She may paint a single subject, but Michelle Soderstrom, whose equine watercolors are on display at Pegasus through April, can claim to know that subject inside and out.

Soderstrom, who calls herself a “homegrown horse addict,” first fell in love with horses growing up on the island.

“I’m a certified horse freak,” Soderstrom said. “I grew up with them, so they’re like dogs to me… I feel so blessed to have spent my childhood with horses on the island. It kept us out of trouble and created wonderful memories.”

Soderstrom’s horses are individuals, not assembly line “decorator” horses. The paintings are often portraits of a particular animal.

They are “Banamine,” “Murphy” and “Sophy,” distinct and complex individuals.

Soderstrom is a self-taught artist. Mainstream artworld notions of theory are not her purview.

It is horses she loves, and capturing the essence of each has been her goal for 15 years.

Soderstrom began at 17 painting cards for friends, and turned, four years ago, to art as a profession.

She is inspired by the horses she sees engaged in organized events like jumping and dressage, but horses at rest or play, eating grass or galloping in the sun also make her want to reach for the brush.

Soderstrom often begins with the camera, photographing the animal and then working from the 5×7 photo.

Soderstrom may enlarge and then trace the photo, using a paper layered with graphite that is pressed onto the page.

Once the painting is finished – a process that takes between two and 15 hours – Soderstrom has the piece photographed with a digital camera, using the advanced technology to replicate paintings in prints that are truly difficult to distinguish from the original.

The watercolor is attached to a wall with vacuum suction that holds it in place. Then, the piece is shot with a 4×5 still camera that makes a large transparency, which is then digitized.

“We have to manipulate it on the monitor, though,” Soderstom said, “Because every monitor shows different colors.”

Soderstrom uses light-fast pigmented inks rather than the dye-based inks that eventually fade.

Soderstrom pulls about 25 prints.

“I limit the edition to keep the value up,” Soderstrom said. “It’s a way of respecting the people who buy your art.”

Producing the digital prints is expensive and Soderstrom says she gets tired of spending her own money on transparencies and slides.

But she has been rewarded, as well – most recently with a first place at Emerald Downs’ Equine Art 2000 for a painting titled “Cowboy.”

“I sold the work right out of the show, too,” Soderstrom said.

Another favorite piece, “Woodbrook Hunt,” features horses and riders clad in classic jodhpurs, boots and red jackets.

The hunt, in which Soderstrom has participated, is held on the Fort Lewis army base outside Tacoma.

“You have to stay on the trails or get thrashed up in barbed wire,” Soderstrom said, “and you don’t want to fall in the holes.”

Soderstrom makes the circuit of more conventional riding venues, traveling as far away as Montana to set up a booth at horse shows in the summer season.

But the Pegasus show is her first solo.

“It feels so great to see all the work up on the walls,” she said.

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Pegasus Coffee House Gallery hosts the equine watercolor art of award-winning artist Michele Soderstrom during April. Call 940-3248, email equineart@silverlink.net, or visit www.horsepainter.com.