Homestead National Historical Park
In May, I spent two weeks as an artist-in-residence at the Homestead National Historical Park. I was drawn to this park because I have ancestors who homesteaded in South Dakota. A major theme in my work in the park was the conflicts inherent in homesteading. It was the plow against the prairie, the government against the tribes, the homesteaders against the wildlife.
I focused on printmaking both for the work and two public programs. My prints are made from pieces of tooled leather. In a metaphoric sense, the tools indelibly mark the leather pieces much as humanity indelibly marks the environment and each other.
Clash on the Prairie
Tools of the Homesteader
(plants, cabin, churn, schoolhouse, hog oiler, plow)
Prairie Spring
Angry Bison
Hog Roller
Breadbasket of Ukraine, Breadbasket of America
Hog Oiler
My two public programs were interactive printing demos. These two cowboy roses, show major differences in treatment of the background: textured versus blank.
One of the demos corresponded to “Print Day in May” a worldwide celebration of printmaking.
The prints and photographs by Hunter S. Hendricks were the basis of my article “Relief Printing from Tooled Leather” which appeared in the Nov/Dec issue of the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal 36(4) pp. 15-21.
Wildlife
An unexpected aspect of the park was the wildlife. I spent most evenings along the hedgerow watching for wildlife to emerge before sunset.
