THE ART OF
SALLY MOREN
LIGHT, TRADITION, AND THE SPORTING LIFE
Interview by Lindsay Hunter
Images courtesy of Sally Moren
For Virginia-born artist Sally Moren, horses have been her subject since grade school. Over the decades, that early fascination has grown into a nationally collected body of work that captures not only the beauty of the horse but the spirit of the sporting traditions that surround them. Today, her canvases are steeped in the atmosphere of foxhunting—an arena where horses, hounds, nature, and light converge in moments both timeless and fleeting.
Moren is no stranger to the equestrian life she paints. She grew up in Virginia, riding and owning horses throughout her life until the passing of her beloved mare, Barry Naughty, five years ago. They were together for 28 years. That deep, personal connection with horses remains at the heart of her work: each brushstroke carries the memory of a lifetime spent in the saddle.
While foxhunting remains her central muse, Moren’s eye is not drawn to the predictable image of riders galloping across fields or soaring over stone walls. Instead, she seeks the unscripted—the charged pauses and fleeting moments that carry unexpected beauty. “I am always attracted to the unexpected,” she says. One such painting was inspired by members of the first flight lined up like dominoes in a coastal field, waiting for the huntsman to find a fox. Against the backdrop of ancient oaks and a spent cornfield, she found drama in the stillness, anticipation, and atmosphere.
Mood and emotion play a central role in her compositions. Rather than bright, sunny landscapes, Moren gravitates toward mists, dusk, and clouded skies. These settings, she explains, offer saturated light, soft colors, and a sense of déjà vu —of vintage times outdoors in the landscape. Through these choices, her work often pays homage to the timeless appeal of these sporting traditions.
Light, however, is perhaps her truest subject. Collectors often cite her treatment of light as what draws them in, and for Moren, it is the guiding force of every canvas. She experiments endlessly with the way light casts drama across trees, riders, and hounds, often using shadow and illumination as the backbone of her compositions. In one painting, the fossil-like shadows of old oaks are contrasted with the glinting highlights of riders, giving the entire moment a sense of heightened drama.
“I AM PAINTING A SPORT- AND A LANDSCAPE, OFTEN- THAT IS MORE THAN 100 YEARS OLD, BUT I PAINT IT WITH A SENSIBILITY FROM TODAY. THE MYSTIQUE LIVES, BUT THE FILTER IS DIFFERENT.”
-SALLY MOREN
Increasingly, her paintings are less about recording what she sees and more about inventing narratives that reflect how a moment feels. Rarely does she paint directly from a photograph anymore. Instead, she begins with a fragment—a glint of inspiration from her resource photos—and expands it into a fully realized scene. A huntsman tacking up beside a trailer became the seed for an award-winning painting, where she added architectural details and engineered lighting for weight and drama. A blurry snapshot of a mare in the rain, destined for her “loser” pile, evolved into a richly imagined autumn day filled with companionship, color, and atmosphere.
“I like to hope that this is what sets my work apart,” Moren reflects. “I am painting a sport—and a landscape, often—that is more than 100 years old, but I paint it with a sensibility from today. The mystique lives, but the filter is different.” Her art conveys both the ephemeral nature of a single moment and the enduring traditions of horse and hound.
Looking forward, Moren continues to expand her focus. Alongside equestrian scenes, she is delving into pure landscapes and wildlife, including works inspired by the still but vibrant world of Canadian geese. Yet her artistic mission remains unchanged: to tell stories in paint that honor the energy, light, and fleeting essence of the sporting life.
For Sally Moren, each canvas is not just an image but a narrative—a bridge between memory and tradition, between the timelessness of the land and the impermanence of a single glance. In her work, the foxhunting field is not just captured; it is reimagined, illuminated, and brought to life for a new generation of viewers.
