Even though they’re small in size, miniatures provide big opportunities. Opportunities for artists to flex their precision skills, and opportunities for new collectors to start building their collections.
This month, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum will hold its 18th annual Small Works, Great Wondersshow and sale, featuring small works from more than 125 contemporary artists, including Joshua Tobey, Paige Pierson, Kenny McKenna and many more.
Dennis Ziemienski, Westerner Motel, oil on canvas, 20 x 16”
Tobey typically sculpts two or three monuments a year and finds miniatures to be a nice change of pace. “Imagine, you’re up and down, on your knees or bent over every day,” he says. The work takes a toll, which has made him appreciate sculpting smaller pieces. “I love the intimacy and being able to sit down…I like to let a sculpture evolve, and small work is easy to change as inspiration strikes.”
His piece Vortexfeatures a hummingbird zooming about, leaving a vortex of air in its wake. It was inspired by the 100 hummingbird feeders that his wife maintains in the summer. “With thousands of hummingbirds around every day, it’s impossible not to be inspired by them,” he says.
Naomi Brown, Summer Rain, oil on canvas, 20 x 16”
Pierson’s Last Night in Lonely Canyon originated from her backcountry travels in Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. “I shot tons of images during a visit to Island in the Sky, in differing light under different weather conditions,” she says. The resulting piece depicts sheer cliffs looming over the landscape, glowing red in the last light of the day.
She likes that miniatures make art more accessible. “The smaller, more demure pieces are more intimate, and really anyone can become a collector because we all have a little bit of wall space,” she says.
Exhibiting at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a special experience for Pierson, as she grew up in Oklahoma City and frequently visited as a child. “It’s a place I truly feel connected to and it never ceases to amaze me.”
Huihan Liu, Autumn Joy, oil, 10 x 8”
McKenna is a longtime participant in the museum’s small works show. “I like that the ideas and images unfold within a short amount of time, and yet, capturing a scene or a subject on a small format is as challenging as painting a larger piece,” he says.
This year will show a waterscape titled Morro Bay Evening. McKenna has had a lifelong fascination with the ocean, and he found this particular view too perfect not to paint.
“The natural scene of Morro Bay offered the evening light and colors as well as distance, shapes and an abundance of boats,” he says. “It revealed itself without alterations.”
Paige Pierson, Last Light in Lonely Canyon, oil on canvas, 16 x 12”
As a landscape artist, gathering references and working in the studio is typically a solitary endeavor, and McKenna sees the show as an important chance to get to know fellow artists and collectors. “Shows release me from my box, so to speak, providing the opportunity to talk with artists, exchange ideas, and meet existing and potential collectors,” he says.
The art in the Small Works, Great Wonders show will be on exhibit starting November 4, and the museum will host a fixed-price draw art sale on November 10. —
Small Works, Great Wonders
November 4-26, 2023; Sale, Nov. 10, 6-9 p.m.
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
1700 Northeast 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111
(405) 478-2250, swgw.nationalcowboymuseum.org
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