Special thanks to our founder and patron, Jim Parkman, for his generous financial support as well as his personal presence at our art conference and workshop in Dubois, WY. Jim also hosted a really grand kick-off party at the historic Dennison Lodge. Thanks to Laney and Leigh Tuckey for the Headwaters Purchase Award for our art show, and to Grace Whalen at Headwaters, whose attention to the details helped make our event spectacular.

In this issue, featured front and center is the 4th annual SKB Art Conference & Workshop.

Grab a second cup of java and enjoy the news. In this issue, featured front and center is the 4th annual SKB Art Conference & Workshop. Our profile artist this time is our first Rose Medallion Award winner, Wanda Mumm. Les LeFevre cowboys up and shares how important getting good reference is by living it. It doesn’t hurt to have a little fun in the process unless your cow pony makes you a yard dart!

An insightful look at gratitude is shared by Chris Knapp while Wes Siegrist, Ric Helstrom and Bob Koenke get down to business. Mary Lou Holt’s quirky artist’s cartoon will have you chuckling.

Check out what’s happening with your fellow SKBers (now an official term) in Applause and don’t miss For the Good of the Order for exciting opportunities.

Would someone PLEASE try Mort’s Starving Artist Recipes and let us know if his claim that it will make you a better artist is true for you? What’s happening on the SKB Homefront ? Read about our exciting pending and planned events and projects.

As always, you are invited (o.k. coerced) to participate in Legacy. It’s yours. Together we are becoming a strong voice in support of artists and art education across the nation. Your articles, ideas, and opinions will only strengthen SKB Legacy – the official ezine of the Susan Kathleen Black Foundation.

On that note – I still have columnists positions available or for articles of general interest. Advice to the love-lorn? quirky artist fashion cop? Another idea? Let’s talk…. PDC.

PS: Thank you for the generous tack store gift certificate Sherry Steele presented on your behalf at the workshop. A beautiful new bridle with silver star conchos and turquoise in-lay has Windcatcher steppin’ even higher than usual. So, when I am riding and competing, you are all riding with me. That’s a big warm, fuzzy.

One day in particular stands out. I was called for lunch and left my art pastels at my workplace. During lunchtime it rained and the pastels dissolved into little piles of colored dust. When I discovered what had happened to my treasured materials, I ran back to my house for envelopes that I could cut and tape into small packets to hold my precious powders. I then used these with Q-tips to do art.

I continued to work on my art by myself until our high school hired its first art teacher. I was thrilled to finally have a live person to help me. I did not like the fact that my whole first semester was spent with crayons, but you can really find out how to use a medium when you have no other choices. That teacher gave me a solid foundation, but in my first college art class I found out there was plenty I did not know about art. The professor asked us to go to the library to research a master artist and to take tracing paper to draw off the major composition lines that we saw. I stood and looked at my selected master with puzzlement, wondering what I was supposed to be seeing. I guessed at the assignment and left the library feeling I was in for a rough first art course. At the next class, I quickly handed in the assignment fearing the professor would make me an example of an inept art student. MY worst fears were realized and he selected mine to discuss. He called me to the front and asked if I knew anything about composition. I said, "No, not really." He found most of the new students did not have much a sense of it either. This started my quest to pursue all aspects of art and a life long search for more knowledge in general.

After I graduated from Iowa State University with an art degree, my interest in nature and wildlife led me toward a painting career, even though design had been my concentration. My high school art teacher had discouraged me from going into fine arts because the stiff competition would make it difficult as a woman artist. But I decided the fine art world could accept another painter and I started painting. Since my first show in 1978, along a riverbank in Minnesota, each year has proven to be more successful. I began doing outdoor art shows. My first wildlife show was in Oklahoma. My farm background had given me many insights into wildlife and I had some experience selling, but I was not sure if I could compete with other established wildlife artists. I had made my own display panels, painted and framed my work, and psyched myself up for the wildlife art world. I soon discovered my art was competitive and I would have the good fortune to be part of this country's wildlife art culture.

I gained national recognition for my paintings of birds, winning the 1989 Oklahoma Duck Stamp competition. My career awards include Artist of the Year for the states of Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma, as well as being selected as an artist for Pheasants Forever and the National Turkey Federation. I am pleased to have been presented with awards at national exhibitions; to have been the featured artist for several shows, including the National Wildlife Show in Kansas City, Northern Wildlife Show in Lansing, Michigan, and the Heritage Wildlife Art Show in Minneapolis; and to have been the Guest Artist for the Northeastern Wildlife Art Expo in Providence R.I

Then I discovered workshops where I painted and taught with other artists. It changed my art in exciting and positive ways. I taught at my first workshop over ten years ago with Lee and Pam Cable and Mort Solberg. Mort helped introduce art to my daughter in a way that would not threaten her emerging talent and he was instrumental in allowing her to see her own talents and give her the pleasure of experiencing art for herself on her own level.

This experience, coupled with my firm belief in the value of mentoring young artists, gave me the idea of creating the young adult art workshop that I direct today. The workshop, initiated in 1994, is geared towards encouraging students who are considering careers in art. Now in its tenth year, it has earned college accreditation and is held annually at a ranch in Montana providing a full week of art and career development. The program has been so successful that it has been expanded to include an adult workshop held each fall just outside Glacier National Park.

Teaching weekly art classes keeps me hopping while I try to squeeze precious painting hours into my schedule. My interest in teaching has been devoted to sharing my knowledge with others who, like myself, had many gaps in their art understanding. Workshop experiences like the SKB Workshops is one of the best ways for an artist to venture outside his or her surroundings and find other sharing artists to help them expand ways of thought or understand new techniques. Traveling and painting with other artists can also offer new ideas and insights. Workshops have changed my art by showing me more of myself and allowing me to develop my skills. They also offer an energizing boost that allows me to be more creative and observant. Thanks to the generosity of people like Jim Parkman, who was instrumental in getting the SKB Foundation going, artists have an opportunity to spend a week exploring themselves and enriching their lives through their art.

Art has lead me to many adventures and interesting people. During the summer of 2000, the Charles Schultz family, in commemoration of the cartoonist Charles Schultz, started the Peanuts on Parade statues that graced the city of Saint Paul for five years. During those years, along with my design team which included my entire family, Ally, Sean and Les, as well as my painting students, I created 14 different statues of the Peanuts gang. My design for a snoopy was the first Snoopy statue created specifically for an international program. Friendship Ambassador Snoopy was dedicated in Manzanillo, Mexico, in February 2003 and was accepted by the Mayor of Manzanillo and the Governor of Colima. My years of sculpture experimentation at workshops helped prepare me for working on the statues I have created in the last five years.

My career also has lead me into other arenas of art. I was selected to represent artists in Saint Paul’s sister city project with Manzanillo, Mexico, and I will be coordinating cultural exchanges. In 2004 I was elected to the Board of Directors for the Manzanillo/Saint Paul Sister City organization and my current project is as Director of a collaborative art exhibit between Colima, Mexico, and Minnesota. Approximately 15 artists from each state will be selected to represent their community in the exhibit, workshops, and seminars.

Much of my current creative art time involves working on licensing projects for various companies. The designs I have done over the years have been reproduced on wearable items, kitchen ware, bath and bedroom lines, puzzles, music boxes, and stationary items.

The support of my husband Les has allowed me the freedom to pursue my art. Support for artists through family and workshops make all the difference.

Creamed Corn & Bologna
    1 can of creamed corn
    3 or 4 slices of bologna cut into small chunks
    Heat in pot or microwave
    Butter a couple slices of white bread to eat with it.
Bologna & Pickle Spread - For that yummy school lunch or as a snack at the ole fishin’ hole
    1 pack of bologna
    1 small jar of sweet pickles
    Run together through a meat grinder minus the packaging and jar.
    Spread on Wonder bread with a little butter and enjoy

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I walked away from the casket, having offered my farewells, and slammed into the reflection of my own existence. My issues seemed insignificant in the face of death, yet they are central to my life, and I realized it's my responsibility to make the most of whatever time is allotted to me.
So I faced them.

How often do we greet the morning with feelings of frustration, woes and despair? Where will I get the time I need to finish all the tasks that must be handled? What can I do to finish with the business aspect of my career so I can return to my true nirvana, the creative process where I put brush to canvas, hands on clay? Is there any way that I can get everything completed before my next show or trip to the gallery? And what about those potential new clients who are demanding more of my time and energy to determine if I am the right artist for their project? And then there is Life, managing a household, a family, and a marriage. When will I be able to extinguish those furious mental fires that keep me up at night?

Practice gratitude, my friends. Let that which is good flood your very existence. Focus on the positive and appreciate the wondrous gifts that we are presented with every single day. As you find yourself bathed in a golden light of untapped energy, let the muse take over your body and the emotions spring from your fingertips onto the latest project waiting for you in the studio.

Many philosophical texts refer to this simple practice. Used consistently, this “Thank you” technique has been known to cause extraordinary results. It has been said that the thankful heart is always closer to the creative forces of the universe, causing countless blessings to flow toward it by the law of reciprocal relationship, based on a cosmic law of action and reaction.

So, take those self-made demons and sweep them under the carpet where they belong. For in reality they are minuscule, insignificant irritations that we must keep in perspective. Don’t ignore them, just put the little rascals in their place. From time to time I remind myself, if money problems and time restraints are my major aggravations, then I really don’t have any problems.

Praise the powers of the universe as you lap up the serenity of the mountains, the ferocity of the ocean, the splendor of the plains, or the miracle of children. Even the simplicity of the vigorous little ant scurrying across the floor can provide inspiration. These are the beauties of life that fuel the soul of an artist and we must be thankful for them. And while you are at it, be thankful for the very reason you are reading this article, your own very unique artistic talents. Be thankful for the opportunity to share these talents with the rest of the world. So every day when you wake up, fortunate enough to still be on the top of the grass, leap from the bed, stretch, and smile. And then declare in no uncertain terms, “This is gonna be a fantastic day”.

We knew we were going to have to work to get any success online or off. We opted to give up on the small change items and phase out the prints. If we were going to make it big it was going to be a small step at a time. It’s been eight years now and we still derive 75% of our income from shows and galleries but there was a marked increase in online sales of paintings for us this past season. Our collectors regularly browse our website previewing what we’ll be bringing to a show or searching for gift ideas. We may soon be paying the bills after all!

I encourage each of you to find your niche and put your best work forward.

There is a proliferation of scams wanting art, usually for overseas shipment. The trick to these scams is that the scammers want the art QUICK. This is because they are paying with counterfeit money orders, credit cards etc.

The way to make sure you don't lose out on a legitimate inquiry is to say that art will not be shipped until payment has cleared, usually 60-90 days. They won't respond back if they are not legit.

NOTE: just because you get an approval on a credit card DOES NOT mean that it is OK. It is possible to get a false approval, and then when you try to make the deposit, it will come back as a charge on a counterfeit card. DO NOT ship until the funds have actually cleared your bank.

Basically ANY inquiry from Nigeria should be treated as highly suspect and any time the buyer wants their transportation company to pick up the artwork it is most likely a scam.

Another caution is to NEVER respond to an email from a credit card company asking for verification of info. and NEVER click on the link they provide. Only deal with a credit card company (including PayPal) through their secure website by typing in the URL.

While at a photo shoot at Artist Ride in South Dakota, I was fortunate to become acquainted with a father and son model team camped nearby. In conversation, the father mentioned he had a cattle ranch south of there. I expressed my interest in cowboy life and he opened the door, by inviting me to a roundup! We are not talking about a dude ranch roundup, but a real working cowboy roundup. I took him up on it last year and am going again this year. The rancher still deals with drought, cattle prices, feed, foreclosures, rustling, rattlesnakes and all the day-to-day chores of years ago. The roundup is not done by a dozen hired hands but more like a barn raising in an Amish community. The neighboring family ranches pitch in to help each other with their roundups and brandings of this years calves, one day at one ranch and one day at another. Following the roundups, there is a feast for all the cowboys and cowgirls prepared by the wives and family of the host ranch.

Some of the ranches have been purchased and some have just been claimed years ago. The ranch I stay on still has the original one room dwelling, complete with the iron stove, cupboard and bed. The rancher was raised in the one room home with his homesteading parents until he was 7 or 8. It hasn’t changed much in 150 years. The biggest changes are, the cattle are not longhorns, there is no open range and the branding irons are heated with propane. They will still build a wood fire to heat the irons if you like and the range appears pretty open to me, a “tenderfoot”, when these ranches are 20 to 30 miles in each direction. We rise early, about 5 in the morning, eat a little something and start rounding up cattle. I have been able to sleep, eat, ride, roundup and brand with real cowboys. I feel very privileged to be accepted into their extended family, even though I will never be more than a cowboy impersonator. It is a wonderful way to gain knowledge of my artistic subjects first hand.

Les & historic cabin

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'. *
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin'. *

Although Carol hasn’t been to places like India, Africa, and Russia to see the great cats in the wild, she keeps current on the issues and abuses facing the exotic cats in the wild as well as in captivity. She continues to tour rescues, conservation facilities, and zoos in the United States to study wildlife, especially the great cats, and obtain her reference material.

Further, her idea for this educational exhibit and program has grown into a book and has a video component, which will be published in 2006. In addition to basic species information and current developments affecting wild and captive great cats, endangerment, and extinction, the book will include demonstrations of Santora’s unique and characteristic representational painting style in portraying the great cat species in watercolor and pastel. Passion for her subject is evident in her work, which expresses her own personal vision of wildlife, more simplified and idealistic, intense, vivid, and dynamic.

The educational component of The Great Cat Experience includes basic descriptions of the seven species of great cat: cheetah, cougar, jaguar, leopard, lion, snow leopard, and tiger, and several thought-provoking exercises for students and adults alike. Santora designed a general multiple choice quiz, a mixed media collage art-making exercise, and a more in-depth critical thinking assignment on symbolism in conceptual art as elements of the learning modules. In addition, back in the classroom students can expand on these exercises and will be able to build on the basic knowledge gleaned from the exhibit about art and the great cat species. It is her fervent hope that this program will inspire and motivate the adults of today and tomorrow to take action, cherish, and preserve these great cats in the wild for the future generations to enjoy.

Samples of representational work in the show and book include pastels Spotted Beauty and Dozing Off. Spotted Beauty is a blind Asian leopard living in captivity with her mate in a Florida zoo. She listens attentively, sitting in a tree high in her enclosure.

China Doll is a captive Bengal tiger almost asleep in Dozing Off. She had just finished playing with her mate Shere Khan and had chosen this sturdy rock on the banks of the spring-fed lake in her enclosure to rest her head.

Two examples of her conceptual work in the program include Oppressed Progeny and Puma Concolor: Florida Panther. Oppressed Progeny is a mixed media collage made from torn paintings, acrylic paint, and tissue paper. Its focus is the extinction of the tiger in the wild, very possibly within the next ten years. The wild tiger and its offspring are seriously threatened because of poaching, and are hunted throughout their range for sport, the fur trade, and for the traditional Asian medicine market. Loss of habitat and prey base are other factors affecting the rapid decline of the wild tiger. Those in captivity suffer miserably in roadside zoos and circus wagons, in backyard breeding facilities and fur farms, and as pets in private homes.

Santora has collaged pieces of a painting that have been carefully torn into specific shapes and are suspended in the atmosphere signifying the tiger’s uncertain future and fragmented populations. A street scene on the left-hand side suggests man and industry, human population growth, and the effects of progress that have heavily impacted the course of the wild cat's life in a negative way. Three cubs are running out of the picture.

Puma Concolor: Florida Panther is also painted in acrylic with graphite drawings and stenciled and collaged images. The text running across the images give clues to the message, however few words are necessary. Very faint panther paw prints cross the surface of the map moving outside of it signifying the cat’s imminent extinction. Large boot prints in heavier paint trod on top of the delicate cat prints and tell us the Florida panther’s habitat is being destroyed because of human expansion. The hot monochromatic color is used to draw attention to the issue at hand rather than the prettiness of the images.

The resolution of your file is important too. Save your images at the highest resolution possible, because you never know what you might need to use that image for. You can always drop down the resolution for other purposes, but you don’t want to go back and try to bump it up, because the image will be soft or even look out of focus. Jpeg files can be used for many purposes such as emailing images to someone, or if the web images need to be in a jpeg format. It all depends on what your end result is going to be used for.

Majestic elk, lumbering moose, beautiful horses, and a few local landscapes from nearby Susquehanna State Park are just a few of the diverse subjects this show will encompass. The exhibition will consist of recent watercolors, oils, acrylics, and pastels, which are a new medium for this versatile artist. No matter the medium, Singleton masterfully achieves stunningly realistic images of wild creatures in their native habitats.

Kelly recently returned from Dubois, Wyoming where she studied with internationally known wildlife artist John Banovich at the annual Susan K. Black Foundation artist workshop. An art show was held in conjunction with the workshop in which she was awarded 3rd place in the “Other Media” category for her pastel Screech Owl.

Singleton’s work is represented by Creative Genius Gallery in Medford, NJ and by Artworks Gallery in Kennett Square, PA.

POTENTIAL PROGRAMS
MENTORING PROGRAM: A formal mentoring program is in the works for next year.
SKB ADVENTURES: National / International Workshops
As information becomes available everyone will be notified.
• Charleston Art Conference & Workshop - Fall 2006
• Florida Plein Air Workshop - Winter 2006
• East Coast Workshop - July 2006 Contact Nancy Foureman at foureman@skyenet.net
• African Adventure - Fall 2006

There were 121 participants including 94 juried workshop artists, who enjoyed a wide variety of studies and activities during the week.

New to our roster of nationally acclaimed instructors this year were John Banovich, David Rankin and John Pitcher. Returning instructors were Mort Solberg, Greg Beecham, Lee Cable, Heiner Hertling, Wanda Mumm and Carol Grende. Thank you for the truly awesome instruction, long hours, and laughter.

Honored by the SKB Board of Directors as ‘person of the year’, was Wanda Mumm, receiving the first annual Rose Medallion for her tireless work as a volunteer and as director of SKB’s annual Teen Workshop held near Glacier National Park. Another first time award, the Shooting Star Trophy, was garnered by Andrew Denman who has become a master of self-promotion. Needless to say, we are proud of these two exceptional artists, who exemplify the heart and spirit of SKB.

We were honored to have as special guest, Kat Combes, wife of Simon Combes, who gave a tribute to Simon's life and work assisted by Bob Koenke and John Seerey-Lester. SKB presented Kat with a check for $5,000 for Rhino Rescue Trust as she continues Simon's work in Kenya.

Keynote speaker was Bill Kerr, founder of the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the premier venue showcasing wildlife art worldwide. Many of you have visited this special place and been inspired. Special guest speaker was Tom Petrie, one of the countries top collectors of original Russells, who gave a great presentation on the art, and Russell’s life. He is also our founder, Jim Parkman’s business partner, running their offices in Denver.

The marketing team this year consisted of nationally known art industry professionals, Bob Koenke, Publisher, Wildlife Art Magazine; Jimmy Huggins, President, Charleston’s Southeast Wildlife Exhibition; Dale Simmons, Webmaster; Andrew Denman, self-promotion; Chuck Messer & Les Mumm, marketing your spouse; and Ric Helstrom, photography and archiving. This was certainly a wealth of information from folks in the know and we so appreciate their contribution to the overall success of SKB 05.

A highlight of the week was the instructor quick-draw whose resulting work was donated to SKB’s auction/fundraiser that night. Special thanks to Kay Abeyta for having the idea of the quick-draw and to the instructors for stepping up to the plate. Auctioneer, Heiner Hertling, whose second career should be stand-up comedy, kept everyone laughing as the auction produced its highest fundraiser ever at nearly $18,000.

For the first time the work brought in by the artists for exhibit and sale were judged. SKB was honored to have the following judges: John Seerey-Lester, master wildlife artist; Peggy Kinstler, Editor, InformArt Magazine, Bob Koenke and Jimmy Huggins. Fellow board member, Claudia Lampe and I followed the judges around for a wonderful educational experience, while Jim Parkman, Kat Combes and Laney agonized over their special award selections.

The judges had a difficult task in front of them with the overall quality of the work this year being the best yet. It wasn’t easy, but here’s the winners. Congratulations to all of you and thanks to everyone who participated.

SKB 2005 Art Show Award Winners:
Wanda Mumm, SKB Rose Medallion Winner	Andrew Denman, SKB Shooting Star Trophy Winner (too bad we didn't get a photo of the trophy), 1st in acrylics
Nancy Foureman, Best of Show, Headwaters $500 Award, 1st Other Media	Kat Combes and Jane Alcorn, Simon Combes Award of Excellence
Wayne Chunat, Parkman Purchase Award	Rita Cirillo, 1st in oils
Wes Siegrist, 1st in watercolor	T.J. Lick,Peoples/Artists Choice, received award from Peggy Kinstler
Complete List of Winners of SKB 2005 Art Show: Parkman Purchase Awards:      - Founders Purchase Award: Wayne Chunat – Homossa 914B 1379-017      - Directors Purchase Award: Andrew Denman – Bodega Head      - Headwaters $500 Award: Nancy Foureman – Floral Light      - Best of Show: Nancy Foureman – Floral Light      - Simon Combes Award of Excellence: Jane Alcorn – Toki      - Rose Medallion Award: Wanda Mumm      - Shooting Star Trophy: Andrew Denman Oils:      - First: Rita Cirillo – Snowbound      - Second: Barbara Rieman – Yellow Sunlit Bush      - Third: Les LeFevre – Mourning His Brother      - Honorable Mention: Sonia Reid – Keeping Distance Acrylics:      - First: Andrew Denman – The Sundries Project      - Second: T.J. Lick – Leopard Libation      - Third: Pat Pauley – White Tail Deer      - Honorable Mention: Wayne Chunat – Homossa 914B 1379-017 Watercolor:      - First: Wes Siegrist – Carr’s Creek Calf      - Second: John Finley – Make up Your Mind      - Third: Rachelle Siegrist – Dude From Dubois – portrait of Greg Beecham      - Honorable Mention: Anne Olwin – Siesta Time Other Media:      - First: Nancy Foureman – Floral Light      - Second: Janene Grende – A Ton of Horse      - Third: Kelly Singleton – Screech Owl      - Honorable Mention: Jane Alcorn – Toki      - People’s/Artists’ Choice: T.J. Lick – Leopard Libation

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Bridgetown - Cultural and Entertainment Center www.bridgetownevents.com, Lafayette, CO
This is a grand opportunity for our Colorado SKBer’s. Contact me for more information if you’d like to be involved.
• Multi-media, state of the art venue opens September 2005 features fine art, professional music, and a chef-run bistro (with micro-brews and fine wine list)
• Art events run by SKB
• Donations from Bridgetown to SKB will be awarded as grants to emerging young artists and musicians

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in. *
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around. *