This spring, Plainsmen Gallery in Dunedin, Florida, will put on its annual Wildlife & Western Visionsshow, which features 75 pieces of wildlife and Western artwork by 18 award-winning artists, including John Coleman, David Yorke, Shawn Gould, Bonnie Marris and more.
John Coleman, Sister of the Plains, bronze, 11"
Coleman’s subject matter is representative of what he refers to as “American mythology.” Both a painter and a sculptor, he’s an emeritus member of the Cowboy Artists of America and a fellow at the National Sculpture Society.
In the Plainsmen show, he’ll have a bronze on view titled Sister of the Plains,which stands nearly a foot high and depicts a young girl from the Sioux tribe in the late 1800s. “She wears a Christian cross and a double cross representing the dragonfly, which holds special powers because it can move in any direction and is not bound by the laws of this world,” he explains.
David Yorke, Into the Light, oil, 30 x 20"
“I shoot a lot of pictures annually, and some are carefully pre-planned while others might happen more spontaneously—being in the right place at the right moment,” says Yorke. His painting Into the Light was one such case of serendipity, featuring a young Lakota woman braiding her hair as the high noon sun shines through her tipi’s smoke flap. Though the reference photograph was taken a decade ago, Yorke only recently turned the scene into a painting.
“The time of year and day was just right for this dramatic effect to occur, and I was fortunately able to take advantage of that available light,” he says. “As a painter, I do enjoy the challenges that come with the interaction of extreme light and shadow.”
Bonnie Marris, Safe at the Den, oil, 12 x 9"
Living in Northern California, Gould doesn’t have to look beyond his own backyard to find beautiful nature and wildlife scenes, but he often ventures further out to find his subjects. “Anywhere that the right combination of life, color and light together come together in just the right way to spark an idea for a painting,” he says. “I watched this magnificent bull moose early one morning as it marched across a large meadow in Grand Teton National Park,” Gould says of his painting Meadow Bull.“It wasn’t until later, as I was looking back through the photos I took, that I noticed the meadowlarks taking flight in front of the moose.” He immediately knew that he had to make the scene into a painting. “The burst of energy and the way their feathers caught the morning light really completed the scene for me.”
Shawn Gould, Meadow Bull, acrylic, 24 x 30"
Also on view is an oil painting by Marris titled Safe at the Dean. It features a red fox that makes its home behind her studio. “She and her hubby raise a family there every year,” she says. “There really is nothing more beautiful than red foxes playing and chasing each other in the sun.”
Wildlife & Western Visions will hold an artists’ reception at the Florida gallery on April 8 from 1 to 3 p.m. and remain on view through April 22. —
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