This past Saturday night a harness racing artist by the name of Michelle Hogan was honoured at Hanover Raceway for her unique equine artwork. She was also asked to display her work on Balanced Image night for the crowd. During the night Michelle gave away a print of "Blinkers", the cover artwork for the evening program, to one lucky racing fan to take home. Another highlight during the evening Michelle was invited trackside to announce the print winner with Fred Wallace, local sports announcer with Bayshore Broadcasting and voice of the OHL hockey team the Owen Sound Attack.
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| Michelle's Program Cover From Saturday at Hanover! |
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| Michelle being interviewed! |
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| Michelle's artwork on display Saturday night |
It all started for Michelle growing up in a community not far from Flamboro Downs. Michelle said "when I was 14 and it was time to look for my first real job I went straight there". Michelle worked as a groom in the backstretch and then at a stud farm before she obtained her trainers licence, and eventually worked as an equine vet assistant. Michelle believes all of those positions ultimately played a role in her artistic development as well as her love for horses. She claims that she wouldn't be the artist she is today without the racing industry.
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| Michelle Pictured With Conrad Seelster! |
Michelle has been interested in art for as long as she can remember and took classes at a very young age and she says "I was always drawing horses". Once Michelle started working with standardbreds she was hooked, and therefore this breed became the subject of her art primarily. Though she was passionate, to Michelle the art was mostly a hobby. According to Michelle it wasn't until she met her husband and she moved to the Bruce Peninsula, and she was no longer actively involved in harness racing, that she took her artwork to a professional level. "I now live harness racing through my art, and my art is a reflection of my love for the sport" explains Michelle. And this art does more than catch the eye of horse lovers. Michelle's art is attracting new interest to harness racing as well as serving as a way to give back to the racing community.
In giving back to the industry, Michelle has recently been partnering with Canadian tracks to hold promotional giveaways in conjunction with providing artwork for their program covers. Hanover Raceway was one of the first tracks to welcome the idea and they have been working closely with Michelle for 2 seasons now for a total of 5 programs/fan giveaways to date so far. Michelle continues to look for more tracks to work with to promote her artwork and offer out her creative program covers.
Here is more of Michelle's artwork.
Michelle has impressed me a great deal not only with her beautiful artwork, but also for her passion for harness racing. Be sure to follow along with her journey, by giving her a follow on Twitter @HarnessArtist and liking her Facebook page Michelle Hogan-Harness Artist. More information on Michelle and how to buy her prints can be found at www.harnessartist.com. I look forward to see where her amazing art work goes in the future.
Story By Nathan Bain! @NBainracing
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