The whole point of this company was to complete a side quest from 2017 that I gave myself, which I did this year. I painted and drew the mountains that stopped me in my tracks during a road trip around the state. Wyoming. The whole state of Wyoming, where I have lived longer than any other place in the world. I'm "from" California, but I'm from Wyoming. I've lived in Laramie for six-ish years now, which honestly is shocking to me. It hasn't seemed that long at all. The reason I claim California is because 3/4 of my relevant family lives in the Bay, and I still catch myself saying hella. I graduated in Wyoming, moved cities in Wyoming, live and breathe the sub-zero temperatures of Wyoming, and only eat beef that was raised off the highway on the way to my mom's house in Cheyenne. Hell, I even found myself unironically rooting for the Pokes by the time I turned 24.
So, looking around here and seeing the oversaturation of "western" art that really only consists of bison and elk and mooses in landscapes, I really wanted to not be that. Has nobody learned from Robert Dinero's typecasting as a permanent mob boss or government agent? I love the Hudson River School style of "un-sublime" landscapes. I paint what I see, and when I don't see animals, DEBORAH, I don't paint animals.
I live in such an isolated place. The pronghorn population was decimated this winter. My sister and I didn't even find rabbits when we were out looking for them. I'm lucky to see squirrels in the forest. I end up finding the beds and scat of the big game, but I don't see them as I'm passing through. Why would I paint the things that simply aren't there?
But alas, someone asked about animals. Actually, several people over the years have either demanded it for gallery admission or just said the landscapes seem lifeless. However, the Deborah I found online was my last straw. You all want western? You want animals? You want me to include the horses on the wild horse ranch in the county that weren't fucking there?
Fine.
Behold, my new project: Wyoming, the Satire: Observations of a Transplant who CHOSE to be here. It is targeted to that insufferable audience. We're talking painting frames with that horrifyingly appropriated aztec pattern, the idiotic behavior of the truckers, what actual cowboys do and wear. It's going to be considered cute, in both definitions. I am so tired of this game.
The nice thing is that I'm going back to illustration and cartooning. It's mixed media, watercolor, digital to print, and possibly toothpicks. Who knows? I might really dive into this after the initial ideas.
The first piece: BuT wHeRes tHe hORsEs
11x14 Watercolor and Ink
(Prints will be available after I finish the series.)
[DISCLAIMER: Deborah is what I've named the collection of people who ask stupid questions in my life, and is not reflective of any actual Deborahs that I know and love.]
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