?`s and ANNEswers

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Artwork

We live in a community on the banks of Lake Michigan where the décor is sand-drenched and sunny. More than one home has what I call a “beachy” appearance in line with the environment. It’s white Adirondack chairs on the porch, watery sunsets on the walls, and containers of seashells on the fireplace mantel. I like it a lot.

But Earl and I have a different vibe for our own home, one that would be hard to get top dollar for at an estate sale around here. We love Western art. And our walls are filled with it. It’s not Southwestern art either. There are no pastel colors or pueblo structures. No clay urns or cacti. Rather, our art depicts scenes from the old West, the one farther north of Santa Fe.

Case in point: We have a painting by Howard Terpning, a foremost authority on such things as cavalry uniforms; bridles, saddles, and other horse accessories; and indigenous peoples’ war paint. The artwork is titled “Night Before Little Big Horn,” and shows three cavalry men and two Crow scouts looking into the vast beyond. No one knows what will happen the next day.

But we all know now.

Another Terpning on our walls shows a cowboy heading out alone from an outpost, leaving the comforts of society– such as they were – behind. While the Little Big Horn painting is actually bright, this one is dark and ominous.

Every one of our paintings has a story, and many evenings I sit in my favorite chair to read. But I am always drawn to this artwork. I look at every painting every night —  there are 12 of them up at the moment – and I wouldn’t trade one of them for an Adirondack chair or a container of sand.

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