Centre, London, which was well received by the critics.

Rebecca has exhibited her paintings since 1994 and in addition, has been one of the invited artists to take part in the world renowned Secret show at the Royal College of Art from 2005 onwards.

Her art work has been featured in The Racing Post and Art Review magazine.