Artists of the Plains Insights

By Melissa Peterson

August 29, 2003

These hot dog days of August have slowed everyone down. But the art beat goes on at the gallery. There is a fabulous display of state flower plates created by our own Bobby Uhland for sale. There are new paintings hanging on the walls, and more bowls and other works of wood ripe for the pickin’!

Several area kids enjoyed a day of painting and drawing on August 9. Classes in using acrylic and watercolor paints, as well as colored pencils, were taught by gallery artists. We have some great young artists in our county.

On August 12, Phyllis McDaniel, Lill Penn and I drove to Springfield with six paintings to display in the Ports to Plains Art Gallery. We also stayed for the Southeastern Colorado Art Trails meeting. The Springfield group has a great website which draws many inquiries from around the country. Their web address is www.springfieldcolorado.com, if you would like to check it out. Economic Development reps from Kiowa, Baca and Bent counties were present and discussed their plans for expanding tourism in Southeastern Colorado. Our art will be included in upcoming brochures and tourism information. We also took six paintings by Ports to Plains artists back to Eads with us.

There have been many entries received for the upcoming Regional Art Show being held at the gallery on September 6. If you are interested in entering, there is still time and you may contact Sandy Jones or stop by the gallery to register. Judging will be held on September 6 and the show will run through September 20. Please come by to see what Southeastern Colorado artists have created.

Sandy Jones will be teaching beginning watercolor painting classes in the early fall. More information, including the date, will be available soon. Anyone interested in learning the basics of watercolor painting would benefit from this class and have some fun as well! Sandy is also going to teach various art forms at the high school again this year. The kids enjoyed her classes last year and we are very fortunate to have art in our schools.

Lill (Gay) Penn was born and raised in California. There she met her husband, Jim Penn, while he was serving in the Navy. They had five daughters, three of whom are artists in their own right. Lill and family lived in several states, finally making Colorado a permanent home. Jim was a pharmacist and owned a pharmacy in Eads. He passed away several years ago. Lill was a homemaker for most of her married years. She did, however, work at Weisbrod Hospital for several years.

Lill began painting in the 60’s. She began in oils and took classes from John Mendosa in Pueblo. Eventually she found that acrylics were really her favorite medium, but she also paints in watercolor. Lill is fond of using colored pencils as well. It doesn’t seem to matter which medium she uses, her work is always outstanding. She likes to paint or draw local and regional settings. You must stop by the gallery and see her beautiful colored pencil drawing of Maine Street! This is an historical work of art documenting a slice of time in Eads history. Lill has also painted the Kiowa County Courthouse, which hangs in the courthouse.

The art club and art gallery began with a chance meeting between Lill, Sandy Jones, and Phyllis McDaniel at a local restaurant in the mid-1990’s. These ladies found a common interest in painting and decided to form a group. They also called on Ethel Richards, whom they knew was a gifted artist. Together these ladies began the first art club in 1996 and the rest is…. still in progress!

Lill Penn has won many awards and accolades over the years for her art. She has also sold numerous paintings and continues to sell them! She is a volunteer at the art gallery and does a lot of the behind the scenes work there. Lill attends the Eads Assembly of God Church and anyone who knows her realizes what a gracious, humorous, lovely lady she is. We are blessed to have her in the gallery and in Eads. Please stop by the gallery and view Lill’s outstanding artwork.

Artists of the Plains Art Gallery is opened Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Please stop by when looking for a beautiful, creative gift, or to just look around. You are always welcome!