When I was a child, I longed to have my own horse. This was destined never to happen, because apart from living in an urban area, my parents couldn’t afford it. So I created my own private horse world.
I drew horses in pencil and ink, mostly copied from photographs. I collected pictures of horses from magazines and stuck them into a series of scrap books, often thinking up stories to go with the pictures. In my art class at school, we were given a lump of clay to create a ceramic piece. Obviously, mine became a horse of sorts. I struggled with the legs, so the solution was to have the horse lying down. His tail kept falling off, so he became a cob with a stubby tail. He was glazed and taken home proudly to my mum. He occupied my windowsill for years and I still have him, 40 years later. Maybe he wasn’t exactly a work of art but he had been born from my imagination, moulded into shape and was mine.
Drawing horses, collecting pictures of them and making them from clay was not enough. It was natural that as I developed my passion for creative writing, I would write stories about them. I created the horses, characters and the experiences I desired through my fiction. The ultimate wish fulfilment.
I would love to know how many other writers or artists create the fantasy world they would love to inhabit through their art.
To find out more about Jane’s publishing experiences, go to her blog www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk
Her trilogy of Matty Horse and Pony Adventures books for pre-teens and teen (and nostalgic older readers) are available for Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. All profits from these stories are going to Redwings Horse Sanctuary.
Matty and the Problem Ponies is FREE TO DOWNLOAD from 7th-11th November!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Matty-Problem-Ponies-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0094KJEVI/
Hi really enjoyed your story narrating the art of wish fulfillment. It’s a clever way of manifesting your dreams and things you want to bring into your life.
Best wishes
The Absent Collector
Hi Sara – glad you enjoyed it! Thanks
Hi Jane. I hung around stables and begged rides, I drew ponies, I made them out of clay (the tails fell off!) and out of felt (Monica Edwards was to blame for that!). I ‘designed’ the stables I would one day build (still haven’t managed to do so). And of course I set up courses in the back yard to jump around…sometimes the dog had to jump too! Thanks for sharing your story–and good luck with your books. Tessa x
Thanks Tessa! I remember setting up a jumping course in the field and pretending to be a horse too! Great fun….