The main purpose of my sculpting Abraham Lincoln portrayed this way was to make him ‘approachable’. A gentle man…on a gentle horse.

How often do we idolize, memorialize and make people our heroes to the point of their becoming so much ‘larger than life’ that their characters and achievements are, more often than not, seen as unattainable?

I visualized the setting of a county road, where a young man is shown prior to his becoming an attorney, prior to his membership in the Illinois Houses of Representatives, prior to his membership in the U.S. House of Representatives, prior to his presidency of the United States of America. Here he is…a country boy, of humble beginnings, with dreams.

As a side note:  During the Donald Trump presidency, he announced a desire to create a “Garden of American Heroes.” This was to be in park(s) where dozens of monumental sculptures portrayed American heroes. I was invited by the U.S. Department of the Interior to submit concepts for this project. I created and submitted 5 maquettes for consideration, one of which was Abraham Lincoln (this sculpture). In pondering this subject, the daunting thing staring me in the face was the famed Lincoln Memorial. I asked myself, “What concept could I sculpt, of one of the most beloved and admired men in American history, that could further enhance his legacy?!” It was then that I received the inspiration for this piece.