Images Revisited

Snake Dance, acrylic washes on paper
by Phillip Hoyle

The exuberant dancing bear from the Lewis and Clark journals, an ink drawing by William Clark of a petroglyph he saw June 7, 1804 at a now long-gone site in mid-Missouri on the Missouri River near big Moniteau Creek, caught my interest when I first saw it and others in a study of Missouri petroglyphs. The journal told the site's location describing the artwork, and Clark drew at least five designs of what he saw there. The petroglyphs have been missing for decades probably destroyed by blasting to make the Katy Rail Road as it made its way west across the state. 

Whether my assessment of the mood is accurate or not, I liked the enthusiasm I sensed in the design. The journal didn't describe it as a dance or a bear but did mention rattlesnakes killed at the site. Responding to the description of the rocks and the denizens there, I painted what I called "Snake Dance" that used the dancing bear and another Missouri petroglyph of a rattler. Then I painted several other pieces with the bear image. In preparation for a black and white open show in a Denver gallery I reworked the design in a very graphic way creating a pinwheel with the figure. The painting was selected for the show. That interest led me to do more such pieces with the enthusiastic design. There were a couple of partner dances, then a trio (inspired by a 1937 oil painting "Trio" by American artist Walt Kuhn) I called "Pas de Trois" (on display at Colorado Mountain Art Gallery in Georgetown) and eventually "Chorus Line Bears." 

Chorus Line Bears, Acrylic on paper by Phillip Hoyle

A few weeks ago the bear again got my attention. The design is back, now as a print and the graphic manipulation has taken a new turn. The bear has four legs and four arms outstretched imitating the famous DaVinci anatomical proportional study. My medium is mixed media with a linoblock print of the transmogrified bear. Two of these I am adding to my display of paintings at Colorado Mountain Art Gallery in Georgetown, CO, that quaint old mining town just east of the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70.

Proportional Studies: Intertribal
Renaissance
Mixed media by Phillip Hoyle

I joined the co-op gallery last November and have enjoyed the wide variety of fine artwork there, all done by Colorado artists. And I've found more in Georgetown: good food in bakeries, cafes, and restaurants, good coffee, good shopping for a wide vareity of wares including gifts and used books. I recall how much my mother loved the town; I am growing to appreciate it as well. Since I now sound like a promoter I'll go on to mention the summertime rides on the narrow-gauge train there and summer tours of the very nice museum in the historical Hotel de Paris. 

The gallery sits directly across the street from the museum and is open seven days a week (11-4 through April, then 10-5 for the summer). Check on line for more information on the Gallery and other area art programs.