Jan Woods

Jan Woods, who lives and works in Little Rock, Arkansas, has ridden and shown hunters all her life. After studying art at the Universities of Oklahoma and Arkansas, then working as a commercial artist, she embarked upon a career in sculpture.

Her sculptures, "Northern Spur" and "A New Day" received Awards of Excellence at the Academy's 20th Anniversary and the 2001 Annual Member's Exhibition at the Kentucky Horse Park, respectively. In 1989, Ms. Woods won the Arts Fest Award for Artistic Excellence given by the American Artists Professional League at their Grand National Exhibition in New York. Other exhibitions include St. Hubert's Giralda, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Kentucky Derby Museum, Headley-Whitney Museum, Equifest and the Morven Park Museum of Sporting Art. Commissions include the National Grand Prix League awards and monumental sculptures for Oaklawn Jockey Club.

Horses are the primary inspiration for my bronze sculptures. There are many reasons why.....

The beauty and power of the horse. The strength and the spirit. The perfectly constructed body made up of angles, massive muscle and fine strong bones. The one that makes your heart jump when he enters the paddock. The one with that special something that inspires you.

The little one that will run forever.

The trust between him and a well-known groom. The day in and day out rituals of grooming, working, cooling out, bathing, wrapping legs, bedding down, filling buckets with cool water. The reassuring sound of a soft snort coming from a stall piled with fresh straw and the munching of good hay. All is right with the world.

Jan Woods