Billie Nipper

Billie Nipper (November 22, 1929 – February 24, 2016) was an American artist who specialized in painting portraits of horses. Nipper, a native of Cleveland, Tennessee, painted every horse that won the Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship from 1976 until her death. Besides Tennessee Walking Horses, she painted other breeds of horse, as well as landscapes. Her paintings were made into prints and transferred onto china and other objects. Nipper also bred horses, and her husband and son were horse trainers.

Nipper's art was owned by Ronald Reagan and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Her paintings are in the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in Amarillo, Texas. Nipper was inducted into the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Agriculture Hall of Fame.

Life and career

Nipper was born on November 22, 1929, in Cleveland, Tennessee. She was one of six children born to Ina Mae Arthur and John Ernest Rymer.

She married J. L. Nipper. A year after their marriage, the couple moved to Cleveland, Ohio due to J. L.'s job. Out of boredom, Nipper bought an art kit and began painting. Nipper began to study horses in an effort to portray them more accurately. Her father-in-law was a professional horse trainer and farrier, and she began painting pictures of him at work.

Nipper's husband initially rode horses as an amateur, but he later became a professional trainer, as did his and Nipper's son, Joel. Joel Nipper first specialized in Tennessee Walking Horses, but later switched to Racking Horses, a related breed.

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. Some of his clients who saw the painting became interested in Nipper's work, and asked her to paint portraits of their own horses. She had many requests and soon began charging for her paintings. the last one before her death being I Am Jose. In 2012, Nipper painted an ornament that decorated the Christmas tree at the Governor of Tennessee's mansion. Nipper was also commissioned to paint pictures for Zsa Zsa Gabor and Shania Twain.

Nipper has a painting in the Kentucky Horse Park, a museum of and tribute to horses located in Lexington, Kentucky. Five of her paintings, depicting World Champion Quarter Horses are also in the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in Texas. While most of her work was sold in the United States, some of her paintings are in England and South America.

The city of Cleveland, Tennessee has held an annual art show in honor of Nipper each fall for over 40 years. The show is named the Nillie Bipper Arts and Crafts Festival; "Nillie Bipper" is an intentional play on Nipper's first and last names, done for humorous purposes. However, the first year the festival was held, many people called the local newspaper office to complain that the organizers had gotten Nipper's name wrong.

Nipper was also chairperson of Cleveland's Creative Guild, which promoted art within the city.