Welcome to 'Heidi's Handpainted Horseshoes'.

  

Several years ago I met renowned Canal artist Ann Playle and was captivated by her work. It was beautiful, vibrant and unusual; the type that decorates canal barges and their wares up and down UK waterways.

 

My admiration for canal art is mirrored by the fascination I have for Romany art, it is to be found decorating the bow top caravans, flat carts, vardos and living wagons of travelling people, gypsies and Romanies; most notably at Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria.

 

With an art school background (I qualified as a graphic artist from Blackpool and Fylde College in the 1980s) these art forms enticed me to pick up my own brushes and introducing my own designs I began to paint horseshoes of my own.

 

 

My horseshoes have evolved over time and from mainly black backgrounds with splashes of colour and flower designs of my early shoes, various new colours have emerged. Whilst retaining the darker backgrounds I've also introduced white and cream shoes that can be transformed into wedding horseshoes; silver and gold Charles Rennie Mackintosh inspired designs and a beautiful range of dreamcatcher horseshoes.

Pink shoes are perfect for little girls and blue for boys - both as delightful Christening gifts or on the birth of a child.

 

Red shoes are vibrant and my special favourite. Green shoes make lovely 'Good Luck' gifts.

 

Other colours are available and I can design a shoe with you in mind - specific names and dates can be added for any occassion, as too can the name of your home, business, dog, horse or other pet. These make special and unique nameplates .

 

Horseshoes have a long association with luck, most notably these are given to a bride on her wedding day to wish her a long and happy marriage. For that special gift I can add the names of the bride and groom and wedding date to shoes designed just for you.

 

Horseshoes are also attached to house doors and gates; toe down, to retain luck and are often utilised on stable doors or kennels, transfering the luck within the horseshoe to the inhabitant.

 

In fact decorated horseshoes are considered a lucky and desirable form of rural folk art. With the addition of beads and feathers they also make unusual dreamcatchers.

 

All my horseshoes are brand new mild steel as would be put on a horse.

 

Have a look at my horseshoe gallery and refer to the 'Order and pay' page for further information. If you'd like me to create a shoe specifically for you please contact me by email.

 

 

 PLEASE NOTE. All photos of horseshoes and other handpainted items on my gallery pages and throughout this website are copyrighted to me - Heidi M. Sands. If you wish to use an image please contact me. Unauthorised use is not permitted.