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Past Exhibits
"Art-Awareness of Oneness"
Denny McNeill Exhibit
As Above - So Below
Denny was born in Cortez, Colorado in 1948. 1948 was a very good year. Growing up, a primary passion of Denny’s was laying in the shade of a tree and drawing and coloring. By the time he reached his teens Denny had become convinced that Sports, Student Council and girls were the keys to success and his future. By High School he had become the proverbial Rebel Without a Cause, ditching school and working more hours at the Gas Station in a week than he spent going to classes. Denny graduated High School from Littleton High School in Littleton, CO in 1966 and he is convinced the only reason they graduated him was because they didn’t want him back the next year.
The mid to late 60s were the days of Viet Nam and the draft which complicated the process of figuring out what one was going to do with their life. Denny’s solution was some combination of dropping out and trying to create an alternate lifestyle that ignored and avoided these remote and enforced realities. With the assistance of a Philosophy Professor, he explored ways to avoid the draft and Viet Nam. The upshot of all that was Denny dropping out of college and moving to Crested Butte in 1967 where he decided to openly defy the Draft Board by mailing his Draft Card back to them with a strongly worded request to stay out of his life. Apparently, this worked because he never heard another word from his Draft Board. Meanwhile his interest in creative endeavors was becoming rekindled.
The mid to late 60s were the days of Viet Nam and the draft which complicated the process of figuring out what one was going to do with their life. Denny’s solution was some combination of dropping out and trying to create an alternate lifestyle that ignored and avoided these remote and enforced realities. With the assistance of a Philosophy Professor, he explored ways to avoid the draft and Viet Nam. The upshot of all that was Denny dropping out of college and moving to Crested Butte in 1967 where he decided to openly defy the Draft Board by mailing his Draft Card back to them with a strongly worded request to stay out of his life. Apparently, this worked because he never heard another word from his Draft Board. Meanwhile his interest in creative endeavors was becoming rekindled.
Hope
Crested Butte held its first Arts and Crafts Fair in 1971. By this time Denny was actively pursuing wood carving and furniture making as a life’s work. He didn’t have a booth in the first or the second Arts and Crafts Fairs, but he was on the scene and active in the planning and setup for both Fairs. When it was time to start planning the 1973 Arts and Crafts Fair, Denny had a little different idea about how such a festival should go down. He came up with the idea of an interactive festival that would have artists creating art rather than sitting in a booth hoping someone would buy their work. The Crested Butte Totem Pole was created in 1973 in conjunction with the 3rd Arts and Crafts Festival. Denny was the spearhead of this project and, miraculously, the Totem Pole created 50 years ago still stands in the center of town. But Denny moved on.
The exigencies of life sent Denny into the real world of earning a living in earnest. He spent time in Denver, CO; Casper, WY; and Los Angeles, CA where he had a door installation business for 20 years. Then back to Colorado in 2002. After a couple more moves Denny has re-emerged on the Western Slope and is now living in Delta. Through all the years and trials and tribulations of life, art was always the first thing on Denny’s mind and many hundreds of pieces of sculpture, jewelry and wall art pieces have come to be – many of which are in homes all over the country and abroad.
The exigencies of life sent Denny into the real world of earning a living in earnest. He spent time in Denver, CO; Casper, WY; and Los Angeles, CA where he had a door installation business for 20 years. Then back to Colorado in 2002. After a couple more moves Denny has re-emerged on the Western Slope and is now living in Delta. Through all the years and trials and tribulations of life, art was always the first thing on Denny’s mind and many hundreds of pieces of sculpture, jewelry and wall art pieces have come to be – many of which are in homes all over the country and abroad.
Flower Earth
In 2023 Denny is going strong creating very original, “out of the box” wall art with the idea in mind to celebrate the oneness of existence, promote kindness, cooperation and gratitude. Sacred Geometry is a natural force behind his style and his love for color is on display in everything he creates these days. Denny is a completely self-taught artist, and he has been blessed to have a very good teacher. His work today is mostly in the realm of wall art using processed weathered wood and found objects creating scenes that are mostly from his imagination. Every piece seems to be a springboard to a new invention of how to do things, so it is difficult to describe his process. Suffice it to say the process is very labor intensive and requires a skill level that only comes from a lifetime of creating “outside the box”.
"Whether Patterns"
Virginia Unseld Exhibit
Like Stained Glass
I intuitively select subjects to paint, but if I analyze later I realize that I am attracted to patterns. They can be natural patterns created by wind or water or man-made patterns created by farmers plowing their fields or geologic patterns that are millions of years old. My work is also informed by the changing light, as it is for most landscape painters since the French Impressionists started painting outside in the 1800s.
Almost Spring
After living at 9,200 feet for over 45 years my husband and I moved to Eckert in 2022 and I opened yellow house studio & gallery in Eckert where I paint and show my paintings. I love discovering the patterns new to me in this landscape.
Change in the Weather
I often begin a painting en plein air but then finish it in the studio or use it as a study for a larger piece. I paint with oils, pastels and acrylic paints. A painting is often a patchwork of various experiences rather than one specific place that I could direct you to find.
Time and Tide
I only make paintings that I would like to live with. I want my paintings to feel joyous. I am as interested in the personal mark-making as I am in the subject. I am grateful when others decide that a painting would enrich their lives and they want it to hang where they can see it every day.
Autumn Tapestry
I received a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Rhode Island School of Design and taught art in public schools for 30 years. You can view more artwork or read about my background at www.virginiaunseldfineart.com.
Ice Water
“The great truths - when they can be visualized in images - reveal deep patterns and reveal that we are part of them. That deeply heals us . . .” Richard Rohr
"Interpretations of the West"
Peggy Judy Exhibit
Colorado Skies
Peggy Judy was born and raised in Colorado and now living in Southwest Colorado, Judy attended Colorado State University receiving a BFA in Illustration. Married to an equine veterinarian, raising two children and breeding, raising and training horses for thirty years left little time to pursue a career in art until the last eight years or so. Now represented by top art galleries with an emphasis on contemporary western art around the country and Europe.
Cactus
Peggy Judy's work has been categorized as Contemporary Western. Traditional and well honored western subject matter with a different perspective and expressive interpretation.
Serenity
Using a more graphic approach to composition and design that comes from her illustration background she tries to describe the intensity of the west as it was lived in the past and still is today by a select few weathered souls. Portraying the animals that still grace our western states and those that care for them.
"A Shared Vision"
Lanny Grant & Rebecca Swain-Grant Exhibit