Lucy Boydell
"Free Spirit", Wild Exmoor Pony of Wild Ken Hill, Norfolk
Charcoal and Chalk
53 x 53 cms / 20¾ x 20¾ inches
Description
Lucy Boydell recalls her first encounter with the wild Exmoor ponies at Wild Ken Hill in Norfolk as an experience that would stay with her long after she left the field. It was just after 8am on a July morning, during a brief lull in the first heatwave of the summer. The day was still cool and the sunlight soft, before it climbed higher and became too bright. Guided through field after field, Lucy passed a small pond beneath the trees where the ponies came to drink and wallow, pushed through hedgerows alive with butterflies, crossed ditches and even disturbed a rootling Tamworth sow. Then, at the far end of the final field, they appeared. Twenty-five or thirty ponies stood amongst bright purple thistles and tall yellow ragwort, dark, sturdy shapes at the edge of the meadow. Her guide left Lucy to observe them, wandering off to inspect the hedgerows, while she turned her attention towards the herd.The ponies looked back at her, flicking away flies with shaggy manes and great, sweeping tails. As Lucy changed her zoom lens for a shorter range, something remarkable happened. One by one, they began to move towards her, with quiet purpose, until they came to a halt just a few metres away. She found herself looking into deep, dark eyes framed by long lashes. Their coats were richly mottled and whiskered, and Lucy was immediately captivated by the textures before her. She could already imagine how the charcoal would come alive on paper through the marks she would make every rough coat, tangled mane and sweeping tail offering another texture to explore.