Booth Malone left his day job to pursue a career in fine art 35 years ago, and found his passion in painting horses and hounds.
Despite being based in Columbus, Georgia, his equestrian art has been a part of Aiken’s horse culture, from being the official artist for the Aiken Steeplechase to teaching workshops at the Aiken Center for the Arts.
“Really wonderful people in Aiken,” Malone said. “And wonderful horse people. For years and years, Aiken’s always been a very strong, horse-oriented community from the beginning as far as I know. People who retire or live in Aiken from all parts of the east — and especially from the northeast — and they bring their love of horse racing and polo and carriage driving and all the many activities that Aiken is accustomed to seeing.”
Malone called his entrance into the horse world after leaving his corporate job “pure luck” after being invited to an equine event by a friend.
“I asked my friend, ‘Well, who paints horses?’ and they said not too many,” he said. “I said, well then that's what I'll go after because I think, this is beautiful out here, all the pageantry and people enjoying their animals.”
Malone started from the ground up in learning equestrian art, since he had no prior knowledge of horses or equine events. He learned a variety of lessons about painting animals like horses and hunting dogs, including all the different personalities of horses and all the ways they are trained athletically.
Painting horses never gets old, Malone said.
“It's always broken out of the monotony,” he said. "There's such a variety of things to depict that it's always been something new. I've always kind of feared, doing art for a living, you can get into a rut where you just paint the same sort of thing over and over again.
"And you can say, oh, well, you paint horses, but there are so many things you can do with a horse and rider. It’s such an athletic event and the backgrounds, the venues that they compete in, and those things are all so different," he said. "And there's a complete history of horse and man.”
Malone has been the official artist for the Aiken Steeplechase twice, a job that brings him to Aiken to provide artwork for the races.
“That usually means that you have to go the year before to see the race,” he said. “To see their course and what's unique to it, so you do the painting, and they use it for billboards and advertising.”
He also attends the race for the year he provides the art for to be a part of the experience.
In addition to being a part of Aiken’s Steeplechase, Malone also teaches workshops occasionally at the Aiken Center of the Arts and has had his work displayed at the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame
