From East Coast beginnings to life on a foothills horse ranch, the Bakersfield-based equine artist shares how horses, land, and community shape her work and her sense of home.
Published: Dec. 28, 2025 | Updated Jan. 27, 2026
Some conversations carry the quiet rhythm of the land itself. For Kern equine artist Lisa Faulkenberry, that rhythm is set by the foothills, the horses, and a community that continues to shape both her life and her art.
For this Q&A, Kern Magazine connected with Faulkenberry to talk about her journey, her creative process, and the land that grounds her work, while offering our readers a first look at her latest piece.
THE REVEAL
You grew up on the East Coast and have now called Bakersfield home for many years. Can you share a little about where you’re from, what brought you here, and why Kern County became home?
I grew up on the East Coast, but my mom and I were always “California dreaming.” Eventually, we packed up and headed west, drawn by the promise of opportunity, sunshine, and a different way of life. We landed in California’s Central Valley while searching for a more balanced pace of life. After meeting my husband, we both chose Bakersfield for its practical economy and strong sense of community and family. Bakersfield—and Kern County as a whole—ended up checking all those boxes. Over the years, it has truly become home, not just for the lifestyle it offers, but for the people, relationships, and sense of belonging we’ve found here.
Horses are central to your life and your art. Where did that love begin, and how has it shaped the way you see and create?
Horses have been part of my inner world for as long as I can remember. As a child, I drew them on my school binders and homework, and I made it a point to visit every neighbor who had horses, just to be near them. Being around horses always made me feel calm and grounded—they had a way of quieting my mind. That early sense of peace and connection never left me, and it deeply influences how I create today. When I paint horses, I’m not just capturing their form, but the emotional stillness and soulful presence they’ve always given me.
Acrylic on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas 2025, by Lisa Faulkenberry
You live on a ranch in the foothills. How does your daily environment—the land, the animals, the light—influence what ends up on the canvas?
Living on a small horse ranch in the foothills means my subject matter is part of my daily rhythm. Having the horses in direct view from my studio is endlessly inspiring—they’re not something I visit; they’re something I live alongside. Throughout the day, the landscape continually shifts as the light moves, revealing new colors, shadows, and patterns. I especially love the late-day light, when the surrounding mountains glow with rich red tones. Those changes influence my palette, my mood, and the energy I bring to the canvas, allowing me to create work with feeling.
Please tell us about your artwork, medium, genre, and focus.
2025 , by Lisa Faulkenberry
I work primarily in acrylic, mixed media, and oil, though I’m always experimenting and exploring new mediums and techniques. Horses and the relationships are central to my work, but I also enjoy intuitively painting abstraction and touches of surrealism. This approach allows me to embrace spontaneity while weaving memory, lived experience, and imagination into each piece.
Can you talk about your Women With Horses series and what this bond between women and horses means to you personally?
Women With Horses, is a personal tribute to the empowering bond between women and horses. It reflects stories of strength, intuition, and partnership—connections that are often unspoken but deeply felt. For me, these relationships represent trust, empathy, and mutual strength, and painting them allows me to honor the quiet grace and resilience found in both women and their equine partners.
What do you love most about the Kern County community and the Western lifestyle here?
What I love most about Kern County is how involved and connected people are—it really creates a strong sense of community. I also love the lifestyle here: in just a short drive, you can be surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges with cows grazing on open land, or find yourself at the Kern River, which is always inspiring and rejuvenating. There’s a perfect balance of community, nature, and the Western way of life.
When you’re not in the studio, what’s your favorite local spot to eat?
Oh my—Kern County is full of amazing, locally owned restaurants! If I had to pick just one, Rosa’s has been a consistent favorite of ours.
When you feel the pull to get away, where’s your favorite place to travel outside of Kern and why?
I’m really fond of California’s Central Coast. It’s just a couple of hours away, but it offers a complete change of scenery. Being by the open water, listening to the waves, is incredibly soothing and always sparks inspiration for me.
Beyond Horses
Faulkenberry has her Women With Horses series, along with others such as Land & Sea and Ballerina series. She describes her Ballerina series as work that moves through reflection, joy, and grace, using dancers as symbols for strength, transformation, and resilience across every stage of life. Each piece celebrates both motion and stillness, inviting viewers to see their own becoming in the pauses, the leaps, and the balance that carries us forward; that is, “moving with intention through life’s ever-changing choreography.”
Beyond the Studio
Beyond the studio and the ranch, Lisa is deeply invested in Kern County’s creative life. She’s an active member of the Bakersfield Art Association, where she currently serves as Vice President and volunteers in multiple roles, helping support an organization that has championed local artists for more than 80 years. Located at 1607 19th Street in Bakersfield, the association is entirely volunteer-run, and for Lisa, strengthening the local arts community is just as meaningful as creating the work itself.
How to reach Lisa Faulkenberry
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