Today I am absolutely thrilled to interview Jo Titman, the creator of the wonderful Tails of Whoa horse cartoons. Check out the links at the bottom of the post - they are simply brilliant!.
Have you always
enjoyed drawing?
I have always enjoyed drawing, it is in the core of my soul
I reckon. I would spend hours in my room drawing and making 'stuff' as a child.
I did lots of little cartoons then as well, although, I never thought I was any
good so didn't pursue it as a career until much later. I will never forget
being told by my Mother that “No one makes any money doing Art”. I was
encouraged to pursue a more academic route and failed miserably at it! I had
basically given up until I had my son, found myself on my own when he was two and
I took some watercolour classes for the sake of my sanity! My teacher told me I
should be doing Art, he told me about a part time Foundation course at a local
college. I was in my thirties and a single parent when I did my degree after
that. I also lost my Mum to cancer during this time and she told me that her
biggest regret was having not encouraged me to go to Art College. But I got
there in the end and when my son was old enough did my teacher training and I
am now a full time Art Teacher in a Secondary School teaching 12-16 year olds.
Tails of Whoa is a
great name. What gave you the idea?
'Tails of Whoa', just like my cartoons just came to me, it
arrived from nowhere, I didn't even think about it. Things just arrive if you
let them.
How would you like it
to develop further?
I'm not sure how I
feel about developing it further, I don’t plan and I don't do well creatively
if under pressure, so there is an element of reluctance to push in any one
direction. I don’t want it to become something I have to do, I don’t function
well like that. I am so far right brain, planning just isn’t part of the
equation! I sometimes wonder how I ever manage to get to work on time.
Have you always loved
horses?
I can’t ever remember not loving horses. Every Christmas and
Birthday I hoped for a pony of my own, it was never to be. We lived in a town,
had no money and no horses nearby. Riding lessons once a week was all my
parents could afford but it was never really the riding that interested me, for
me it was ALL about the relationship. I needed to be with the horses but didn’t
like the whole riding school thing, it just didn’t feel right to me. I wanted
my own.
Where do you get your
ideas from?
It all started when at the age of 49 I got my first horse.
He needed me and I needed him. He had a bad tendon injury and his owner
couldn’t afford to keep a horse she couldn’t ride so I took him. It didn’t
matter to me whether I ever rode him or not. I managed to keep him for 4 years,
he is still mine, but after an expensive vet bill following a nasty injury in
the field he is now with a friend who can afford the time and care I
can’t. It was my journey with him that
started it all. I seriously needed some help with him and found a lovely couple
who moved their business 'Holistic Equitation’ into the area. They came to see
him and when they discovered I was an Art Teacher we struck up a deal, I
couldn’t afford lessons so I agreed to do some huge horse pictures for their
ménage in return for lessons and help. I had no idea whether I could do it or
not but was willing to give it a go to help Del. These are the first ever horse
pictures I did. They are 4ft x 2ft6, Acrylic and Conte crayon on board. It has
all kind of grown from there. I was bereft
when I had to rehome Del, I cried solidly for three weeks but I knew it was the
best for him, he is very happy where he is, it is much nicer than the old yard,
he is enjoying his retirement but would have him back in a flash if I didn’t
work full time and could afford to keep him. Words cannot express just how
special he is to me.
The cartoons came about after Del became very attached to a mare, he became very herd bound at that time and this was the very first cartoon I did as a result of his expression whenever she went out.
Horse welfare is and always has been uppermost in my mind especially
after having met Del, he was an ex National Hunt Racehorse and then Hunted and
saw the damage this had done to him. After joining many welfare groups including
‘Anti Rolkur’ I was inspired to do the ‘Blue Tongue’ cartoons during this
year’s Olympics. It has all taken off since then. As I did more I decided to
separate them from my other FB Art page ‘Lost Perspective’ and set up ‘Tails of
Whoa’ in October this year. I am amazed at the popularity of them and it spurs
me on to do more. The ideas come to me as a result of my own experiences at the
yard, I just do them for fun as they come to mind. I didn’t plan any of it, it
just happens and I actually can’t help myself! Even though I don’t see Del very
often as he is an hours drive away, I go
to the old yard at least twice a week just to sniff a horse and take my little
dog Twiglet who virtually grew up there. I watch and in watching and seeing the
ideas flood in, the ‘Tis the Season to be Muddy’ one came about after seeing
Paddy a little grey covered in mud after a jolly good roll.
I have to ask about
The Stool of Contemplation. Tell us more….
Ah yes, this is where all my ideas come to me in a flash, I
sometimes sit there laughing to myself as I think about them, good job I live
on my own! It is in my kitchen and have to confess that this is where I sit to
have a cuppa and a fag! I don’t smoke anywhere else in the house, I have two
parrots as well as the dog and a chameleon called Gherkin so spare them the
smoke. So, this is where I sit and
contemplate life, a few moments of calm and tranquillity after a hard day or
week at work. It is in those moments that I get the ideas or work on ones I
have already had. It doesn’t happen anywhere else so reckon it’s a magical
place to be. Doing nothing is highly under rated in our fast paced lives. Del
also taught me a lot about this.
Which projects are you
working on right now?
I have been very busy doing portrait commissions, dogs,
cats, people and horses for Christmas and have another four to do after
Christmas. I am desperate to finish the first oil painting I have done in 20
years, I started it as a personal challenge as I have never considered myself a
painter, I hope to get some more of this done in between commissions. I am also
working on a fox, just for me. I joined
a group called ‘Equine Artists’ last year and seeing the amazing work on there
kicked me into action, I love a challenge. I have agreed to do some cartoons
for free for a couple of horse charities so will be working on them after
Christmas. I also have another huge one to do for Holistic which I promised
them ages ago, I have really enjoyed doing the big ones and just do these for
the love of it now. Having them up on their ménage wall is an amazing place to
exhibit my work.
How can we buy your
work?
Hopefully I am getting to that, whether it is that comment
from my Mother which still hangs over me, I never set out to make money from
any of it. It was needs must for the big horse pictures and the cartoons
started just for fun. The portraits came
about just for friends and to see if I could do it. I hadn’t done a pastel
portrait before so again that was just a personal challenge. I had no intention
of selling ‘Tis the Season’ as a Christmas Card but did so due to popular
demand, I could barely afford the printing costs so it was a bit of a gamble. I
also saw it as a way to help horses as 10% of anything I made is going to
H.O.P.E the Dartmoor Horse Charity. It has all really taken off now and have
had my first cartoon commission. It is very difficult balancing my passion with
work, teaching is very demanding and I usually come home exhausted. Thank
heavens for the school holidays!
I am considering doing more items for sale but have to weigh
up the time and financial risk. My son, thankfully, rustled up my web site just
so I could sell the cards but hope to offer prints and possibly more ‘Tails of
Whoa’ items. I will certainly be doing
more cards and a calendar next year. A
lot will depend on how much of a following I have and demand, small runs on
printing isn’t cheap. I would love to do a book of cartoons but we shall see. I
will always be donating to one horse charity or another though. In an ideal
world I would give up full time work and devote my time to what I love best. Any new developments will be posted on my page
and of course I am open to suggestions.
For more info email joti26@gmail.com or go to
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