Gabrielle England

Gabrielle England artist sitting at a table with a pink cocktail and a cherry dessert, smiling, with beach and ocean view in the background.

  • My work explores the emotional resonance of landscapes, memory, and atmosphere through encaustic, acrylic, and pastel. Each medium offers a different path into the process: encaustics allow me to build rich, layered surfaces with wax and pigment, evoking depth and mystery; acrylics bring freedom for loose, expressive mark-making; and pastels offer a softness and immediacy that often reflects moments from my travels.
     ​I paint intuitively, responding to color, texture, and gesture rather than a fixed plan. My encaustic pieces often begin without a clear outcome, evolving through layers of heat, scraping, and fusing, much like memory itself. Whether depicting the friskiness of a horse, wide coastal skies or the quiet mood of a distant horizon, my work is rooted in feeling and place, real or remembered.

  • Gabrielle England is a Pacific Northwest artist known for her expressive equine and landscape paintings in pastel, acrylic, and encaustic. Born in England and raised in Olympia, Washington, her lifelong connection to horses began early, her first word was “horse,” and by age seven she had her first pony. This deep bond continues to shape her art today.
     Gabrielle studied for a time at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where she began exploring abstraction alongside realism. Over time, her style evolved to blend gesture with suggestion, allowing intuitive mark-making, simplified form, and layered texture to convey energy and emotion. Her early success with abstract equine line drawings led to national distribution as decals and inspired a deeper dive into acrylic and mixed media techniques.
     Her pastel work, once strictly representational, now leans toward a more abstract interpretation of light and movement. In encaustic, she uses molten wax, shellac, and flame to create richly layered works that feel both ancient and alive.

    Her encaustic equine paintings were featured on Seattle’s ArtZone with Nancy Guppy, where she discussed her process and creative journey.
     Gabrielle’s work invites the viewer to feel rather than simply observe, capturing the power, stillness, and beauty that exist in both animals and the natural world.

  • Artist Gabrielle England smiling outdoors in natural light
  • Gabrielle England holding an award ribbon besides her horse painting at an art exhibition.
  • Gabrielle England standing at ghost Gallery besides her equine artwork display.
  • Gabrielle England workingnon a detailed part of her encaustic painting as part of process.
  • Gabrielle England standing by gondolas on the waterfront in Venice, Italy.
  • Gabrielle England on the beach in Santa Cruz, California with waves crashing behind her.
  • Gabrielle England horseback riding on the beach.
  • Gabrielle England standing in front of her landscape paintings in her studio.
  • Artist Gabrielle England smiling next to a horse after a ride in the arena.
  • Artist Gabrielle England holding a framed painting.
  • Gabrielle England at the Ballards Arts Walk at Aluel Cellars, pictured besides her horse painting.
  • Gabrielle England at her open studio during South Sound Studio Tours in Olympia, Wa.

Selected Exhibitions

2006 Olympia Arts Walk, Spring
2006 Olympia Arts Walk, Fall
2006 Emerald Downs Equestrian Art Show
2006 Northwest Dressage Expo, Woodinville, WA
2006 Dressage At Devonwood, Sherwood, OR 
2007 Emerald Downs Equestrian Art Show 
2007 Dressage at Devonwood, Sherwood, OR
2007 Gallery Contempo, “Oneness,” Olympia, WA, June  ~ Group Show
2007 Gloria Day Luth. Church, Olympia, WA  ~ Solo exhibit
2008 Two Vault Gallery, Tacoma, WA April-May  ~ Featured Artist
2008 Hacienda de las Rosas Winery, San Diego, CA, July-August
2008 Emerald Downs Equestrian Art Show, Auburn, WA, July
2008 Olympia Art & Frame Olympia WA July  ~ Solo Exhibit
2008 Reflections Gallery, Olympia, WA September  ~ Featured Artist
2008 Reflections Gallery, Olympia ArtsWalk, October
2008 Washington International Horse Show, Gaithersburg, MD. ~ Donation Oct.
2009 Batdorf & Bronson Coffeehouse, Olympia, WA December  ~ Solo Exhibit
2009 DevonWood Equestrian Center, Sherwood, OR ~ 2009
2010 HITS-on-the-Hudson Equestrian Art Exhibition & Charity Auction, Saugerties, New York
2012 Olympia ArtsWalk - Breathe Studio
2013 Olympia ArtsWalk - Love-Peace-Raw
2014 International Equine Artist - Signature Member Status
2014 Mud Bay Coffee Co - West Olympia Jan-June. Solo exhibit
2014 Tsuga Fine Art Gallery - Bothell, WA Feb-Mar
2014 Art Zone with Nancy Guppy interview aired on Seattle TV, March 2014. Gabrielle’s segment click here
2104 HITS Official Summer Program Cover Artwork - Saugerties, New York  http://hitsshows.com/saugerties/
2014 Sept-Oct WA Department of Ecology, Lacey, WA  - Solo Exhibit
2014 Dec 6-7th - Donida Farm Equestrian Center Art and Gift Expo, Auburn, WA - Dressage Through the Levels
​2024 April 20-21st - South Sound Studio Tours - Olympia, WA (Opening my studio)
2025 Ongoing - Valley Athletic Club, Tumwater, WA
2025 April 12  - Ballard Art Walk - Aluel Cellars
2025 April 25-26 Olympia Arts Walk - Olympia Community Center - Olympia Art League
2025 May 10 - Ballard Art Walk  - Aluel Cellars
​2025 May 17-18  South Sound Studio Tours - Olympia, WA (Come and see Gabrielle's studio!)
2025 July-August  Ghost Gallery - Seattle, WA - "How to Draw a Horse" Exhibit
2025 July 17th-20th  Juried Equine Art Show 2025 - Emerald Downs - Auburn, WA "The Horse and Whole Lot More." Encaustic Painting "Blue Burst II" won 1st place in Mixed Media at Emerald Downs
2026 March 5th-April 26th  Washington Performing Arts Center, Olympia, WA - "Go Figure" Exhibit

Education

Self Taught
South Puget Sound Community College
Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA
Studied under Simon Kogan, Larry Freemantle
Gage Academy of Arts, Seattle, WA Encaustic Intensive Workshop
Pratt Fine art Center, Seattle WA Modern Approach to Encaustics

Memberships

NW Pastel Society
International Encaustic Artists - IEA
Olympia Art League

Gabrielle England artist smiling standing next to a encaustic painting of five horses on a wooden wall.

Select Publications

Flying Changes Magazine ~ Featured Artist  February 2019
HITS on the Hudson - Cover Artist - July 2014
Horse Sport Magazine ~ Canada ~ Featured Artist October 2008
Horses Incorporated ~ Artist Issue October 2008
California Riding Magazine ~ Artist Issue 2005, 2006, 2007
American Art Collector ~ 2/2011, 3/2011
Horses In Art ~ Spring 2011
Western Art Collector ~ June 6/2011