When Robert and Barbara Cedarstrand decided to publish an art book on horses, they researched the Tennessee Walking Horse breed for stallions who would be an ideal representative. Robert, an accomplished wildlife artist, and Barbara, a nurse and writer, came across Bridlewood Farm’s advertisement in a recent issue of Voice magazine. Both avid horse lovers, the Cedarstrands were quite impressed with the Bridlewood Stallions. They were so taken in fact, that they immediately visited the farm’s website and emailed Bridlewood with a request to photograph the stallions; Generator’s Sundrop, Ultra Copy and Pusher’s Eagle Eye. The three stallions were chosen for their perfect conformation and their color. Robert would then create a portrait of each stallion from the photographs to represent the Tennessee Walking Horse breed in the book, which is slated to come out at the end of 2002.
The coffee table sized book will feature various breeds including Tennessee Walking Horses, Morgans and Saddlebreds as well as other breeds. Bridlewood was especially honored for their stallions to be chosen among the many stallions in the walking horse industry for such a project. Said Bridlewood Farm co-owner Larry Lowman, “We are thrilled that Robert and Barbara found our stallions to be worthy of being in their book. We are so honored and felt our stallions were ideal to represent the beauty of this breed among so many beautiful stallions.”
Robert, who began painting in 1992 gets his talent naturally. His mother was an artist and his maternal grandfather was a Master Architect and fine artist who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs designing schoolhouses. Raised in the Arizona desert, Robert’s mother introduced him to the numerous fine art galleries in Scottsdale where he became fascinated with the colorful world of western art.
Now an accomplished artist known for his philosophy of painting only wildlife he has personally observed, Cedarstrand had exhibited regularly in the largest wildlife art shows in the united states. He has also been in the top 100 for Arts for the Parks, won numerous awards and been featured in many top magazine articles such as Infomart, U.S. Art, Sporting Classics, Fur-Fish-Game, radio interviews and newspaper articles. His paintings hang in many private and corporate collections in the USA as well as abroad.
Barbara, a registered nurse recently discovered a passion and talent for writing. She will provide the literature for the book, due out later this year. In addition to their art projects, Robert and Barbara raise horses at their farm in Fairmount, Georgia.