Art tips

34 artists show at the Platte Valley Community Center, offer encouragement, advice to potential creators

Despite varying styles and subjects, the artists gathered at the PVCC had two things in common; passion and perseverance. Some of the artists have pursued a full-time career while others find the time to pursue their passion in the free time from their day jobs. Talk to any of the artists, however, and the pride in their work is clearly evident.

That same passion and perseverance that helped the masters of their craft get where they are today is something that is suggested to those who are aspire to be in the same position.

"Just find your passion and pursue it," said Kirby Hornbeck, a photographer who lived in Carbon County for 20 years before moving to Laramie. "You're gonna have mistakes, you're going to learn as you go."

"Just do it," said Elizabeth Wood, former editor of the Saratoga Sun and professional photographer. "It doesn't cost anything but gas and wear-and-tear on the vehicle to go out and capture the beauty that surrounds us."

"Do a subject that you know and love and let nature take its course," said Tom Mulhern, a Cheyenne based wood carver. "You're bound to get better the more you work at it."

Along with love for the art and no tiny amount of tenacity, many of the artists advised those just beginning to take it easy on themselves while thinking outside the box.

"Don't give up," said Moss Kent, an oil painter from Cheyenne, "A lot of people start a painting and then they immediately go 'Oh my gosh, that doesn't look like a Rembrandt. I'm not good at this.' That's just absolutely wrong thinking."

"Paint what makes you happy and try not to beat yourself up too much," said Linda Sperry, a Colorado-based artist who works in acrylics and pen and ink. "Just keep working on the subject matter that just intrigues you most and makes you happy."

"Don't make your art like anybody else's," said Dustin Stephenson, a pottery artist and art teacher from Ten Sleep, Wyo. "Be original and do what you love. What can you do different to make it yours?"

The Great Hall of the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC) was adorned with the art of 34 artists ranging from bronze to stone sculptures and acrylic to oil paintings. Of the nearly three dozen artists with work represented at the 3rd Annual Festival of the Arts, nearly 20 were in attendance. Inside the expansive room, one could almost get lost admiring the various mediums and techniques used by the artists with well over a century of combined experience.

Many of the artists also shared how they use modern technology as a resource to perfect art techniques that are centuries old.

"This day-and-age, you can Google anything," said Hornbeck, "there's so many people, you can tap into their knowledge that are online."

"You have to keep going," said Kent, "there's all kinds of things you can get off the internet as far as training and how to do techniques."

"So much greatness on YouTube," added Barrie Lynn Bryant, who learned to craft one-of-a-kind frames for the work of his partner, AB Word.

While the internet as a resource was one that was encouraged, other artists certainly wouldn't discount the importance of looking not only to the old masters, but to contemporary artists as well.

"Workshops are good," said Dan Andrews, a Denver based acrylic and oil artist who won People's Choice "and seeing how other artists work is helpful."

"Study art history and study all mediums," said Word.

What medium should aspiring artists pursue?

"Acrylics are very forgiving," said Sperry. "I started out with watercolor, which takes quite a bit of planning. There are a lot of 'happy accidents,' but it's hard to recover from the mistakes."

"A simple pencil and then it can graduate into charcoal," said Word. "I'm a real lover of black and white."

"I'm a recovering watercolorist," said Colleen Drury, who works mostly with oil now.

"I've kind of tried with everything," said Molly Box, a Cheyenne based mixed media artist who won 1st place in mixed media for her piece "More Than A Trophy."

"When I decided to go into color, I wanted to go into acrylics because it's more of a controlled medium," said Julie Nighswonger from Torrington, "but someone told me 'Go with oils and try it' and to me it's more difficult, so I accepted the challenge."

"Whichever medium they want to get involved in," said Janice Anderson Knapp, a seasonal Saratoga resident trained by Virginia Frederic Large, "do it every single day. Get yourself a sketchbook, if you like to paint just do it, do it and it becomes a part of you."

 

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