Deselm’s Gallery, Cheyenne

Deselm's Fine Art Gallery

My artwork was recently accepted into a wonderful gallery in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Deselm’s Gallery is located in the old downtown area of Cheyenne, and will be a good new market for my artwork.  This beautiful building houses an impressively large collection of fine art, and is worth a visit when in Cheyenne.   I have been asked to be the featured artist for the gallery on Thursday, June 9th, during Cheyenne’s downtown .  So, if June 9th finds you in Cheyenne, Wyoming, let’s party!

Lookout Mountain and Crow Peak

Before development of the land East of Spearfish, one could see vast open land, with the view of two local landmarks, Lookout Mountain and Crow Peak.  Ironically, Lookout Mountain is really more of a peak, and Crow Peak is really more of a mountain!   Lookout was originally called Lookout Peak, as it truly was used as a lookout point for the small village of Spearfish.  Originally known as The Queen City, Spearfish is nestled between these two peaks, and Spearfish Mountain, constituting three points in the crown.  Spearfish was settled and prospered as the supplier of food for the bustling gold mining towns of Lead and Deadwood, and others in the area.  It remains a very tranquil and beautiful small town, but now a busy interstate roars between Lookout Mountain and Crow Peak.  Ah, progress… This painting is currently hanging in the offices of “Visit Spearfish”, on downtown Main Street.

South Dakota Landscape

Broad open landscapes are something one grows almost used to living in South Dakota.  This watercolor painting of a South Dakota landscape shows the subtle color and beautiful variety of the landscape where I live.

Every once in awhile I remind myself of how much I missed seeing the sky, and most especially sunsets, while living in Pennsylvania.  This is true!  The hilly land combined with tall tress (never mind the tall buildings!) blocked out all but what was directly above you.  I could see the sky change from blue to pink, to dark  on a clear evening.  So lesson here: enjoy what you have: someone else doesn’t have the same thing… let them enjoy what it is THEY have!

Building near St. Onge

Another favorite regional site.  What I know about this quaint old building is largely lore, so I would appreciate any input on this information!  From what I have heard,  this old house/barn is an earlier (Swedish?) homestead house, built in the European style: barn below, living quarters above.  Near the early settlement of Saint Onge, I have heard it also served as a stage stop.  St. Onge  has old buildings and root cellars go back to the 1830s. (Long before white settlers were legally allowed in the Black Hills territory!)  The town of St. Onge was named by French fur traders.

The Medicine Wheel

Medicine Wheel Big Horn MountainsThis painting is an oil on Masonite of the Medicine Wheel in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains.  This amazing site is high atop a mountain, and surely holds many secrets.  I am in the process of making prints of this painting, as it is one that continues to call to me in my studio, and one I wish to share with more people.

The Medicine Wheel I am depicting here is obviously an ancient sacred site, but even more riveting, is that it continues to remain one to this day.  To learn more about this amazing site, here are several websites to check out:

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/bighorn-medicine-wheel

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/bighorn.html

Here are a couple youtube videos of visiting the site, which gives you a good idea of what it is like!

Bear Butte in Haze

Watercolor of Bear ButteMy father owns property on Mount Roosevelt, outside of Deadwood.  This mountain  named after Teddy Roosevelt, and has a monument to him, dedicated by Roosevelt’s good friend, Seth Bullock.  It is a quaint little castle tower, reminiscent of a European trip the two friends took together.  Who says South Dakota doesn’t have castles!  Read more about this monument, called Friendship Tower on this great site of things to do in the Black Hills:

Mount Roosevelt

On the drive to the summit, on a clear day, you can see over a large expanse.  I saw Bear Butte rising from the fog, and it was the inspiration for this small watercolor painting.  I love the properties of watercolor: the way colors run and fuse together.  It captured the foggy landscape I observed.

Watercolor has to happen quickly, for it to have the magic that it is capable of.  That is why I love it… there is an element of the unexpected and uncontrollable!

Cold, Winter Scene

Still reveling in the extreme cold of a South Dakota Winter!  This is a watercolor painting, which captures the sense of the frigid climate some of us are living with right now!

I really do love watercolor, and intend to venture up into Spearfish Canyon to paint on site again soon… providing it warms up a LITTLE!

Lookout Mountain Winter Watercolor

Lookout PeakWe are back to winter scenes!  This is the white we are again seeing, but it is not out of the ordinary for February in South Dakota.  Those of us living here are getting plenty tired of it, however!

This watercolor painting sold this fall, and to my pleasure, it sold to a woman who had commuted in this area, driving past Lookout Mountain in years past.  Landmarks like this call to us: they are familiar and comforting.  I see this mountain out my kitchen window, and the welcoming sun peeking over the ridge starts my day out wonderfully.  Here is to the many comforting landmarks in your own lives!

Bear Butte Panorama

Panoramic Bear Butte imageThis is a piece, recently completed as a commission.  This oil painting shows the gentle colors of the region, with wildflowers in the foreground and late summer ocher tones in the background.  It is showing the amazing view of Bear Butte, with the moon rising.  You can see the gentle slope of the land as it rises from the prairie to the higher elevation of the Black Hills in this just small view of the landscape.