Donna Howell-Sickles grew up on a farm and ranch in Sivells Bend, Texas, not far from where she lives today. Partaking in the many demands that came with that lifestyle instilled in her a sense of hard work, independence and, most importantly, community—all elements that have helped forge her career as an artist. “We didn’t think of ourselves as cowgirls or cowboys,” she notes, “it was just what we did.”
Howell-Sickles’ family moved to New Mexico, where she graduated from high school, and then studied to be an elementary school teacher at Texas Tech. It was there that she discovered her true passion, or rather, her destiny.
The Yellow Gate, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60”“After signing up for a drawing class my junior year,” she says, “I realized for the first time in my life that people thought like I thought. It wasn’t a slow dawning; it was more of a light-bulb moment, realizing that I could make art and could see myself doing it forever. It was an instant and irrevocable decision.” Now emboldened, Howell-Sickles switched degrees and graduated with a B.A. in painting and drawing, and never looked back.
Today, Howell-Sickles combines her experiences with ranch life and her love of art, and also her joyful and humorous depictions of cowgirls. Over the years, she’s dabbled in sculpture, along with etchings and lithographs, but she always returns to her favored medium: drawing with charcoal and finishing pieces in oil or acrylic.
One of the more important elements to Howell-Sickles’ work is storytelling with a focus on realistic depictions of women in Western culture. “Back in the ’70s, while in college, I would look at Western magazines,” she explains. “Western art was limited to storytelling and historic accuracy about primarily the past, and yet, I felt like the West was still a vital and energetic place filled with images that I found engaging. [This period in time] also reflected a lot of gaps, especially with the women I was seeing in art and galleries. I felt like the women in the West that I grew up around were funny, active, busy and just wonderful people. They were real people that could plow all night long, steer a truck with bad breaks and turn around and cook dinner for 30 people. They were smart enough to be anywhere they wanted; this was just where they were. This is the type of the West I don’t see addressed.”
A Warm Reflection, mixed media on paper, 30 x 22”
Howell-Sickles has set out to tell a better story of the women of the West and to give them an audience. “I want people to realize that this cowgirl figure I draw has been a part of the West from the beginning…and she’s an essential part of how the West has been developed,” she says.
Pieces like Warm Reflection, part of a series of four paintings, featuring a cowgirl holding a torch, placed against a dark, star-lit sky, dives into an even deeper story. “The torch is the idea of enlightenment and warmth, the nurturing inside community,” she explains. “I can think of many times people have symbolically handed me a torch when I’m struggling with something…This is what you do among friends, community and mentors.
I think it’s an essential part of who we are as humans to share the light we're given with someone else—the passing on of what you know and love.” Viewers should also take note of the night sky, as the artist features an accurate position of stars. “I think it’s a good pairing with the symbol of the torch—the North Star is a guiding and consistent light,” she adds.
Stampede, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40”
While she includes other elements in her figure paintings, she will often incorporate wildlife. She’s more recently completed work that only includes wildlife, as seen in the bison piece The Warning is in His Posture.
“My cowgirl pieces tell a lot of stories, and the bison pieces only address bison, so I just draw until it’s about to move and pick up some more dust. When I can feel the strength, energy and liveness of the animal, then I’m done.”
The artist also notes that the painting is more about the bison becoming aware of the audience. “I wanted to show him before he fully turns to the viewer,” she says. “It’s a more relaxed mindset when I was creating [this piece] because I wasn't concerned with the other elements of the story. He is the story.”
The Warning is in his Posture, acrylic on canvas, 31½ x 47 ”Additional paintings in which the artist has combined wildlife, domesticated animals and the cowgirl figure include We Only Come Out at Night, depicting three foxes perched with a cowgirl, and Stampede, an older piece Howell-Sickles completed in 2010. This painting is more about movement and composition, evoking a feeling rather than telling a story.
Another significant work, Yellow Gate, is an action piece showing a cowgirl getting bucked off a horse with a smile on her face. “This is an allegory for the busy lives we live,” she remarks. “You’re going to get bucked off one horse or another and it’s about climbing back up. Every project, every encounter is a new ride and sometimes it goes well and sometimes you get bucked off.”
Moving forward, Howell-Sickles has plans for future projects, including depicting women she admires who have been pioneers in their fields. “I’ve been thinking about doing some pieces that honor them,” she says, “and I’m not quite sure what I mean by that, but there’s something there that my mind finds compelling.”
We Only Come Out at Night, mixed media on paper, 30 x 44”Collectors can view her work at upcoming events and shows such as Ann Korologos Gallery’s group show, Lightness of Spirit, from June 2 through 28 in Basalt, Colorado; the Bonheur & Beyond: Celebrating Women in Wildlife Art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from June 4 through August 16; the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale in September in Cody, Wyoming; and Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum, from September 9 to 10 in Indianapolis. —
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