Life on the Ranch and in the Studio, and on the Road

This has been a very busy weekend with lots of things happening at the ranch and in the studio. It was also our Regular Ozark Pastel Society meeting at the Art Barn on the campus of John Brown University. 

A special visitor to our home was wonderful pastel artist, Caprise Cooper, who was to demonstrate, to our Ozark Pastel Society on Saturday, several techniques she has developed for painting rusty objects with pastels. I was delighted to host Caprise at the ranch.

We met at the Art Barn on the Campus of John Brown University, to set up her demo space and lighting. We had met earlier at the Park House Restaurant, with Charles Peer, past instructor at JBU, to visit before hand. After the set up, we went to Charles' lovely home and had diet Root Beer, what a treat! No frosty mug though! We saw his beautiful art collection and then went to his wonderful studio. That was the cherry on the day. 

Saturday morning we watched Caprise go through her demo and show six different ways she has used different techniques and materials to create her beautiful art.

After lunch, we settled in for a mini lesson on preparing canvas, paper and other substrates with micaceous black acrylic, iridescent and pearlized acrylics and a special watercolor known as FineTec. Most supplies can be purchased through Dick Blick.

Most people used the black micaceous paint to prime their paper or canvas, which gave them a super surface to draw their image on. Caprise provided great photos, for swap meets near her home on Petit Jean Mountain,  for us to work with.

I worked on Uart 400 cream paper and worked directly with the acrylics and FineTec watercolors. The laying in of color was teadious as I had selected a very colorful rusty car with lots of chrome. 

As with all pastel paintings they go through a very awkward and ugly stage and you never feel you will be able to pull off a descent painting. Mine looked like a patchwork quilt. 

I was exhausted when I got home, as I had been challenged to the limit with the different process. So I was anxious and ready to paint on Sunday morning. 

In my studio, I began selecting pastels to use on this patchwork mess I had created. Listening to the music from the movie, 'Dances with Wolves' was the perfect inspiration for working on this mess I had created. I worked 90 minutes and it bagan to come together.

Next day, Monday, I worked 3 hours and started fine-tuning and correcting errors in my sketch. !!! Okay, so you think I made a mistake putting my image upside down+++Hang on!!! It was so much fun working with the brilliant colors in this painting, but I was stressed the day before.

I remembered a trick I learned many years ago from Betty Edwards' book 'Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain', in which she says sometimes we have trouble with our drawing because we want to name each item we are drawing.  So, if you turn your painting or drawing upside down, it engages the right side of your brain and and changes it to a subjective state. This is known as R-mode. 

Making the shift to R-Mode is difficult but if done properly will give great results.  Familiar things do not look the same when they are upside down. We automatically assign a top, bottom and sides to things we perceive.  Turning your painting upside down, confuses the brain and we now see shapes and in this case color swatches, that are my underpainting. This allows the left hemisphere to let the right brain or R-Mode to take over for a while. I continued like this for the duration of the painting, until the last thirty minutes to fine detail the painting. 

I finished it on Tuesday morning and will let it simmer a few days before I call it finished. 

My takeaway is I loved the textures created with the sugar rub, which helped give the rust a special 3rd dimensionand the glittery underpainting of the watercolor and acrylics that still shine through, even with many layers of pastels. I used gritty Unisons, and Mt. Visions, along with many Terry Lugwig neutrals and a few Nupastels for the finishing touches. I used several of Dian Townsend's 'Hots' which has both grit and some glitter. 

I definitely will use the techniques that Caprise taught us on other projects and am eager to see where I can use in landscape and maybe even stilllife. 

I continue to pray for Texas, and now New Mexico and our Country, where wildfires are now consuming the beautiful Lodge on the North Rim of Grand Canyon. How devastating with all this that nature is throwing at us right now. Please join me in praying for our country and the ones who have been impacted personally and the volunteers who step up to help in time of need. 

Prayers, and all my best,

Burneta

It has been a very busy spring on the ranch and in the studio. That is..... between all the doctor visits. When we get older, it seems like our social events or work gets interrupted by the necessary things like seeing doctors. 

On that note, I want to take a moment to mention a very special friend, Ruel, whom we lost in May, who would have celebrated his 91st birthday June 3rd, instead we celebrated his life in Jefferson City, Missouri where we met 51 years ago. Ruel worked with Dick at IBM and became close friends and I soon became close friends with his wife, Lois. The two of them were married 71 years.

I just thought Dick and I had been married a long time, at 61 years, which we will celebrated June 19th. Lois and Ruel were such a neat couple and came to visit us at our cabin near Gunnison and Black Canyon, several times. Ruel was a geologist by education, but so much more than that. He absolutely loved the 'Black Canyon' and it brought him to tears when he saw it the first time. We celebrate our precious times we spent together. Thank you, Ruel for making us a small part of your life. We are genuinely honored to have known you and your family. 

Recalling a trip to Yankee Boy Basin, with Lois and Ruel was such an memorable trip to Ouray and the mountains just south of town. We were lucky to see the huge meadow stretching up the side of a mountain that was absolutley bursting with so many    , it took our breath away. Ruel walked up the side of the mountain meadow, then turned in circles with arms outstretched, just like in the movie, 'Sound of Music'. We will forever have this joyous image burned into our hearts.

I decided to paint a day lily what was blooming just off my  front porch, a few days after we returned from Missouri to celebrate Ruels life. I was surprised to see a butterfly land on the lily just as I started to PleinAir paint, so took a picture of the landing so I could add the visitor to my lily. I know it was Ruel visiting with me as I painted. I call this painting, 'Welcome Home. 

The next day as I was finishing the painting on the porch, another butterfly fluttered through to yet again let me know that Ruel was indeed in heaven and enjoying the beauty of our Heavenly Father's garden and looking down on all of us who loved him.

I planted native Missouri plants I purchased  at a Missouri Wildflower Nursery, South of Jefferson City, in the front of my blooming Daylilies.

The Echinaea, or Cone Flowers, in White, Yellow, pale Pink and Lavender were profusely blooming along the roadside on the 54 highway south of the City, as we returned home to Tahlequah. This bed is in memory of Ruel. I hope they all will live. We can enjoy them from the porch that we love to sit on and reminisce. Rest in Peace, dear friend. 

It is about 175 miles to North Little Rock and my mission was to pick up twenty+ pantings for the Ozark Pastel Society and deliver them along with the four paintings I had already collected, to the Thea Foundation Art Gallery in North Little Rock for the Annual groups show for the Arkansas and Ozark Pastel Associations. 

I picked up collected paintings at Board member Cindy Rowden's home and continued on to Little Rock arriving there about 11:30am. Arkansas Pastel Society President, Caprise Cooper and Board member Anne Parat were there waiting to help unload the artwork along with Thea worker and OPA member Nancy Martin. We made quick work of the unloading and then Anne, Caprise and I went to lunch at a very cute Bistro in the next block south of the gallery. 

This part of North Little Rock is beautiful with lovely planters and flower plantings along the streets. A street trolley runs down mainstreet and makes a 17 mile loop across the Arkansas River, the Kerr/Mcgee Navigation Channel, which comes all the way to Tulsa and connects to New Orleans. The Navigation channel divides North Little Rock and Little Rock.

Murphy was the TolleyMan for most of our tour. The Convention center, Clinton Library and the Historic Arkansas Museum is on this loop. Two trolley's run during the day and is free to all riders. 

There was lots of water flowing in the river due to all the rains. A submarine is docked at the North Little Rock side of the river. The heat index was 105 on Wednesday afternoon, so we opted to go to the Historic Museum where it was cool. We had planned on PlenAir painting at the mill but that will have to be another day. It is just too hot to paint outside even in the even when it starts to cool off some.

We saw an outstanding knife exhibit of the 'Bowie Knife'. We rode the trolley two round trips having three different conductors. It is indeed a small world, having met the first conductor who was from western Oklahoma. When I asked where and he said Boise City. Being from Alva and traveling through Boise City for over 25 years to go to our cabin near Gunnison, I was very familiar with Boise City, the only town bombed during WWII. Look up the incident. It is very interesting. 

Anne had offered me lodging for the night and so we went to her lovely home in Little Rock.

We were to meet a mutual friend, Susan for dinner at the Terrace Restaurant where Susan had made reservations. We had a lovely meal and a really sweet young waitress from Venezuela. She was such a lovely young lady with an accent of coarse. I think I must paint her portrait. 

Thursday morning I sketched on Anne's front porch until she got up. We went to a lovely Bistro about 10 minutes from the house for Brunch. There were lovely fresh flowers on the tables but I had no idea what they were. Having been in the floral business for 35 years, I thought they were in the bergamot family and they were. The gentleman who seated us came over and looked them up and said the flowers came from the florist next door. So, we obviously visited a beautiful Floral shop next door called the 'Cabbage Rose'. What a fun morning before I hit the road for home. It is great to travel, but always good to be home. 

A side trip on the way home allowed me to visit with WAOW member Brenda Morgan who lives in Dardenelle. It was great seeing her. 

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I am proud to be an American! I'm so thankful for young men and women who give this right to me! I never take my life in the United States for granted! Celebrate our Country today and especially on the Fourth! 

If you get a chance to go to North Little Rock, stop in and see the exhibit at the Thea Foundation Gallery. The artwork was installed last Saturday and runs through July 31, 2025. Some of the work has already sold. Take a look. 

Best Wishes,

Burneta 

An impromptu PleinAir painting in the pasture.....

Dick and Sage came in from morning chores around 10am, after taking a 'Look-See' of damages sustained after last night and yesterdays tornadoes and high winds across the state. Dick came bearing images on his phone of a beautiful 'shelf fungi' in bright white and bright oranges and gold.

I decided this would be a great time to grab the pastels and head to the pasture, while Dick  fixed fence from downed trees. One big loss was a beautiful red cedar in the edge of the big pasture near where Dick took images of the fungi. (more on this interesting fungi, later)

Arriving at the site, I discovered the fungi had already morphed, in less than an hour, into a more subtle color of orange and grayed white, but it was in full sunlight. Wonderful! I love to paint orange colors. I must hurry as the sun continues to move. 

Still intrigued, I began setting up, which only took a few minutes, only to discover in my excitement, I had left my pochade box in the kitchen. I was equipped with a few colored pencils and some really bright Terry Ludwigs and the 'Reds' and 'Hots'  of Diane Townsend. Not exactly what I had in mind when I got so excited to paint this subject. 

Not to be totally disappointed, I decided to try to make the best of the situation, and get something down on paper. I didn't want to miss the whole experience. UGH! 

I roughly, and I mean roughly, sketched on a mauve colored sanded pastelmat with the few pastels I had. Bright orange, purple for the shadows and greens for the grasses. Oh, I don't have any neutrals. Just put down basic colors, with those I have as closely as I have at my disposal.  I came up with a utterly bright abstract of the still changing colors, shelf fungi.

Not right colors, and there was no way I could have painted this flora accurately, as it continued to change colors as I observed it. Then all of a sudden it was in the shadows, again a major shift in the colors I was observing. Then the wind came up and blew my hat off and the flies started attacking, just when I thought things might settle down. 

Okay....Time to retreat to the studio and paint from the photos taken while experiencing the pastel painting plein air in the pasture.....I know I am a fair weather painter and it sounds so exciting to travel to Lake Tahoe this week with the Plein Air Convention going on out there, but I'm glad I didn't spend $$$ going that far to experience the disappointment I did in my own pasture. I really have painted PleinAir before and thoroughly enjoy the experience. There is nothing quite like seeing the real colors of nature. Plein Air is not supposed to be a perfect picture or even framed for that matter, but to be a 'study' of the subject and the colors experienced while on the site. 

I recall reading a book about Thomas Moran and his experience on the Expedition to explore the unknown areas which would later become the first National Park in the park system, known as Yellowstone. He painted vibrant colors of the smudg pots, the orange edges of the pools of bright turquoise that he saw. Taking these paintings back to Congress, they doubted he could have seen those colors in real life. But oh yes, he had indeed seen those beautiful colors. He had not exaggerated their vibrancy.

This is one of the reasons artists go outside and paint from true life. To capture the vibrancy, is the test. And to make it believable. I am such a fan of Thomas Moran and fell in love with his work when the 'Thomas Moran' Exhibit was at the Gilcrease, in 1998. This was to commenorate the 125th anniversary of the creation of the Yellowstone National Park. I loved it so much I went back five times. Ann Moran, in Tulsa did such a beautiful job with that exhibit that traveled from the National Gallery to the Gilcrease, and then on to Seattle Art Museum. It was a once in a lifetime exhibit. It brought together for the first time, three enormous paintings that Moran had repeatedly tried to bring together during his lifetime, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872, Chasm of the Colorado, 1893, and Mountain of the Holy Cross, 1875.

So, I will try again another day. Plein Air painting isn't for everyone. I will prepare better tomorrow and get an earlier start on my PleinAir painting in the pasture. Now I have created my muse for tomorrow. I hope it isn't raining. 

I enjoyed being outside and am so Blessed to have the opportunity to paint on my own property when I want to. 

Do what pleases you today! Take time to muse yourself. 

Happy painting! 

Burneta

PS. Back in the studio, I researched the Shelf fungi and discovered it is also known as 'Chicken of the Woods' mushroom. They are edible as well as being colorful. It was not a wasted morning 'Painting in the pasture' at the edge of the woods. Tomorrow is another day! So true, Charlette, quoting from Gone With the Wind. 

This year has been a year of adjustment for me as an artist.

Because of the cost of materials, distance to foundries and ability to get work done at the foundry in Oklahoma, I decided to put up the clay and start painting in pastel. This was a difficult decision, but I think it is the right one for me at this time. I will tell you of my musings. 

I have had great success selling my sculptures in the gallery scene and at shows. But all of the galleries who represented me in the past closed during or shortly after Covid. Because of the closing of two of my major galleries, I have inventory that is for sale here at the studio.

I do have two new galleries, one in Woodward, Oklahoma , the LRHill Studio/Gallery on Main Street and the Carriage Factory Art Gallery on Sixth street in Newton Kansas. Both of these galleries carry my paintings and sculpture. I also have a gallery in Pawhuska on Kiehekah; Sunset Ridge Gallery where they carry my sculptures. 

Because I have a huge inventory, I have many sculptures in my Studio that can be purchased at a 30% discount just in time for Christmas gifting. If you are interested in any of my sculptures, now is a great time to purchase directly from me. Most of these sculptures have earned awards in various National Shows. I would be glad to help you with your purchase from my studio. 

The above painting is a commission piece that I did recently for a collector who wanted a gift got her grandson who is earning his Eagle Scout designation. She had purchased original art for each of the four older grandsons when they earned their Eagle designation. I am quite honored she asked me to create this piece for her grandson on his elevation to Eagle Scout. 

I am also teaching private lessons to two adults who come to my studio. One is just beginning to learn to draw and is very motivated to learn. You are never too old to take up drawing. I'm certain she will progress to watercolor or pastels very quickly. She picks very difficult subjects to draw. It is really best to start simple and then work up to more difficult subjects, but she is fearless and I love her attitude.

My other student is quite the challenge for me as she is also quite motivated, also. She like many women, had a professional career that got in the way of her desire to pursue art as a career. After retirement,  she made a promise to herself to take up painting.  It was a great time to pick up the brush and create paintings that one is proud of. She wanted to be the best she can be as she had done some painting on her own. She knew she needed help, but where to start? That is where I came in. We are painting and learning together. Honestly, I learn as much by teaching someone as they learn from me. 

I had a guest artist while back who wanted to take up pastels. She is a very accomplished artist in graphite but wanted to transition from pencil to pastels. She is already making great strides by getting her first pastel accepted in a national competition.  She just needed some pointers and was inquisitive about what materials to get and where to get them. I was able to pass on great information that had been supplied to me not that long ago from several artists who graciously shared their infomation with me. It is so gratigying to share information with each other. 

If you want to take lessons, I am a retired high school art teacher and became a professional artist after I retired. I would love to help you on your artistic journey. If you are needing a Christmas gift, I have many sizes and subjects covered in pastel paintings or in sculpture. Pastels are generally sold unframed so you can pick out the frame you want. I can also help guide you in that regard. 

I hope this note finds you all well. I will try to be more regular with my postings and will share my progress in revamping my studio space from clay to pastel. 

Have a good one! Merry Christmas! 

All my best,

Burneta 

'Thunderhead at Sunset' , Pastel                       Phippen Museum Gallery                 'Two of a Kind', Pastel

What a very busy spring this has been. Traveling to Prescott to see the Phippen in early March was very eventful having traveled by plane to Phoenix and driving to Prescott. Staying in the historic Hassayampa Inn which cellebrates is 100th birthday in 2027 was a special treat. What a beautiful and grand old hotel where many celebrities stayed and walked the halls. Many WAOW's attend the Opening weekend, of our 54th Annual National Juried  Show,  coming from all over the country.   

First day, several artists and husbands took a tour bus to Grand Canyon where we were greeted with a snow storm and could barely see anything of the canyon at all. But all was not lost. We ate a fine meal at the El Tavar Inn Lodge and sat by the fireplace watching it snow and people coming and going. This hotel had many guest scurrying around in the snow. A train unloaded not far from the Lodge. 

Back in Prescott, we got to see the best of the best artwork of Women Artists of the West for our 54th National Show, 'Dreamweavers'. It is stunning and the Museum is very interesting. It is named after the first President and a founding member  of the Cowboy Artists  of America, George Phippen. Many of his paintings and sculptures are in the museum, along with a replica of his studio. The landscape around Prescott was very interesting with large boulders near the Museum. 

The WAOW show is beautifully displayed and art has sold very well with works being purchased after the opening night.

I had a pastel, 'Thunderhead at Sunset' accepted in the show and was so excited to be in this group of fine artists. It has been a challenging time for me as an artist, as I have been transitioning from sculptor to pastel painter. 

Then, I was really surprised, and honored, when I got a pastel painting in the Arizona Pastel Artists Association 8th Member Show in the downstairs gallery. Both of these shows are going on at the same time in the Phippen. I am also a member of the APAA and learning the ropes as a pastel artist. This show was quite an honor to get in, as it has many International Pastel Master artists were also in it. I saw just how much I have to learn. I feel fortunate to have been accepted in both of these shows at the same time.  This show can be seen by the flippen book on the APAA website. 

My painting 'Two of a Kind' is of the team of draft horses, Dan and Doc, that were at our National show in Newton, Kansas last summer, was the subject of my painting. This painting was started as a pleinAir painting, meaning I started in from life as they were tied to a bench in a park behind the 'Carriage Factory Art Gallery', last summer. It was fun working with the live animals, but very challenging. Lucily I found a picture I had taken of them in almost the same pose. I was then able to finish the picture I had started in Newton a few months before.   

Back home in Oklahoma, I entered our 2nd Annual OPS/APS Show shared by two pastel organizations; Ozark Pastel Society, and Arkansas Pastel Society. I belong to both of these organizations. Demonstrations and a table set up with pastels and paper allowed students and attendees to play with pastels. It was a big hit. Small pieces of sanded paper was supplied with some pastels. The Art students from the college and visitors with small school children all got to experience the love of pastel.  The group show was held on the campus of John Brown University, in Siloam Springs. 

So, now I am gearing up and getting packed to attend the Woolaroc Invitational outside Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where I have four sculptures on exhibit. I feel so honored to be in this show, as it is the best of the Women Artists of the West group who choose to paint and sculpt western genra.

This will be my last big sculpting show, so it will be a bitter sweet show for me, as I put down the sculpting tools and concentrate on pastel painting. The four sculptures in this show are some of my very best and are still reasonably priced, as the next editions will be more expensive. This show is beautiful and can be pre-viewed on the www.waow.org. The Phippen catalog can also be viewed on the same site. Both offer beautiful work by women artists telling their story on canvas, paper and in metal, through their eyes. 

Spend an evening in your armchair glancing through this beautiful artwork. If you can attend the Woolaroc event on May 4th, 2024, we would love to see you there. Come support women artists doing what they love. Demonstrations can be seen Saturday morning at the Woolaroc. 

Time is a fickle thing.

My Grandma used to tell me, when I was a teenager that time goes faster and faster as she grew older. I was a teen and wanted time to speed up! She was in her 50's and she said the days just fly by.

I couldn't wait to be sixteen and she was dreading turning 60. 

Now I am in my 70's, indeed time is flying by. 

Eight years ago, a collegue and myself embarked on a project to bring the Women Artists of the West to the Woolaroc.

Back then, we never fathomed it would take this long. Like that teen anticipating becoming a young adult, time stood still. It was frustrating. But we had a goal and hoped it would come to fruition. 

Time stretched into months and then years and we persisted. One or the other of us giving up along the time travelled, many times. Yet encouraging each other not to give up. We lifted each other up during the difficult times and finally in 2022 we got the nod that, indeed, we would have an Invitational at the Woolaroc. This was May of 2022. 

Now the real work would begin. A Woolaroc Team was formed. Over 185 women artists submitted and were screened by their websites. The theme of the work was suggested by Woolaroc to be westen themed. No problem there, as our WAOW organization had been formed over 50 years earlier by women artists in the western performance and show arena in Norco.

Screening began for over a year and 37 of the best western artists in our group were 'invited' after two seperate culling of works. We had selected our very best for the limited space we had at the Woolaroc. We were going to be exhibiting at the grand exhibit space in room 5. Much is weighing on this show as the 'Woolaroc Invitational' has a possibility of becomeing even more with a possible invitation on the even number years for a permanent 'Invitation'. 

The planning was set in motion and time seemed to drag on. We wondered if we would ever see the day we open at the Woolaroc Museum. The date was set for May 4, 2024-August 4, 2024. 

Time is now flying by and we are only 12 days from this historic opening. Events have been planned and 32 of the 37 artists will be in attendance at the Opening Night, Saturday, May 4 , 2024. The day will be filled with painters demonstrating in oil and pastel. Talks will be given about the historic Woolaroc, by the daughter of the architect, Dr. Cathy Jameson. A panel discussion will be held to discuss the journey of women in the arts. A talk about the history and forming of WAOW will also be presented by one of our forming members, Mary Ann Cherry. 

This will indeed be a momentous occasion with women coming from 14 states, and two countries to help us celebrate women artists. 

EeeGads! How can it be so close now? My grandmother was right! Time does fly. I hope we can all take in the moments at the opening to enjoy the time we have to spend together.

WE have had three special gatherings to bring artists closer together and introduce a few to Woolaroc. The WolfCreek Ranch was a mainstay for all of these gatherings in '22, 23' and '24. WAOW wants to thank Mark and Kelly Spencer for their support and treating us to special days at their ranch. They are very special to us. 

Come spend some time with us, Women Artists of the West at the Woolaroc and make time stand still for just a moment at least. 

Yes, time is a fickle thing! 

2024 is already being planned and the Women Artists of the West Volunteers have been busy preparing for not one, but two outstanding shows.

The year kicks off with the 54th National Women Artists of the West Show at the Phippen Art Museum in Prescot/Sedona, Arizona in March.

The second event is the Exhibition and Sale. The First Woolaroc/WAOW Invitational at Woolaroc Museum and Preserve with 37 of our top artists exhibiting work from across this great country, with members from Canada and Australia also participating. The Invitational is the first weekend in May. 

I feel so blessed to be a part of this Invitational Show as one of the 37 invited artists. 

Julie Gowing-Hayes, Shiloh Thurman, Woolaroc Museum Director, Burneta Venosdel

As a Master-Signature Emeritus of WAOW, I will also be participating in the 54th National as a Master-Signature. 

I will be posting more information about the Woolaroc, as I am the show coordinator for this show. After 7 years of hard work, this show and exhibition will come to fruition. Advertisements will be appearing in all the major western genre' national magazines. Radio spots on local Bartlesville station will carry interviews and the bMonthly magazine in Bartlesville will have interesting stories about Women Artists of the West. 

We are so excited and honored to be in the Woolaroc Museum for the first-ever all women art exhibit in the history of the museum in the main museum. Activities will be announced beginning soon with several days of events on Wednesday and Thursday and demonstrations kicking off the weekend. There will be fine art of all sizes and sculpture will be featured as well. 

Come, plan on joining us as we celebrate western art through the eyes of women and from their perspective. Become a collector and support women artists by purchasing women's artwork. Or just come to enjoy! It is a groundbreaking event in the world of womens art.  

Click your heels and come with me to the 'No Place Like Home' 53rd Annual National Women Artists of the West Exhibition & Sale at Newton, Kansas. 

Approximately 30 women artists from across the country and their guests arrived in the heart of America on July 20-24 to celebrate women and discover what great artists women are as shown by the beautiful exhibit at the Carriage Factory Art Gallery in downtown Newton, Kansas. Mary Lee-McDonald did an excellent job hanging 119 beautiful works of art in this historic building circa 1883 which was rescued by the Newton Fine Arts Association in 1983. This year they are celebrating their 40th year. 

The week of activities was kicked of with a celebration of 'Third Thursday' in the community and free carriage rides with two white Percheron horses and a team of half Clydes-half Belgian horses modeling for the many women artists painting them live en pleinAir in the late afternoon. The gallery was open for a quick peek of the artwork and a food truck provided barbeque to the patrons and artists with live music to complete the festivities. 

Friday was a day of discovery with artists traveling to nearby Lindsborg to take in 'little Sweden'  to pleinAir paint the old flour mill, take a tour of the 1898 Smoky Mountain Roller Mills,  1904 World's Fair Pavilion, West Kentuk one room School all on the Heritage Square. Many artists took in the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery and got to see the great collection of Swedish born Artist Birger Sandzen which is one of the 8 wonders of Kansas. The museum is definitely worth the visit. 

The herd of Wild Dala horses roamed the streets of Lindsborg and you could get a glimpse of them throughout the town which was decked out in all its Swedish architecture throughout the town. Magnificant old homes in bright colors gave a glimpse of what these immagrants had left behind in the home country. 

The museum portion of the Old mill had a wonderful exhibit of photos and letters from the early pioneers and the home country. 

A strange mountain, well in Kansas it is a mountain, rises up northwest of Lindsborg which is known as Coronado Heights. It is the site of a rare find of a conquistadors breast plate. From that vantage point you can see many, many miles. There is a fort type lookout and many picnic tables with big fireplaces dotting the small mountain, all built of beautiful stone from the area, during the WPA era. 

Friday evening was celebrated with 42 guests at the Genova Italian Restaurant and a great time was had by all, even celebrating long-time member, Judy Fairley's birthday a bit early. We were just glad she finally landed in Wichita, due to bad weather-related delays across the Rockies and into western Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Tornadoes almost lifted Judy in places other than Kansas, like another familiar Judy in 'the Wizard of Oz'..... truly , 'No Place Like Home' our properly named show for this year was almost a reality. 

The Art Show kicked off on Saturday, with lots of demonstrations and activities going on in the  Carriage Factory Art Gallery.  A demonstration by Kim Casebeer, the show judge, gave a wonderful oil demonstration on the gallery's main floor. Live models dressed in 1800's regalia posed for artists upstairs, while sculptors were demonstrating and being videoed downstairs. The presentation of the awards at 7pm was live streamed and can be seen on face book, Women Artists of the West. You can also visit the WAOW website at www.waow.org to see some of the demos. 

German food was experienced on Sunday morning as we departed to return to our homes. A great time was had by all and the show continues till September 15, 2023. Go out and see a beautiful exhibit and support your favorite artist and invest in women artists. Grace your home with a gift for your loved one or that hard to buy for special person. It is the gift that keeps on giving for a lifetime. 

The catalog, a flippingbook, of the artwork may be seen on the WAOW website and purchased. Many sales were made and my sculpture, 'Prairie Treasures' sold two editions. It is a special piece commemorating and calling attention to the vanishing species on the Prairie from Canada to Texas; the Bison, Horned Toad Lizard, and bobwhite quail. Several Editions are still available and will benefit the gallery and the WAOW organization. 

The small sculpture 'Catch Me if You Can', has returned full circle as a resell to benefit the Marshall Fire Victims Benefit. This past week I got word that one of my collectors was interested in selling 'Catch Me' after 12 years. The sculpture was purchased at the American Royal to benefit agriculture students through scholarships for college. 

After a visit with the collector, it was decided to make 'Catch Me' available for sale through Mary Williams Fine Art Gallery, Boulder, Colorado to directly benefit the fire victims in Colorado. 

I am so proud of this little sculpture that continues to give in yet another special way. 

You see, this is a sculpture of my oldest Scottish Terrier, Keelea who gave us seventeen years of love and devotion. On a special moment, while at our cabin in Colorado, I experienced a little runaway scotty bound to see her walking mate on the mountain.

Keelea was never off her leash, except this one instance, when she was needing outside and so I let her out thinking she would come back in. I had no shoes on, as I stood watching her only feet away from the deck. She knew this and took off down our long driveway, with me chasing after her for more than a quarter of a mile, till we got to the main road. She was always just out of my reach, and trotting so cutely, looking over her shoulder, as if saying 'Catch Me if You Can'. This is the inspiration for the sculpture. We returned to the cabin, and I sculpted the sculpture in one day. 

If you are interested in 'Catch Me' contact me or Mary Williams Fine Art Gallery, 303-938-1588, info/marywilliamsfinearts.com www.marywilliamsfineartgallery.com. This will benefit the Fire Victims in Colorado. Thank you very much, James for giving 'Catch Me' a fine home for twelve years and giving her a chance to find another fine home.