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Bar HL is a brand, it is not just a tool used to indicate ownership of livestock but as an only and adopted child it has ground me and given me direction in my life. Living in rural Southeastern Montana, I am surrounded by ranching, animals and brands. Bar HL is now my brand, it carries a journey and a history within its lines, something I am connect to and can creatively influence its future, as someday it will belong to my daughter. A brand for me is not just a hot iron on a hide; it is also about brands of boots, clothing, tools, paper, brushes, breeds of horses and chickens, kinds of flowers and so many other things that I am wildly picky about.
My ideas for what I create are as diverse as my interests. All of my engravings on clay board include animals and I try my best to capture the life and spirit of each animal. I pay particular attention to the eyes. I carry a camera around with me often to capture the beauty of my world that I live in. Every photo has a story to tell, some stay as photos; other become reference images for my paintings. I am ever so lucky to teach high school art; from day to day I have the luxury of working in at least 5 or 6 different mediums. Choosing just one medium is like asking an art teacher "What's your favorite color?" It is an almost impossible question to answer, I love art!
Many of my watercolors tend to include boots, boots of every size and color. As a teen in the 90's colored jeans and boots were in, one could say that it looked like a rainbow exploded in my closet. That love of colorful western fashion spilled over into my passion for rodeo queen pageants, where not only did colorful clothes and boots come into play but they were incrusted with sequins and rhinestones. The queen world is full of feminine color, smart cowgirls, and amazing intricate details. Not only have I been involved in the pageantry of the rodeo queen world, but also as a dust or mud covered rodeo contestant, competing in several different events, and now I am married to a former saddle bronc rider turned team roper. Not surprisingly I love to paint images from the rodeo, ranching and western equine world.
My brand of painting style was heavily influenced in college under the direction of master watercolorist John Pollock, teaching me how to achieve the details and colors that I love. While working towards my art education degree, I spent a lot of time in art history classes, and while I admire aspects about several art movements, none seemed to have captured my attention as much as Art Nouveau. A time period that sometimes does not even get its own page in the art history texts. I fell hopelessly in awe with the work of Alphonse Muchas. Muchas' flowing lines, details, flowers and beautiful women and their fantastic costumes have forever captivated my imagination.
My inspirations give my work a feel of "Art Nouveau meets contemporary illustration in the rural American West." I'm drawn to details, so I explore up-close and personal the little things that connect eras divided by decades, so I explore up-close and personal the little things that connect eras divided by decades. My Bar HL brand is a symbol that ties me to my family, heritage and the livestock that wear it, the land that they graze. As the adopted kid that never felt like she belongs, to a woman who now know that family is those who love you, a brand can be so many things. But for now it's my icon of the American West I wish to preserve for future generations, and share with those whom may never directly walk a mile in my colorful boots.
Iris Beauty - Watercolor
109 Merrill Avenue, Glendive, Montana 59330, United States