More than 100 people attended the National Forest Creations Art Show and Auction Party hosted by Friends of the Bridger-Teton National Forest (FBT), a nonprofit organization, on Feb. 29. Bidders raised a combined total of $1,400 for the 18 Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) local artists who turned wood slices from a 138-year-old pine tree that had collapsed within the U.S. Forest Service Pinedale Ranger District into works of art.
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PINEDALE — More than 100 people attended the National Forest Creations Art Show and Auction Party hosted by Friends of the Bridger-Teton National Forest (FBT), a nonprofit organization, on Feb. 29. Bidders raised a combined total of $1,400 for the 18 Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) local artists who turned wood slices from a 138-year-old pine tree that had collapsed within the U.S. Forest Service Pinedale Ranger District into works of art.
As reported previously, 50 percent of the proceeds from each bid benefited the FBT while the other 50 percent went to the artist behind the piece.
Each artist received a wood “cookie” sawed from the tree’s trunk.
“Our goal was to raise awareness about Friends of the Bridger-Teton, share our love for community and the BTNF through art, and have a fun, family-oriented event,” said Jennifer Ricupero, Partnership Manager of FBT, calling the organization’s “first-ever (art) event was a success!”
Ricupero added, “Between the delicious food and mocktails from The Grazing Goat Catering Company, awesome live bluegrass music from ‘Marmot Ate My Boots’ and 'Campfire Cooks,’ and arts and crafts for all, it was a blast!”
The highest bid of the night came in at $500 for a piece featuring a fabric magpie perched on a skull, titled, “Plume,” raising $250 for artist Shannon Wendricks, of Alpine, Wyo., and $250 for FBT.
Of her creation, Hendricks said, “I have done many different kinds of sewing projects over the years, but never anything like this. There are no patterns anywhere, no instructions, and no YouTube tutorials to guide the way. This bird is created from fabric scraps leftover from other work. Based on my research, this magpie statue is +/- 0.25” of life size dimensions, at any given reference point. While the number of prominent feathers is very close to accurate, for the most part its colors, shapes, and lines are strictly an ‘artist’s representation.’ The skull came as a surprise find on a hike last summer, patiently hanging around our garden waiting for its usefulness to be revealed since. The fabric comes from the good people whom I’ve been so humbled and happy to serve over the years.”
Participating artists hailed from communities surrounding the BTNF, including Pinedale’s own Karla Bird and Rebecca Dary and Big Piney's Judy Tate.
Dary created “Bull’s Eye of the Storm” on her wood cookie using acrylic paint. The project was created in memory of Melvin Ernest “Ernie” Walker, Jr. and countless wildland firefighters who have dedicated their lives to the national lands and the wildlife that inhabit them. Ernie served a long career in wildland fire, much of which he spent as a Smokejumper out of West Yellowstone.
Half of the profits from the sale of Dary’s “Bull’s Eye of the Storm” benefited the Friends of the Bridger-Teton while the other 50 percent was donated to the West Yellowstone Smokejumpers Welfare Fund.
Bird’s piece titled “Beary Picking” incorporated a black bear skull, wire and beads and acrylic paint on the pine wood cookie. One September, while Bird and her husband were mule deer hunting in the Wyoming Range, they stumbled across the bear skull. Her work channeled the yellow aspen leaves and littleleaf huckleberry, with golden foliage and bright red berries comprising the backdrop for the skull.
Ricupero extended her appreciation to the organization’s sponsors; Pinedale Properties, The Drift Race, Pinedale Hotel and Jorgensen.
