Artists of the Plains Insights

By Melissa Peterson

November 14, 2003

Time waits for no man (neither does good wine according to the commercial of yesteryear). Autumn is here and with it comes our Christmas Boutique. I know, you don’t think of Christmas being part of fall, but now is the time to consider it! The boutique opened November 1 and the tree is trimmed, the stockings hung and the halls are decked thanks to Sandy Jones, Bobbie Uhland and other volunteers. You can find not only Christmas items in all their splendiferous glory, but many fall items as well. There are wreaths, plates, placemats, baskets of autumn flowers, etc. Stop by and have a look-see.

The beginner’s watercolor painting class was a big success. Sandy Jones taught the class November 8 at the gallery. More classes will be available after the holidays, so stay tuned. It’s a fun way to learn to paint, or brush up on your painting skills (pun intended!).

The SECO Art Trails meeting will be Tuesday, November 18 at the gallery, beginning at 10:00 a.m. This meeting is open to anyone interested in promoting art in Southeast Colorado, and/or anyone interested in promoting tourism in our region. We are the jewel of Colorado, a well hidden jewel that needs a bit of polish to make SECO shine in all her brilliance! Please join us. The meeting is informal.

She was born down under in the land of Kanga and Rue! Baptized in a pub, Queensland was home until Ethel (Neile) Richards joined the Australian army during WWII. There she met Robert Richards from Bennett, Colorado. Ethel wasn’t terribly impressed with this young American solider at first. He had to convince her that she should date him. He finally came up with a picnic on a lovely hillside and Ethel’s heart began to melt over this dashing US Navy man.

Bob made her his bride shortly thereafter and they moved to Bennett. They lived in and around Bennett several years before moving to Eads. They had four children. Bob passed away in 1995. Today, Ethel is also proud of her 10 grandchildren and five greats. And I know several of them have their grandmother’s talent for drawing and painting. Ethel took painting lessons by mail in the 1960’s and has been painting ever since. He prefers oil. She painted the wall murals in the theatre here in town. She once commented it was very difficult to gauge perspective when you are standing high on a ladder, nose to nose with the wall! But she did a great job and they are still wonderful to see. She also painted the picture for the cover of the second Kiowa County historical book.

Ethel volunteers at the Kiowa County Museum during the summer. She also volunteers at the art gallery each week. We are so fortunate to have each and every one of our volunteers. Ethel is on the SECO Art Trails committee as well. She’s a great storyteller and has fascinating tales of her trips back to Australia and visits with her brother, Norman, and other family members and friends. Her latest trip down under was last year when she spent several months with her brother, who is also a very fine painter. You can see areas of her homeland in the paintings she creates. Ethel also paints beautiful landscapes of Colorado, as well as all types of flowers.

Ethel became a US citizen in the 1950’s. She’s a delightful lady and you can still detect the Australian accent when she speaks. It was especially pronounced after her last visit down under. We are so happy that this lovely lady is part of our art club and gallery. She paints incredible landscape art. Please drop by the gallery some time and see what she has done and sit down and chat a while.