Opening Friday, June 21 from 5 to 7 PM is the Deines Cultural Center’s summer art exhibition, Layers, which features six artists from or currently living in Russell. The show includes acrylic, oil and mixed media paintings by Bill Farmer, David Friday, Angela Muller and Shannon Trevethan, bronze sculpture by Matt Lyczak and multimedia sculpture by Dustin Poche’. Layers will be on display in the Deines galleries from June 21 through August 16.
Very excited to have three pieces at the Strecker-Nelson-West Gallery show entitled Golden Valley-Endless Skyway opening this Friday, June 14 at 5:00 pm. If you are in the Manhattan, KS area, please come see all the amazing prairie landscapes. The show is up until August.
If spring cleaning bites you with the decorating bug, please drop by the Kansas Earth and Sky Candle Company in Ellinwood for a new flower power painting lovingly made with earth materials.
I’m so honored that Spirit of an Autumn Tree was selected for the 50th Annual Smoky Hill Art Exhibition in Hays. I have a special relationship with trees, because they are so uncommon here. I think Willa Cather described it best in her book My Antonia, “Trees were so rare in that country, and they had to make such a hard fight to grow, that we used to feel anxious about then, and visit them as if they were persons.” I imagine this tree as my Cottonwood spirit clothed in the fading cloak of late summer leaves, resolutely facing the coming wind that will usher in change. It is acrylic with natural elements, including limestone, prairie soil and rainwater. The painting received the smoke of fallen leaves to symbolize change that comes to all deciduous trees. At such times, nature reminds us there is a time to let go.
Thank you to all the lovely people who attended the Spirit of the Prairie Art Talk at the gorgeous gallery of the Kansas Earth & Sky Candle Company in Ellinwood. I loved sharing why art with earth elements can help us reconnect to ancient earth wisdom and grow in community.
Thank you everyone who came to the opening of OF THE EARTH at the gallery of the Hays Arts Council in Hays, Kansas. What an awesome evening displaying earthen art with ceramist Barbara Jo Stevens. The show is up through November.
Thank you ROAR Art Show for the Honorable Mention Award for Kansas, my homage to our famous wheat fields. Congratulations on 50 years of lifting up the arts in Kansas. And a big shout out to my fellow Russell County artists for a great showing. Go down and see the ROAR this week through Sunday. You will be amazed.
Getting excited for Of the Earth at the Hays Arts Center in Hays, Kansas with ceramic artist Barbara Jo Stevens. I’ll have a selection of earthy prairie paintings containing soil, limestone, Cottonwood bark and grass. The show runs from October 19 through November. Hope to see you there.
I’m excited to show a collection of autumn earthy works with ceramic artist Barbara Jo Stevens beginning October 19 at the Hays Arts Council. Here’s a preview of one of my newest pieces, An American Quilt. This 13 section painting is my take on an American quilt, a quintessential staple of the pioneering life. My grandmother used to make quilts out of Depression era fabric and scraps. They are among my most cherished heirlooms, reflective of love and family.
My rendition has individual canvases fashioned with handmade stone texture imprinted with gathered grain, cedar and prairie grass. They are colored with acrylic, natural earth pigments, iron oxidized to rust, soil and other organic material. Each tile is unique and lifts up that particular earth element’s singular beauty. Collectively though, they symbolize the fabric of community. At such times, nature reminds us we are stronger together.
I’m super excited to show work at the wonderful new showroom of the Kansas Earth and Sky Candle Company. Scott and his family make hand-poured candles, locally harvested sage, and incense in this fabulous historic building in downtown Ellinwood. Please stop by and enjoy the space.