Photos courtesy of Nanete Maki-Dearsan / The Warner’s Window Project

From now through the end of October, the corner of Fulton Street and Tuolomne Street are brought to life by “Bound Horses.”

The life-like works of art are displayed in the windows of the Warnor’s Theatre struggling against the halters, saddles and ropes, as they remain captive, forced prisoners of their restraints.

“I always painted big,” Nanete Maki-Dearsan, part-time faculty drawing instructor at California State University, Fresno said. “Consequently, my drawings are also large.”

Maki-Dearsan always thought of herself as a painter, however, being a drawing instructor gradually shifted her focus from painting to drawing– particularly horses.

Fresno State’s equestrian unit ultimately ended up changing the direction of her future work.

Rebecca Malmo, the equestrian head coach, requested a few students to hold horses still so drawing students could interact with them. The instant Maki-Dearsan took her students to the campus stables to sketch the horse’s close up, a theme began to arise in her paintings.

“I started dreaming about horses and them falling,” Maki-Dearsan said about the moment when horses took over her artwork.

Photos courtesy of Nanete Maki-Dearsan / The Warner’s Window Project

Although Maki-Dearsan’s first horse drawings focused mainly on falling, her most recent exhibit, the “Warnor’s Window Project,” plays with different poses.

One drawing, composed fully of vine charcoal, made Maki-Dearsan feel like she was playing in a fireplace.

“Each piece stands at nine feet tall and stretches three feet wide,” Maki-Dearsan said. “They are huge like real horses.”

“Bound Horses” depicts horses tied with bridles, some weighed down by saddles. Horses are drawn fighting against restraints as they try to break free. Some horses are drawn more calmly while others trash about more passionately.

The horses, she explained, are tied from both sides of their bodies and wear heavy saddles. Regardless of the struggle, ropes keep the horses from breaking free.

“That’s how I feel, trapped,” Maki-Dearsan said. “Everyone feels that way with the current economical situation and budget cuts.”

Maki-Dearsan said that art instructors are trying to work together to teach at least two classes.

“We are all bound with our personal frustrations, but we are bound together,” Maki-Dearsan said. “It’s like we go down as a group and rise up as a group.”