The SLOPOKE: Fine Art of the West Exhibition & Sale is an annual Western-themed, juried fine art show held every year at Flag is Up Farms in Solvang, California, a thoroughbred horse ranch owned and operated by Monty Roberts and his artist and equestrian wife Pat Roberts. Tom and Sherie Burgher founded the show in 2011 “to bring back a high-end Western art show…and to exhibit on the California’s Central Coast the quality of art and artist normally seen in the big cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco,” explains Burgher. 
Kasia Kaznocha, Journey, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48”
Pat Roberts, Abilene, bronze, ed. of 35, 21 x 26 x12”
Today, artists from around the Western states come to Flag is Up Farms to exhibit their work and compete for the silver SLOPOKE belt buckle awards for best painting, best sculpture and best of show. Magazine-sponsored awards, including one from Western Art Collector, are also given for artist choice, best wildlife and best figurative art. The SLOPOKE organizers invite many artists at or near their peak in development to submit works for entry but a very limited number are juried into the show. This year’s show will feature 37 artists hailing from California, Arizona, Minnesota, Idaho, New Mexico and Montana.
Kasia Kaznocha, Field of Gold, acrylic and golden leaves on canvas, 16 x 20”
“We mix traditional and contemporary styles and look for emerging artists who paint the 21st-century West as well as those recreating the 18th- and 19th-century West,” adds Burgher. “We are deliberately broad in our definition of art of the West to include ranch life, historical and contemporary Native American life, landscapes, seascapes, urban-scapes and wildlife in all media and styles from realism to abstract work.”
Whitney Gardner, Awaiting First Rain, oil on canvas, 30 x 30”
Artist Kasia Kaznocha will be showing her work at this year’s SLOPOKE for the second time. “I’m looking forward to the SLOPOKE this year,” she says. “It’s an amazing art festival in a beautiful place and with a unique atmosphere...” This year, she is expanding her repertoire with new subject matter. She explains, “In addition to paintings of horses, which are the main characters of my paintings and the background for speaking the language of art about emotions and feelings, I will also present something completely new in combination with golden leaves.” The new paintings will be smaller, very much in the style of the one featuring Texas longhorns, pictured here. “As always in my art, I am looking for a moment to stop, a moment to freeze in eternity. The golden background is a symbol of eternity.”
Lee Rue, Ready to Go, oil on canvas, 24 x 18”
SLOPOKE kicks off with an award ceremony and opening reception for ticket holders on September 23 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., featuring live music by the Silver Mountain String Band from Los Angeles. —
SLOPOKE: Fine Art of the West
September 23-25, 2022
Flag is up Farms
901 E. Highway 246
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 570-8088
www.the-slopoke.com
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