Bunny Connell, a Big Horn, Wyoming artist, is widely known for her
broad range of animal bronzes. Bunny concentrates on the animal kingdom
for her subjects where her unique ability to identify and capture typical
attitude and characteristic motion has become her hallmark. Each Connell
bronze combines a thorough knowledge of the world. Indeed, Bunny’s flair
for recognizing and portraying the abundant humor of the animal world has
led to some of her most successful pieces. As surely as the artist
maintains that, " Some of my closet friends are four-footed, "
this affection is evident throughout her work.
It is no accident that her very popular series of Polo bronzes reflects
closeness with the animals and the sport. Raised on a horse ranch near one
of the oldest Polo fields in the United States, Bunny has been a student
of the horse in motion and the sport of Polo as long as she can remember.
Her immediate family currently boasts three playing members of the U.S.
Polo Association while two other members’ breed and train thoroughbred
polo and jumping prospects on the family ranch. It is a rare Sunday that
goes by in the brief Wyoming summer which does not find her keeping track
of time and scores at the Big Horn Equestrian Center as well as a close
eye on family players and ponies. The winter months often find her staying
abreast of current high-goal players, ponies and techniques in California
or Florida. When you combine this background and close association with
the sport, with over thirty years of art experience, it is not surprising
that her "World of polo" captures the true feelings of the
greatest game of man and horse.
Staying close to the source of her artistic inspirations is a high
priority. In addition to living on the family ranch, surrounded by Angus
cattle and Thoroughbred horses, and the extensive and varied family
involvement in equine sports, the Connells’ "herd’ of yellow
labradors give her continual supply of material for her series of Hunting
Dogs. The location of the ranch at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains
provides endless opportunities for viewing the ever-present deer, elk,
coyote and the occasional bear or moose depicted in her bronzes of North
American Big Game. Her extensive collection of African Wildlife was
researched on a lengthy tour of Kenya and Uganda.
Bunny’s background in the arts includes a number of years exploring
all forms of the painting media and three years of welded steel sculptures
before she turned exclusively to bronze and the three-dimensional approach
which she finds so challenging. Her years of independent study in many of
the art disciplines have been accompanied by an on-going devotion to
research in the animal field. After her appointment by the Governor, she
was an active member of the Wyoming Arts Council for six years.
A member of the Society of animal Artists for a number of years, Bunny
is also a member of the prestigious American Academy of Equine Artists
with whom she has shown for the past eight years.
Connell bronzes, limited editions of not more than 25, and many of
which are one-of-a kind animal portraits, are widely collected and have
found their way into private and gallery collections in most of the fifty
states, Canada, France, England and Kenya. Most recently one of her
bronzes was presented to Queen Elizabeth during a recent visit to the
United States.