Art
Skyline View
Collaborative Mixed Media Art 2024
Artists Involved:
Anna Claire Barnes, Judy Brown, Elizabeth Burgess, Annabelle Burton, Nannette Daugherty, Sandy Farnham, Sherri Groves, Angelia Heringer, Chuck Jones, Tori Lavespere, Maggi Lohr, Dewana McIntosh (coordinator), Jeff Munroe, Amanda Smith, Autumn Smoot, Barbara Smock, Haley Ramsey, Kristyna Schalchlin, Leila Seagraves, Milo Votaw, Stanis Vanous, Tish Williams.
Skyline View is a collaborative mixed media artwork created to showcase the essence of Cherokee Village. The different layers, textures, and colors highlight individual characteristics about the culture of the area leaving the viewer to ponder the unique qualities of an Ozark landscape. The artwork journey began with twenty artists gathering for a day of learning and working with materials and techniques native to the Ozarkian tradition of craft.
Examples included eco dye prints, natural ink, papermaking, gelli prints using weeds and wildflowers, and plein-air drawing. The diverse range of participants learned new skills and techniques while sharing and creating work that demonstrates their strengths. The products of this work day provided the layers of paper that created the background and middle ground of the work. Close inspection allows the viewer to see the individual parts that build to create a unified image. For example the sky is composed of monotype prints that participants created using natural materials from the area. When the eye moves to the middle ground you notice small sketches of houses that participants created during a plein-air trip to the golf course.
Artists then used eco dyed paper, handmade paper, and monotypes to construct the dwellings that are speckled throughout the banks of the lake. The lake pictured is Cherokee lake, and it is portrayed using smooth strokes of blue paint to help give the viewer a sense of calm as they make their way through the painting. The foreground is made of repurposed fabrics stitched together to give hints to trees. The variety of fabrics used and textures helps solidify the diverse amount of nature that surrounds the area. The blanket stitch used to secure the fabrics to the canvas is a recognizable stitch that many pioneer women used to bind old clothes together to make blankets for the cold winters.
When the viewer zooms into the beach on the far shoreline they are introduced to a group of people enjoying the beauty of the day. The Cherokee Village area is a diverse community rooted in nature. Much like the artwork Skyline View there are many layers and components that define the area, ultimately leaving the visitors with a sense of peace and wonder. The final collaboration is the frame for this work. It was handbuilt by a local woodworker from locally milled walnut lumber then finished naturally.