Women’s Work
The inaugural "Women's Work" museum show is a group show hosted by Cowgirl Artists of America, showing from August 2, 2024 through September 30, 2024 at the A. R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art. Its goal is to spotlight the diverse and influential roles played by women in building our societies and to present a more nuanced and accurate representation of women in the West.
The show preparation began last fall, by pairing juried artists with participating ranch partners. Artists were required to visit their ranch partners to learn, be inspired, and create specific pieces for the show. I was very lucky to have found Penny from Graymar Farm, which was only 20 minutes from my home, to learn everything about horses. Penny was so generous with her time and knowledge and we had a great time talking, photo shooting, and having fun.
Penny let me participate in many of her days - training horses, training people, bonding with her own horse Sherman - I felt so much good energies from her and learned so much.
After I got back from these initial visits, I thought about what I wanted to paint to best represent Penny’s life and spirit. I finally decided to visit one more time on an afternoon just before sunset. Penny was training her horse Sherman during that day and when I arrived, she was just finishing up. I took many photos of Penny and Sherman around the farm, wanting to include the architecture such as barns and arena as part of the narrative. Sherman was not used to stay still for a photoshoot, and kept wanting to reach for the grass. But Penny was so patient with me and maintained Sherman really well so I got some great reference photos.
Below are three finished paintings I created from my photo references. (Click on the paintings to enlarge)
In the middle is my piece submitted for the Women’s Work show. I decided to include the arena and barns in the painting because they are an inseparable part of Penny’s life. I painted this moment when Penny, having completed her training day with Sherman, is leading him out of the arena to his stable. This scene represents just one of the many days Penny spends training both people and horses, sharing her wisdom, and strengthening the bond between humans and horses in the community. And her dedication has been lifetime. When I showed Penny this finished painting, she was very glad and said to me, “This is home“.
On the left is a portrait of Penny. I gifted it to her as a thank you for all the help and support she gave me to prepare for this show. I took the reference photo for this painting during our photoshoot. Penny was interacting with Sherman the whole time, but just for one second, she turned towards me and I snapped the shot. I can see a lot of her in this moment: warmth and kindness, years of wisdom, patience with me... and the golden rays of the setting sun on her side just glows. I knew I had to paint her in this moment. It's such a privilege as a portrait painter to be able to record the people we meet with our paint brushes, meanwhile a real challenge to shoot for what's beyond that likeness.
On the right is a fun little painting I did from my visit to Penny's farm one morning. This was the first time I saw the process of shoeing a horse. Both the horseshoeing and the light/shadow patterns were fascinating to me so I decided to paint this scene. I love to record scenes I encounter in my paintings, they become my open diary.
The big day has arrived! I couldn’t make it to the show, but my friend Katherine sent me some really cool photos. Her work is also in the show and to make things better - our works are hanging side by side! She sent me these photos of our works hanging on the museum wall and people in front of our works.
One bonus from this experience: Plein Air Magazine had a featured article in the August/September issue about Women’s Work show and I am honored to be included! In the article I talked about my creative process, including doing sketches on location to get the information I needed for the final big painting. This is my first ever article on a magazine and I’m very happy about it.
Now, with the painting hanging on the museum wall, this year-long journey is coming to an end. I can still remember the feeling of nervousness and uncertainty when I signed up for this task. But I’m glad I did it in the end to the extent I’m most capable of. I have to admit that this may not be the most typical “western“ painting that people imagine, but as a portrait painter, I honor and celebrate each individual I meet. Penny's enthusiasm, her devotion, along with her past and ongoing contributions, all represent the courageous and inquisitive Western spirit to me. This spirit has influenced many people in the community, as well as myself who stumbled upon this opportunity into this amazing world. So I’ll call this project done, pat myself on the back, carry with me what I learned from this experience, and move on to the next seeking adventure of my own.
