Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible.

 These dormers appear to pop up out of the roof like a Muppet lifting the lid to peek out of his trash can. We never see trash cans in quite the same way after we know that Muppets live there; and the roof of this house gets a second glance now that we know it conceals living space.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible.. 

Willow Creek Park Caretaker's House

This depression-era sandstone construction, (the caretaker's house in Willow Creek Park) gets a dressed-up 12 pane window treatment at the base of the stairs leading to the roof top patio. Without the windows we wouldn't know if it was a cottage, or a castle.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible..

The artist uses every tool at his disposal to evoke memories and emotions from his viewers.  Look how the homeowner used his artistic skills and imagination to repurpose this bathroom window to make us want to wait around for the puppet show to begin, or for the princess to appear on the veranda.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible. 

Sometimes our man-made window portals are absorbed into nature.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible.

Some windows become cloudy and opaque, like eyes obscured by cataracts. Still, the world impinges, asserting itself onto the window. How like aging human faces these vacant eyes become!

Friends Sharing the Art of Enameling

My first attempt at repousse work

Friends who love making jewelry, working with metals, and enameling will go the ends of the earth – or to the middle of nowhere, it seems - for the love of their art. That is how little Lamar became host to an art-jewelry mini-workshop last weekend.

Two friends visited my studio for a few days of fun, experimentation and learning.  Oh, we could have spent hundreds of dollars traveling to exotic venues for a fancy symposium on enameling or repousse. Could have turned it into a mini-vacation, complete with fine dining and scenic overlooks. But all of that would have been wasted on the incurable jewelry enthusiasts that we are. No possibility of those kinds of distractions in Lamar!

On Friday, Rose Marie from Denver, and I experimented with repousse on copper sheeting, fabricating additional tools out of wood dowels as we needed them. We picked up a second pitch pot at WalMart. (They called it a single-egg skillet, but we didn’t correct them.) Great fun.

On Saturday, Sandy from Colorado Springs, joined us and we turned to enameling. By Sunday we began working in cloisonne. Both of my guests went home with beautiful earring drops and a passion for a new jewelry technique.

And while we played, our poor husbands, out here in the middle of nowhere,  had to entertain themselves. They toured the John Martin Dam, followed the Arkansas Valley canal systems, visited the archaeological site of Bent’s fort, then trekked into the prairie to the site of the Sand Creek Massacre, and finally explored the Colorado Green Wind Energy installation. Poor things. So little to do out here.

Art exists where the heart is...

Justin Young's "Prairie Wings" at Lamar's Centennial Park

Art exists where the heart is; it manifests itself wherever there is a passion for life and beauty… even at the core of the dust bowl.

Lamar, Colorado is located at the crossroads of two national highways (Hwy. 50 & 287) that bisect our nation North/South, East/West; from coast to coast, and Canada to Mexico. Lacking in both rugged mountains and scenic seascapes, we have had to find other ways to celebrate our existence through art. The locals have shown themselves to be worthy of the challenge.

So how do you celebrate a little oasis along the Arkansas River nestled inside a hot, windy, arid and largely barren landscape? Begin with talented craftsmen who are driven to display their passionate love of the area.

We know how to incorporate the wind into artistic masterpieces. Throughout the town, monuments have been built to the wind. A 60’ blade from a wind turbine points the way to the local Chamber of Commerce. A massive and mobile pair of metallic wings flutter above the college. The Emick family has dedicated itself to the preservation of historic windmills, located strategically throughout the town – both North and South of the railroad crossing, and at the Court House square.  On his ranch south of Lamar, Bob Emick has created a veritable museum of wind machines, juxtaposing his own salvaged and restored windmills within the giant wind turbine farm that he helped attract to the area.

Windmill, tank and train at the Lamar Welcome Center.

Local artist Justin Young’s “Prairie Wings” sculpture on Main Street marks our area’s critical flyway for migratory waterfowl. His 1 ½ times lifesize antelope welcomes visitors and students to the college.  Local artists have utilized vacant walls and windows to paint murals that illustrate our area’s heritage. Artistic monoliths created by each High School graduating class populate the median of Savage Avenue.

Justin Young's "The Sentry" at Lamar Community College.

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