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Helen Scanlon

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.helenscanlon.com

Genre

History, Art, Nonfiction

Member Since

August 2012

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Helen Scanlon was born in Connecticut with the horse-crazy gene firmly intact. At age four, she saw her first horse and she clearly remembers tears of awe filling her eyes--as if something had clicked into place. From that moment on, she was obsessed with everything equine. Every time a pencil or pen was nestled in her fingers, a horse would appear on the paper, even if that paper was in her brother's favorite books. Her parents quickly learned to buy lots of drawing pads for the young artist.

Helen spent hours in her room drawing and studying horses from books and magazines. Her idol was Wesley Dennis, the artist who illustrated the horse stories of Marguerite Henry. She was amazed at his ability to capture the spirit of the equine and the Helen Scanlon was born in Connecticut with the horse-crazy gene firmly intact. At age four, she saw her first horse and she clearly remembers tears of awe filling her eyes--as if something had clicked into place. From that moment on, she was obsessed with everything equine. Every time a pencil or pen was nestled in her fingers, a horse would appear on the paper, even if that paper was in her brother's favorite books. Her parents quickly learned to buy lots of drawing pads for the young artist.

Helen spent hours in her room drawing and studying horses from books and magazines. Her idol was Wesley Dennis, the artist who illustrated the horse stories of Marguerite Henry. She was amazed at his ability to capture the spirit of the equine and the way he could make them live and breathe on the pages. Inspired by his style, young Helen drew the many horses that galloped in the fields of her imagination.

At age 13, she had a ballpoint pen sketch published in an Arabian horse journal, and at age 14, she won The Hartford Courant Scholastic Art Award for her pencil sketch of an Arabian stallion. In college, she garnered excellent reviews in local newspapers and received mention in Connecticut magazine for her artwork in the multi-artist exhibit "Les Fleurs Du Mal" at the An Coreian Gallery.

Her time at the University of Connecticut offered many adventures: she was a groom for a large dressage facility, a bass player in a garage-punk band, and a DJ at the University's radio station. She drove a rusty pick-up truck and could usually be seen tearing through campus on her mountain bike rushing to get to class.

When she received her BA in Art History and Sociology from UConn, she put her paintbrushes and pencils away for nearly a decade. She often thought about them and the horses that used to dance in her drawing pads.

The cries of the pencils and paintbrushes won out, and in 2002, she began to paint and draw her beloved horses as if she had never stopped.

In 2003, she accepted her first commission and founded Sound the Bugle Studio in her Hampton, Connecticut home.

Helen is now internationally known, with her work featured in private collections in the USA, Canada and the UK. She has been featured in Polo Players' Edition magazine and she was a longtime member of the internationally acclaimed Equine Art Guild (now defunct).

My Horse, My Heart: The Morgan Horses of the University of Connecticut is her first book. ...more

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Helen Scanlon’s books

Average rating: 5.0 · 9 ratings · 4 reviews · 6 distinct works

	The Great Red Horse: A Colt is Born it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Great Red Horse: A World Champion (Volume 2) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lessons with Magic it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Horse, My Heart: The Morgan Horses of the University of Connecticut it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Because of a Horse it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dust and Determination: A History of UConn Polo 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars