Show Preview | Western Visions - Southwest Art Magazine

Bend, OR
Mockingbird Gallery, August 4-31

John DeMott, American Icon, oil, 9 x 12.

This story was featured in the August 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Western Visions, a three-person show featuring art from sculptor Bob Boomer and painters Lisa Danielle and John DeMott, brings a little piece of the West to central Oregon. The artists’ reception is held on Friday, August 4, from 5 to 9 p.m. and the show is on view through the end of the month.

This is the third time in 10 years of owning Mockingbird Gallery that Jim Peterson has invited the three artists to bring 10-12 new works to display together. “Their work transforms the gallery into a unique place,” Peterson says. “That western connection pulls them together really nicely. Each one has an individual voice and experience to bring to the show.”

: Lisa Danielle, Feathers and Clouds, acrylic, 36 x 36.

: John DeMott, Wyoming Icon, oil, 36 x 24.

: Bob Boomer, Pueblo Girl, wood, 25h.

Bob Boomer has been creating sculptures professionally for over 20 years. He got his start at his grandfather’s wood shop, practicing carving figures as a young teenager. Today the California artist uses weathered manzanita wood to carve faces, hands, and postures, signaling the synthesis of man and nature. “The Native Americans lived in harmony with nature,” Boomer says. “I try to do that with my carvings: I blend my ideas without destroying the natural flow and color of the wood. The carvings begin to have a spirit.”

Lisa Danielle’s great-grandmother was a schoolteacher on the San Carlos Apache reservation in southern Arizona. To show their affection for their teacher, the Indians gifted her baskets, pottery, and other items. When her grandmother saw Danielle’s western works, she brought her those same gifts to help inspire her. “I chose still life as a form of portraiture of the Native Americans, defined by the objects they created, used, and treasured—which, like my paintings, will far outlive us,” Danielle says. “Touching lives is the real legacy I want to leave with my art.”

: Bob Boomer, Ancient Song, wood, 19h.

: Bob Boomer, The Berry Basket, manzanita, 17 x 9 x 6.

: John DeMott, Prairie Princess, oil, 36 x 24.

Growing up on a horse ranch, John DeMott spent a lot of time around cowboys. The ranch hands he saw every day quickly became his first creative inspirations. “I really didn’t know I would become a professional painter at first,” says the Southern California-bred artist, “although I always had a paint set with me when I was very young.” DeMott, who has been creating art since he was 10, dedicated himself to art full time in 1977. He’s painted everything from animals in gouache to the historic American West in oils. Today his combination of impressionism and realism depicts Northern Plains figures, frontier characters, and wildlife. He’ll even stand near a stampeding buffalo herd, participate in an 1880s-style shoot-out, and visit Civil War battlefields to get the perfect composition and perspective for his works.

Peterson enjoys seeing the artists, each with a unique take on the West, come together for the show. “We really enjoy celebrating western roots here,” Peterson says. “There isn’t anything more pleasing than seeing a group of Boomer’s wood sculptures play off the western spirit in the paintings.” —Katie Askew

contact information
541.388.2107
www.mockingbird-gallery.com