Own Your Beginnings, Don't Overcome Them

My favorite stories involve redemption- overcoming less than favorable circumstances to achieve something liberating or positive.  I just love it when the wrongly imprisoned Andy Dufresne emerges from the sewer drain of Shawshank Prison a free man, and when the boy David bravely slays formidable Goliath, and when scrappy Seabiscuit beats privileged War Admiral in the match race.

Montana artist, teacher, and friend Maggie Carlson-Yellowtail asked me to meet with her Wyola Elementary students at my “Cow Country” exhibition in Sheridan, to exemplify "you can be from the reservation and still pursue and achieve your dreams." At first I doubted I was a good example, for I didn't conquer unfathomable obstacles or wind up rich or famous. But when I thought about what I’d tell these kids, it wasn’t that they could “overcome” their beginnings, but rather to own those beginnings, for the circumstances and perceived limitations of my youth made me the artist and the person that I am. 

Maggie Carlson-Yellowtail ran the Wyola Art Center when I was a kid

The Old Little Horn State Bank building, in Wyola, housed the Art Center when I was a kid.  This is a 2nd floor balcony we used to stand on.

Although I'm not of indigenous descent, the Crow Reservation is very special to me; I feel it in my heart when I'm there.  It’s where my great-great-great-grandfather died (he didn't actually live there, but was visiting his daughter and her family- fun fact: he was acquainted with Abraham Lincoln!), and where generations since have ranched and are buried in the cemetery overlooking Lodge Grass, Montana.  I have intrinsic ties to this place and it inspires me. 

Many of my paintings are inspired by scenes from the Crow Reservation.  This place speaks to my soul.

  

I love the Crow people, the humor in their attitudes, the artistry in their beadwork and horsemanship, their faith, and their respect for both traditions and unexplainable mysteries in nature.  Living on the reservation taught me reverence for what I might not see; it taught me to search for meaning beyond the surface of normality, which is what art's about, really. 

Ancient Egyptians were able to accomplish wondrous things because they had leisure time with no wars to fight.  Education standards were lax on the reservation in the 70's and 80's, so while our teacher was smoking in the lounge, my friends and I used our leisure time to refine skills like writing backwards, left-handed, upside-down, then left-handed and backwards; wiggling our eyebrows; writing stories and drawing.  We had as many sheets of shiny, bad-tasting mimeograph paper as we could use, and I filled mine with drawings of horses.  Despite not learning much core curriculum, my years at Wyola Elementary provided time for my creative mind to develop.

Wyola School has improved greatly since my time there; the fourth and fifth graders who met me at the gallery were polite, attentive, and asked questions about my work and how I became an artist.  They brought me flowers and thank-you notes in a pretty box.  I was proud to tell them that their teacher Maggie had taught me at the Wyola Art Center [a place where anyone in the community could make any kind of art they wanted], and how the freedom she gave us to express ourselves creatively was a highlight of my life there.  I didn't have to move away to follow my dreams, and I'm not rich or famous, but my paintings hang on six continents, and I've seen a lot of the world because of art. Living on the Crow Reservation helped make me an artist because a place gives you a unique voice in your creations, no matter what you create.

 I emphasized to the students that work is more important than talent.  Lots of people have more talent than me; I just work harder.  A lack of money and education didn't deter me from striving toward it, and with determination and effort these students can achieve any dream or goal, regardless of their finances.  I mentioned Kevin Red Star and Bethany Yellowtail, who followed their dreams and are very successfully creating art- paintings and fashion, respectively- that celebrates their culture.  These two truly exemplify embracing your origins & communicating artistically through that point of view.

What a great group of kids- I hope to come visit their art class next year.

Buffy & I went to school at Wyola together.

That shy, little, redheaded girl at Wyola Elementary would have never dreamt of this scenario.  Encouraging students to own their beginnings and use that unique perspective to express themselves made me realize how much my ranching history informs my art.  My humble foundation wasn't an obstacle to be "overcome," but a collection of influences that shaped my artistic viewpoint and work ethic.  I hope students know that it's possible to accomplish anything if they work at it, and they are blessed with teachers today who'll help them along.  The surreal experience of being a "star alumna of Wyola Elementary" that afternoon -and getting roses too- made me feel a little bit like Seabiscuit in the Winner's Circle.

I stopped by the  school to deliver "Teepees at Sunset" prints to the students and staff who attended my show- lots of memories here.