Battle of the Greasy Grass

“Battle of the Greasy Grass”

24 x 36” Oil Paining on Prepared Masonite Panel

The Battle of the Greasy Grass, as it is known by Native Americans, is also called Custer’s Last Stand or the Battle of the Little Bighorn. I’d welcome your comments!

Depicted in this painting is the crossing of the Little Bighorn River by Major Reno of Custer’s 7th Calvary, making a desperate retreat. 

My painting is rendered as though the story was told and re-told by the Plains Indians victors, while inside a tipi.  The Battle of the Greasy Grass marked a coming together of numerous Plains Indian tribes for a decisive victory over the U.S. Calvary in 1876. Sadly, this battle marked the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars and the end of a way of life.

Images in this painting are inspired by the ledger art of Amos Bad Heart Buffalo, (Also known as Amos Bad Heart Bull) who recorded tales told to him by both his uncle and his father, who fought in the Battle of the Greasy Grass.  To learn more about Native American ledger art, I highly recommend the following link published by the University of California, San Diego:  https://plainsledgerart.org

This and other of my  paintings are currently offered for sale at Prairie Edge Gallery in Rapid City, SD.

Remembering Wounded Knee

“Remembering Wounded Knee” by Bonnie Halsey-Dutton

36 x 24” Oil on Clayboard

Created for Augustana College’s Center for Western Studies conference and art show.  The exhibition and dialogue are entitled “Interpretations of Wounded Knee 1973 and 1890”. 

http://www.augie.edu/cws/gallery.html

This juried art exhibition includes artist renderings in regards to the issues around one or both conflicts at Wounded Knee, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 was the first of two significant events in American history.   In 1973, the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) took a stand, and also is known as the Wounded Knee Uprising.  Each event happened at the same basic location at different time periods, but over very similar issues.

The image I explored happened on December 29, 1890.    A Lakota tribe, comprised of young and old members and with women and children, was led by Chief Bigfoot . (His Lakota name was Si Tanka, “Spotted Elk”).  The tribe, comprised of approximately 350 members, was camped on the banks of Wounded Knee Creek.  Trouble had been in the air for months, as Native Americans ventured off of the designated reservation land in search of food and their old way of life.  The Ghost Dance in which the tribes were anchoring their last shred of hope concerned the U. S. Government, and was outlawed.  The desire to practice the Ghost Dance was another piece of the story.  What happened at Wounded Knee resulted from an escalation of desperation and fear.  The resulting massacre was an  unforgettable horror, killing over 300 Natives and 25 Calvary.  

My painting explores this tragedy and I hope to cause reflection upon the past.  We would like to think we learn from the past; yet today, fear and overreaction continue to dictate human relations.  Both events at Wounded Knee will always be a black mark upon the United State and worthy of recollection.   If anyone reading this would like to know more about the conference, being held  at Augustana College in Sioux Falls on April 27 – 28, 2012, please check out the following link:  http://www.augie.edu/cws/dakotaconference.html

 

Horse and Shield of a Slain Warrior

“Horse and Shield of a Slain Warrior”

30 x 30” Oil on Canvas

To be a warrior was the most admirable of roles of the Plains Indian male.  Having died in battle, a fallen Cheyenne warrior is honored by a depiction of his shield and riderless horse in this historic image.  In my painting, the significance of the circle and the medicine wheel are suggested within this painting, by the repeated circular shapes. 

The sense of motion was motivated by a photo taken at a pow-wow in which the action and feathers inspired me. Motion from the past, still making ripples on the present… I am drawn to how the past impacts our current culture, and it is the themes of many of my paintings.  As a South Dakota artist, I am inevitably influenced by the cultures that surround me.  I am a painter, a Black Hills artist, and my motivations in my art continue to be such.  I found an image I created in 1995, and was struck at how the threads of these same themes were there at that time as well. (even though I was living and painting in Philadelphia at the time) The artwork I am referring to is inspiring the paintings I am currently at work on, so more about that later…

This painting is currently at  Prairie Edge Gallery in Rapid City.  See this outstanding gallery for more of my art, and that of other Northern Plains Artists.

Western Art Week in Great Falls, MT

I exhibited with the Western Heritage Artists at Western Art Week in Great Falls, Montana recently.  This is an amazing huge undertaking in which the entire city of Great Falls converts into a western art mecca.  People come from all over, and I estimate over 400 artists were displaying their art during this approximately 5 day event.

I was juried into the WHA (Western Heritage Artists) show this year, and had a room at the Holiday Inn in which the beds had been removed, and I was able to showcase my artwork. This is the website for WHA, in which I have a link to my artwork:  http://www.westernheritageartshow.com

I had the opportunity to meet many people, as a vast number of people come from all over for this week.  There were 7 different areas like the Holiday Inn which housed artist displays, as well as downtown.  There were additionally, two very large auctions, bringing in old master works, including some Charlie Russell pieces.

The Western Art Week formed to benefit the Charlie Russell museum, there in Great Falls.  It has grown to include fundraising for numerous charities, and draws people from all over the nation/world.  It was an amazing undertaking, and one in which my husband, Dave, helped me to accomplish.  I hope to do it again next year, so look for me, anyone who is a regular to this show!

In the lobby, each artist had a signature piece, representative of what was on display in their room.  I took my painting of Custer, entitled “Curtains – For the Record”  People who saw that piece identified my painting with the beads, as I also had paintings of trade beads on display in my room.  This painting is about the end of life and the end of a way of life.  The Battle of the Little Bighorn was “Curtains” for Custer and most of his 7th Calvary.  The beads signify the end of the trade; as items such as trade beads were at one point in American history a mutually beneficial currency.  The day of the rendezvous was short-lived.  Along the painting’s right side is a ledger art image of a cavalryman being chased by a Native American, symbolic of the victorious battle, known by the Plains Indians as The Battle of the Greasy Grass.

   

Bonnie Halsey-Dutton is an artist living and working in the beautiful Black Hills near Spearfish, SD.

Sage Purification

Burning Sage Bundle and sage plant“Sage Purification” 8 x 8” Oil on Canvas

The sage plant is depicted along with a sage bundle, with bits of embers from a purification ceremony drifting across the image. A purification ceremony by burning sage is called “smudging”.

Another image inspired by a visit to Wyoming is this photo I took of a Wyoming icicle, hanging from the eave of a building.  A quintessential illustration of the hard life one lives in the wilds of Wyoming!


Before Recorded Time

Buffalo Hide Tipi in FogBefore Recorded Time 11 x 14” Oil on Canvas

My paintings are about textures and man’s relationship to his surroundings.  I often paint images that deal with the “domestic stage” in which people live.  I am fascinated with the natural textures found in a buffalo hide tipi and the converging lines the lodge poles create.  The circle is a recurring Native American symbol and I include it as a rendering of the sun symbolic of the radiating energy and passage of time.  Life existed on this domestic stage well before recorded time.


Thunderbird Symbols

Tipi with Thunderbird “Thunderbird Symbols”

24 x 30” Framed Oil Painting on Canvas

Various icons for the powerfully symbolic form of the Thunderbird are explored in this painting.  The ultimate simplification of the Thunderbird symbol is a cross.  This caused me to ponder the confusion the Christian cross symbol inevitably posed to the first Native Americans introduced to it.  Cultural symbols very likely added to overall miscommunication.

Reminiscent of a time exposure on a camera, the mysteries of the cosmos are included in this image.  This leaves me with the realization that life on this earth is but a blink in time.