Save the Dates! Upcycled Fashion at WOW!

"Mannequin" by Barry Riley

There is quite a bit happening at Works of Wyoming. We are going to be hosting the Wyoming Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship judging on May 20-21st. There will be opportunities to meet the judges, maybe have your work reviewed and discussed, and hear about the renewed Artist Image Registry program from Mike Shay.  We are setting the activities associated with the Fabulous Women show. It opens June 17th. Get your images in by June 3rd. It will include the Drab to Fab fashion show! Upcycle your old stuff, any old stuff, into haute couture, high fashion, wearable art. Art about, by, and for women will be shown in our gallery.

Life Drawing Class at Works of Wyoming

Students Jimmy McGuire, (above-left and Denise Patton-below) at work in the Works of Wyoming classroom with instructor Mack Brislawn

Laramie artists comment on the Figure Show at WOW

Wine Social by Jerry Glass



 

 The Branding Iron, University of Wyoming's newspaper, featured the "Go Naked! Go Clothed! Go Figure! art display on view at Works of Wyoming gallery.  The show is on view until April 1.  Be sure and check it out.  Works of Wyoming is a project of Wyoming Womens Business Center.

Deborah Britt, a new Wyoming Artist Roster Artist

Stamped Box 
Deborah Britt

Deborah Britt, a Works Of Wyoming Member and an artist with items in the gift shop, just got accepted as a Wyoming Arts Council Roster artist!  Good going, Deborah!

Artist, Musician, and Photographer Jimmy McGuire

Artist, Photographer, Musician, Jimmy McGuire has just been added to the Works of Wyoming member website list. Jimmy is always looking for a jam session and a chance to play any number of instruments to rock and roll. He is drawn to portrait photography of stage performers, sports events, artists, and loves to photograph fellow artists and musicians to capture their passion as they do what they do.

Agriculture and Art for a Healthy Forest

Works of Wyoming will be presenting a new artist, Leroy Jons, in our gift store in a couple of weeks. Check him out. Mr Jons has been a part of the Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) organization for many years. One of their initiatives is to partner with small businesses to find ways to harvest the beetle killed pine that has devastated our Rocky Mountain forests. The beetle-killed pine trees are obvious as you drive through the Medicine Bow National Forest west of Laramie. Leroy decided to do his part as an artist to upcycle and sustain our beautiful forests on a small but creative scale. He will be a really fun and energetic addition to our online store. He is using that pine to make old west style birdhouses and market them. We are fortunate to have some of his one-of-a-kind pieces. Once again, health and art meet. In this case, using diseased pine for art helps encourage a new and healthy forest.

Training in Figure Drawing

At Works of Wyoming, here in Laramie at the Laramie Plains Civic Center, there will be a figure drawing workshop in conjunction with the Go Clothed! Go Naked! Go Figure! Show which runs through April 4th. Mack Brislawn will be teaching a three hour “Introduction to Classical Life Drawing” class. It is very affordable and includes supplies. All for $20! Join us! Register at Works of Wyoming, a project of Wyoming Women’s Business Center.  (Art: Felicia Follum)

Lifelong learning for artists

Do your work! Learning is the work! A client called in to ask about our microloan program here at Wyoming Women’s Business Center. I am always impressed by our prospective clients’ interest in learning new things on how to achieve their goals for success. They all begin with imagining success. They are learners at heart, I believe. Every tidbit of information is food for growth. Growth is on my mind. Spring may be coming, evidenced by no more minus teens and colder temperatures, and with it, our eagerness to jump on our bikes and ride the bike paths around town. It's warmer more often. I am thinking about planting an art installation in a forlorn piece of property nearby. Or at the very least, throwing some old potatoes out there to continue sprouting that have been sitting in the pantry too long. It is all due to our physiological memory of earth’s cycle of rejuvenation. Living and planting, and making things come alive and grow.

Yes, springtime is coming soon, (it just has to, please) to Laramie, and shedding our coats, we make ourselves ready for rejuvenation and stepping out of internal reflection. Works of Wyoming, is a project of Wyoming Women’s Business Center and a marketplace and studio space for artisans and craftspeople offering business and specialized training. We are hosting “Go Naked! Go Clothed! Go Figure!” to celebrate the human figure and the artists inclination throughout human history, to use the human figure as a symbol for change, and for growth and for learning new things.

More info on history of figurative art

Felicia Follum art

When I see this picture a scene comes immediately to mind. It does what a picture is supposed to do. It tells a complete story!

With this single image, Felicia Follum, member artist of Works of Wyoming starts this blogger longing for spring.  There was somebody walking a dog through this frame seconds ago.  Now flowers are sprouting and the sun is shining.  It is quiet now, but it was an exciting place only moments ago, and will soon be again.  Nice!

Healthy=Profitable

This blog about health and art and business was inspired by a trip to Ecuador  and a lasting memory. One afternoon before heading out to start a month-long trek, we visited a high mountain village on market day. I came upon a small plaza near the center of town. This plaza was filled with a small mountain of wool socks and old wool clothing. Aside from thinking, “ Oh, so this is where lost socks go” it appeared that these socks and old clothes were awaiting being cleaned and processed and reborn into being recycled into all sorts of new other things. Baskets, blankets, other clothing, new yarn, for example. Upcycling =healthy business practice. It is an offshoot of the baby boomer trend toward simplifying our lifes. Simplifying our lives leads to Sustainability. Rural communities re-use and barter and distribute locally, and have always done so. But we are adept at reaching out and being creative with resources. I think about a family in the Platte Valley near Saratoga, Wyoming, who lease a portion of their property for grazing and who built a windbreak out of old tires, for their small herd of cattle. They collect old cars and sell the parts via the web. They are weavers and gardeners, use at least two alternative fuels and solar power, and are extremely successful, vibrant, small businesspeople. Their business is truly a very diverse and creative enterprise. It is also sustainable for their grandchildren, who are slowly taking the reins to keep the enterprises fresh and lively.

To stay current on how to support those Wyomingites wanting to start or sustain small businesses, representatives from the Wyoming Womens Business Center and Small Business Innovation Research program went to the Gro-Biz conference this past week of February 21st. Our representatives heard L. Hunter Lovins, President and founder of  Natural Capital Solutions, speak about sustainability as an intergral component of profitability and her work consulting with all sizes of businesses. They came back excited about sustainability concepts and the emphasis on that concept as an avenue for small business profitability. I get excited about sustainability concepts and practices as avenues toward healthy business practice that extends to healthy practices for owners, owners' families, and owners' customers. In short, all of us who grew up with Earth Day, and with a renewal of conversation about whole food and conservation of resources, which includes adaptive re-use. Economic development for rural communities, like those all over Wyoming, can implement sustainable practices to help your business evolve and stay competitive and stay healthy for your families, your customers, and your community. Healthy=profitable.