Elisa Contemporary Art presents a Tribute to the Hampton Classic at The Design Studio in Bridgehampton
August 22 - September 25, 2013
Saturday, August 24th from 4-7pm


Elisa Contemporary Art presents a Tribute to the H
Elisa Contemporary Art presents a "Tribute to the Hampton Classic" at The Design Studio in Bridgehampton opening on August 22nd. We are featuring three Equestrian artists. Each brings the majestic and powerful animals to life and into action in very different styles:
  • Arizona Mixed Media Realist, Ken Peloke
  • European Graphite Artist, Sheona Hamilton-Grant
  • Expressionistic Idaho Artist, Donna Bernstein


  • About the artists:

    Ken Peloke

    Ken Peloke started as an abstract artist and stopped painting entirely for six years. He started painting again, with the news of his first child.

    He was inspired by spending time with his wife’s horses. He discovered their beauty, their athleticism, and also their innocence. His multimedia approach creates depth and incredible realism to his pieces that give them a one of a kind contemporary appeal.

    Ken’s equine art depicts the beauty, nobility, and power that is the horse. As he states, “There is such an honesty and purity that is felt while spending time with our horse, as an artist I feel compelled to try to relay those same emotions to the viewers through my work."

    Ken's work has been featured in Western Art Collector, Western Art & Architecture and is in both Public and Private Collections across the US including New York, San Francisco, Jackson Hole, Chicago, Miami, Scottsdale and Sun Valley.

    Sheona Hamilton-Grant

    Graphite Artist, Sheona Hamilton-Grant was born in Scotland, grew up in Holland, France and Belgium (where she now lives). For 10 years she worked with horses professionally, as a groom and rider, with half that time spent working for an Olympic gold medalist in dressage. Working in the heart of the European equestrian world gave Sheona a unique opportunity to fully discover the beauty and mesmerizing presence of world-class horses.

    She creates photorealist works about domestic animals (primarily, horses and dogs), and their interaction with humans working exclusively in black and white. For her, the power of the pencil is its simplicity, and its effectiveness as a vehicle for applying the philosophy less is more. “Black and white allows me to get to the essence of a subject and show emotion in a clear, direct way. It doesn’t distract the way color can,” she says.

    Sheona has exhibited throughout the world and is in public collections including the Westphalian Horse Museum in Munster Germany, as well as in over 230 private collections Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Italy, the United Kingdom and the USA. She is available for commissions.

    Donna Bernstein

    As a child, Expressionistic artist, Donna Bernstein would visit her neighbor’s horses and sit an entire day and watch, day after day. She started to notice every slight ripple in a muscle; how they would flick the flies with their ears as they grazed, how they would jump for joy when the feeling arose. She studied their physiology, their bones, their illnesses and cures.

    According to Donna, “What gives my work its edge is a deep personal familiarity with the physical horse…and an expansive sense that the movement is bigger than what you see…My memory, my fantasy, my energetic connection to horses helped to stylize them in my art, and part of that is what you see today. I often say I don’t paint horses; I paint how horses make me feel.”

    Donna Bernstein was born in New York. Largely self-taught, she studied privately with artist Robert Dash, and later studies in Japanese ink work and brush techniques. In 1998 Donna and her husband moved to McCall, Idaho where she now has her studio. Donna has exhibited throughout the US and her work is in public and private collections worldwide including at the Ritz-Carlton (LA.

    What: A Tribute to the Hampton Classic

    Artists: Donna Bernstein, Sheona Hamilton-Grant, Ken Peloke

    When: August 22 – September 24, 2013

    Special Events:

    Join us on Saturday, August 24 for an opening reception from 4-7pm

    Where: The Design Studio, 2393 Main St, Bridgehampton, NY 11932

    Hours: Monday-Thursday 10 am – 5 pm; Friday/Saturday 10am – 5:30pm; Sunday 11am – 4pm


    For additional information, contact Lisa at 212.729.4974 or Lisa@ElisaArt.com or visit www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com