Darrell Ishmael is the product of an artistic family specializing in textile arts, quilting, and rug making. Ishmael developed a passion for water-based paints 30 years ago. He has since expanded his unique signature of utilizing Kentucky coal, Kentucky River sand (coastal sand collected while wintering in the south), and other naturalistic materials. The heavy textures allow light to bring interest, serenity, and healing to the landscapes and seascapes, while providing the dynamic and high energy required of equine subjects. As a viewer moves around the exhibition space, they’ll bear witness to the three-dimensionality of Ishmael’s pieces, watching as the lights and shadows shift across his paintings, transforming the piece before one’s eyes.

Ishmael has been featured in several collections and exhibitions, such as the Main Street Beautification Project for the 2022 Breeders Cup Festival, the Unbridled Breeders Cup Special at Artist’s Attic, the Art by the Sea exhibit at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, the Open to Interpretation Art Center of the Bluegrass Abstract Invitational, and at the MD Rezney Gallery for Arts Connect.