The High Desert Museum’s annual gala and fundraiser, the High Desert Rendezvous, will take place on August 20 at the Muesum. The event will feature an art auction, live music by the Cloverdayle Country Band, dancing and a wild west cowboy supper; all proceeds from the auction will support the Museum’s education programs.
More than 30 artists will be featured in the Art of the West exhibit, which opens on July 30 at the Museum. The juried art will showcase works inspired by the region’s landscape, and silent bidding will open on the art until the gala event takes place. You may bid on the Art of the West show online or at the museum.
Museum President Janeanne A. Upp said, “This year our show drew scores of marvelously creative entries. Our final selection exhibits a diversity of artistic expressions of the natural beauty and undaunted spirit of this remarkable region.”
The show has attracted some of the region’s most talented and acclaimed artists whose work reflects a range of artistic interpretations of the Western landscape and spirit.
Among those artists are Janice Druian of Terrebonne with her oil painting Into the Light. Druian depicts a scene she encountered during an adventuresome drift down the Owyhee River capturing the effects of sunlight beaming beyond a dark canyon.
Dave Sellers of Salinas, California submitted a mixed media piece called The Chuck Wagon which evokes a day of painting, fishing and a visit to the picturesque Frenchglen Mercantile, near the Steens mountain range in South East Oregon.
This year’s honorary chairs are John and Tom Triplett and the event is sponsored by Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt.
The exhibit artworks can be seen at www.highdesertrendezvous.org. Guests are invited to dress in Western gear for the evening. Tickets are $350 per couple (includes a Museum Family Membership valued at $75) and $200 for one person (includes a Museum Individual Membership valued at $50). Museum Members: $150 per person. Sponsorship packages start at $2,000. For tickets, call 541-382-4754, ext. 365, e-mail hdr@highdesertmuseum.org, or visit www.highdesertrendezvous.org. High Desert Museum, 59800 S. Hwy. 97.
Carol Spielman’s Open Range Captures the Western Spirit
By RENEE PATRICK Cascade A&E Editor
Artist Carol Spielman has been captivated by horses since an early age as seen in the painting submitted for the High Desert Rendezvous, Open Range. Her interest began early as she grew up riding bareback on the beaches of the San Juan Islands. “The horse and I rode deep enough into the water to swim,” Spielman recalls. “It was at that moment, when the horse and I were totally in sync with each other, that we became one. This profound event greatly influenced the representation of horses in my work.”
Currently based in Billings, Montana, Spielman has been painting diligently since getting her degree in fine arts from Montana State University in 2005. Her artwork has captured the attention of many throughout the west, and she has appeared in an impressive number of juried exhibitions like the Rendezvous.
A disciplined artist, Spielman paints on a daily basis, choosing to work on the floor instead of an easel. In her process, she strives to distill an image to the essential form and tries to engage the viewer through the physicality of her work. Her process involves constructing and deconstructing layers of paint.
She states, “I paint in the moment, a sort of playful chaos. By reacting to what the paint is doing, I create intensely worked surfaces by layering, scraping and washing. I let the paint dictate what happens next and what the final outcome will be.”
Spielman has shown and sold her work in numerous galleries throughout the country. Her involvement in the arts includes the Montana State University- Billings Edith M Freeman Award. She has worked in other mediums over the years, having created horse sculptures in poured bronze, melted glass and welded steel, however she always returns to oils and acrylics.
When not painting, Spielman enjoys spending time in nature, traveling, reading and surrounding herself with friends and family. These influences often find their way into her art, but the unifying theme remains the alchemy born from living in Montana and the West.
www.carolspielman.com, spielj@aol.com, 406-670-0355.
