1. Billie Nipper was an American artist who specialized in painting portraits of horses.
32 Facts About Billie Nipper
1. 2.
Billie Nipper's paintings were made into prints and transferred onto china and other objects.
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Billie Nipper bred horses, and her husband and son were horse trainers.
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Billie Nipper's art was owned by Ronald Reagan and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
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Billie Nipper's paintings are in the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in Amarillo, Texas.
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Billie Nipper herself was inducted into the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Agriculture Hall of Fame.
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Billie Nipper was born on November 22,1929, in Cleveland, Tennessee.
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Billie Nipper was one of six children born to Ina Mae Arthur and John Ernest Rymer.
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Out of boredom, Billie Nipper bought an art kit and began painting.
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Billie Nipper thought her first efforts were "horrible", but her husband liked her work and showed it to others.
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Billie Nipper began to study horses in an effort to portray them more accurately.
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Billie Nipper's father-in-law was a professional horse trainer and farrier, and she began painting pictures of him at work.
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Joel Billie Nipper first specialized in Tennessee Walking Horses, but later switched to Racking Horses, a related breed.
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Billie Nipper continued painting for her own enjoyment until one Christmas when she gave her father-in-law a painting of his own horse as a gift.
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Billie Nipper had many requests and soon began charging for her paintings.
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Billie Nipper soon began to get commissions to paint Tennessee Walking Horses, particularly those involved in the upper levels of show competition.
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Billie Nipper had a temporary office at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration each year, from which she displayed and sold her work.
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Billie Nipper had her own art gallery, and additionally had paintings in several other art galleries in and around Cleveland.
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In many of her World Grand Championship portraits, Billie Nipper painted a montage depicting the horse's life and show career.
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Billie Nipper first used this technique for a portrait of Pride's Generator.
21.
Billie Nipper herself bred Tennessee Walking Horses, and once bred a mare to The Whole Nine Yards, a World Grand Champion, of whom she had previously painted a portrait.
22.
Billie Nipper's work was transferred onto Gorham china, decorative objects such as music boxes, and made into wallpaper borders.
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Besides her horse portraits, Billie Nipper sometimes painted landscapes of rural Tennessee, as well as paintings of flowers and old barns.
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Billie Nipper continued painting privately commissioned works until the end of her career.
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Billie Nipper died in her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee on February 24,2016, at the age of 86.
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Billie Nipper was inducted into the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame, as well as being inducted into the Tennessee Agriculture Hall of Fame.
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Billie Nipper was listed in Who's Who by the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association and was given an award for her paintings by the Walking Horse Trainers' Association.
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In 2012, Billie Nipper painted an ornament that decorated the Christmas tree at the Governor of Tennessee's mansion.
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Billie Nipper was commissioned to paint pictures for Zsa Zsa Gabor and Shania Twain.
30.
Billie Nipper has a painting in the Kentucky Horse Park, a museum of and tribute to horses located in Lexington, Kentucky.
31.
The city of Cleveland, Tennessee has held an annual art show in honor of Billie Nipper each fall for over 40 years.
32.
Billie Nipper was chairperson of Cleveland's Creative Guild, which promoted art within the city.