Equine Artist Peter Willams a Kentucky Fixture

New Zealander Peter Williams is the resident artist at Keeneland racecourse in Kentucky, a gentleman with an easel, canvas and palette of paints quietly working as the pageantry of the meet swirls around him, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

Williams began painting while working as a shepherd; he fell in love with Kentucky’s horse culture while visiting there.

In addition to enjoying painting, according to his website, he enjoys giving viewers the experience of watching live painting taking place, which is part of the reason he can be seen prominently painting one of his canvases.

Williams’ work extends beyond equine art though, including landscapes, vintage automobiles, still lifes and ocean scenes. In 2012, he published a book to celebrate 50 years of painting: Peter Williams Retrospective: Paintings and People Dear to Me.

Original article by Herald-Leader Staff, Lexington Herald-Leader, October 23, 2014.

Photo by AP/Garry Jones.