INSIDE The Russell • Collecting Western Art in Great Falls • SoA: Colorado • Cowgirl Up! MARCH 2019
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UPCOMING SHOW
S HOW LO C AT ION JAC K S ON HOL E , W Y
Up to 50 works March 18-30, 2019 Trailside Galleries 130 E. Broadway Avenue Jackson Hole, WY 83001 (307) 733-3186 www.trailsidegalleries.com
Wildlife discovery
Ezra Tucker, Peeping Tom, acrylic on board, 15 x 40"
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ackson Hole, Wyoming, has a long tradition of wildlife enthusiasts visiting the region to catch a glimpse of some of North America’s most majestic creatures as well as be inspired by the vast terrain. To honor that tradition, Trailside Galleries hosts its annual Wildlife Discovery exhibition. Pieces in the show primarily focus on the local wildlife, but also include imagery of species from around the world. “With the heighted awareness of global warming and fragile ecosystems, the genre has taken on a whole new dimension,” the gallery explains, “as the artists strive not only to create an aesthetically pleasing image, but to have it serve as an educational tool to bring more awareness to preservation.” Ezra Tucker will exhibit several of his acrylic works, including Peeping Tom, which depicts a wild cat peering out at the wetlands. Elaborating on the work, Tucker says, “The beauty of North America’s wetlands is in the variety of plant and animal species living in harmony. Conserving the habitats of the
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wetlands around the world is a major piece of the puzzle for the good health of our plant. Thus the longevity of mankind.” On a recent trip seeking out source material, Bonnie Marris had begun by following a large group of elk cows being escorted down a mountain by two bulls. “Later that day, along
Kyle Sims, Willow Run, oil on canvas, 18 x 38"
the same ridge, were wolf tracks,” Marris recalls. “I waited and waited. The next day I went back up and saw them beyond the ridge. As they gathered, they played. Whining and howling, tails wagging, they played. The black one was really pretty in the golden light.” The scene became her painting Above the Clouds.
Bonnie Marris, Above the Clouds, oil on canvas, 24 x 48"
Another wolf painting in the show is Kyle Sims’ work Willow Run, which was inspired by the color harmony and the lines of the wolves individually and together. “The wolves’ earth tone coats juxtaposed with the wine, magenta and orange-like coloration of the willow branches is a very pleasing display for me, and you can probably find a lot of those same colors in your own home,” Sims explains. “The biggest challenge with this piece came when I had to decide to lose two wolves and crop the painting down considerably in size. The other two wolves were going off of the edges of the painting, cutting their heads off essentially. While I felt like the shapes of those wolves completed the composition, I had to come to the realization that they also created an uncomfortable feeling for the viewer. So, since those other two wolves’ roles were included for the purpose of a darker shape, I decided to use the willow instead once I had cropped the image down and this is what you now have.” Ralph Oberg’s painting Coming Through the Willows was a work that came to fruition many years after he first found the reference material. “In 2001 my wife, Shirley, and I were on a long trip to Canada’s Yukon. We had driven all the way up from Colorado, met friends who lived along the Alcan Highway and started north with them on the Canol highway on our way to a wilderness fly-in lodge called Inconnu in the
Mackenzie Mountains,” he says. “We stopped to camp along the road and I did a small plein air painting. I got rained out, but still got the basic light effect down,” Oberg continues. “I’ve looked at it in my studio for these 17 years and finally decided to use it for the setting of this moose. It usually doesn’t take that long for a good sketch to get blown up bigger! Finally, I saw the painting in my head!” Wildlife Discovery will be on view March 18
through 30, with works also on view by Mick Doellinger, J.C. Dye, Veryl Goodnight, Bruce Greene, Bruce Lawes, Shawn Gould, Stefan Savides, Lindsay Scott, John Seerey-Lester, Suzie Seerey-Lester, Adam Smith, Dustin Van Wechel and Sarah Woods. Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he ex h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. co m
Ralph Oberg, Coming Through the Willows, oil on mounted linen, 24 x 30"
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