At the time I painted this, I was doing a deep dive into realistic and classical oil painting techniques. I was eager to try out my new skills. By this time, I’d worked on the designs of two different carousels for Disney (Paradise Pier) and Universal (Carouseussel). What inspired me most about these carousel horses was the tremendous emotion frozen into their poses and expressions. I thought of the immigrant wood carvers who were plying their trade in a new country, pouring their hearts into these sculptures. I wondered if the terror in their eyes spoke to something their artisans felt. Showing these paintings at Imagineering got me hired to design the Shanghai Fantasia carousel, my favorite project ever.