Rosemary Parcell was born in Tarras, Central Otago. In 1972 she graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts, Canterbury and began teaching Art and Art History in Dunedin and continued with teaching positions in Melbourne, Gisborne and Auckland.

In 2005 she became a full-time painter. A devotee of horse riding and in particular the discipline of dressage, Parcell has often written for Judges at all levels of Dressage events, and finds that this undoubtedly influences her work.

‘I have collated a comprehensive collection of works from the last 10 years of the Totemic horse. I focus on the essence, the musculature and movement of the athlete rather than the texture or sheen of coat or even pretty head.

The aesthetic qualities, the sheer beauty of the horse, its arabesques and elegance, even smell, should be evoked. The rider is reduced to hand and seat, for if riding well, the rider should be invisible and the horse appear to move of its own volition.’

– Rosemary Parcell