Animals in Pastels

02/10/2026

My latest artwork of various wildflowers painted in watercolor and soft pastels in full bloom. Two small butterflies float gracefully around the colorful arrangement, adding a touch of life. Available as wall art, home decor and more. Click on this link for more info.

Vibrant Wildflower Bouquet Painting by Sandra Huston

01/11/2026

For all you loon lovers check out my Common loons of Maine photographs on my website at Fine Art America. This collection is dedicated to wildlife photographs of the common loon (Gavia immer) captured at Tacoma Lakes . I am truly blessed to be able to continue to capture up close and personal shots of the Loons at Tacoma Lakes in Maine as they interact among themselves each summer. It began in the summer of 2005 and is a very humbling and exciting experience kayaking the connecting ponds each year and watching them raise their young. In 2006 I published my first book "Loons of Tacoma Lakes" from the first year of photographs I had captured. For more information about my book scroll to top of my page and click on the loon book image.

Click here to view all the images available on my loon collection at Fine Art America : https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-sandra-huston/collections/common+loons+of+maine
I hope you enjoy these special moments captured through my photographs over 18 years. Not only are these images available as wall art and home decor through Fine Art America you can also order these images reproduced on beach towels, coffee mugs, puzzles, greeting cards and more.

12/31/2025

12/23/2025

Enjoy

12/20/2025

This Christmas, I hold space for love and remembrance.
For my family and friends—may your days be gentle and your hearts at peace.
And for those watching over us from heaven, you are forever missed, forever loved, and forever part of our light. 🎄✨

12/06/2025

Great video with animals at Christmas time to enjoy with your children.💕

Step into the warm, hand-painted world of Northwood Christmas, where cozy woodland animals celebrate the season in a charming winter forest. This video featu...

12/03/2025

For the bird lover on your holiday gift list check out my Red Cardinal Fleece blanket with a warm sherpa backing. Ships in 2-3 business days.

Purchase a fleece blanket featuring the photograph "Red Cardinals a Spiritual Messenger in January" by Sandra Huston. The luxuriously soft throw blanket is available in two different sizes.

12/02/2025

What a amazing horse!

There once was a little mare.
Not a champion racehorse.
Not a pedigreed star.
Just a 13 hand Jeju pony from Korea.
Barely taller than a middle schooler.

Her Korean name was probably Ah Chim Hai.
Flame of the Morning.
Born around 1948.
Unraced.
Unremarkable.
Unknown.

Until a teenage stable boy sold her for 250 dollars.
Money raised by Marines who skipped meals and pooled poker winnings.

Why did he sell her?
So he could buy prosthetic legs for his sister.
A landmine had taken both of hers.

That is how an ordinary little mare fell into the hands of the United States Marine Corps.

And now…
the story really begins.
🐴🔥

She was bought to haul 75 millimeter recoilless rifle shells.
Up to 200 pounds at a time.
Up mountains where trucks could not go.
Into mud and ice and artillery.

The Marines called her Reckless.
But the name did not warn them.
It prepared them.

Because she learned faster than any horse they had ever seen.
Flattening herself in ditches when she heard incoming rounds.
Bolting for bunkers.
Halting mid trail when artillery whistled overhead.

She even learned to make the trips alone.
Two to three miles without a handler.
Carrying ammo up.
Bringing wounded Marines back down.
Instinct guiding her through fire and fear.

One day she stepped over a mine tripwire that should have killed her.
The Marines said it was luck.
Others said it was something else.

And now… the battle that made her legend.
🇺🇸🔥

Outpost Vegas.
March 1953.
A hill soaked in blood.
A battle so brutal that veterans still refused to talk about it.

Reckless made 51 trips up and down that hill in a single day.
Over 35 miles of open fire.
Machine guns.
Mortars.
A world screaming around her.

She carried 386 rounds.
Almost all the ammo the platoon fired.

Shrapnel tore her flank.
Another hit her hind leg.
She bled.
She staggered.
But she never stopped.

The Marines said she saved them from being overrun.
They said no human could have done what she did.

She earned two Purple Hearts.
A Presidential Unit Citation.
And eventually… a battlefield promotion.
Then another.
Sergeant Reckless.
The only animal promoted twice to staff sergeant.

Life Magazine called her America’s greatest war horse.

But Marines said something even better.
“She was one of us.”

Now… you might think you know the rest.
But Paul Harvey would smile here.
Because there is more.
🐴😄

Reckless loved beer.
Cold Falstaff or Coors.
Straight from the can.
She crashed officers’ parties.
Stole poker chips.
Chewed ci******es.
And once trotted away with an entire cherry pie board and all.

She curled up in foxholes.
Nuzzled wounded soldiers.
Became therapy on four hooves in a war almost everyone forgot.

After the war she returned home a hero.
She received parades.
She drank at the Bohemian Club.
She retired at Camp Pendleton.
She had foals.
Veterans visited her for years.
Some cried into her mane.

She passed in 1968.
Buried with honor.
Still loved.
Still remembered.

Later researchers like Janet Barrett spent twenty years collecting the real stories.
Sixty Marines.
Declassified files.
Old photos that had never been seen.
Interviews from Korea.
And a truth even more powerful than the legend.

Reckless was not born heroic.
She chose it.
Every day she carried weight that should have broken her.
Yet she lifted spirits instead.

Now you know the rest of the story.
And maybe now you understand why a little mare from Korea has six national monuments.
Why Marines still say her name with pride.
Why her story refuses to fade.

If you want the whole truth in all its grit and grace, read Janet Barrett’s book They Called Her Reckless or Robin Hutton’s Sgt. Reckless.

And if this story touched you, save it, follow for more, and share it so the world remembers the horse who outran bullets and never left a Marine behind.

Tag someone who needs a spark of hope today.
🐴❤️🇺🇸

12/01/2025

Send a message to learn more

11/26/2025

Wishing all A Happy Thanksgiving week!

11/20/2025

Fine Art America is offering 25% off on all Puzzles, Tote Bags, Weekender Bags, Zip Pouches and Yoga Mats for your holiday gift giving. Check out my collection of Animals in pastels at https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-sandra-huston/collections/animals+in+pastels and Horses in Art https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-sandra-huston/collections/horses+in+art Sale starts today November 20th till Midnight.