Main Street, Wyoming; 508; Blue Sky Artists' Guild

Main Street Wyoming is made possible in part by grants from Kennicott energy proud to be a part of Wyoming's future in the uranium exploration mining and production industry. And by the Wyoming Council for the Humanities enriching the lives of Wyoming people through the study of Wyoming history values and ideas Wyoming's artists are as diverse as our state's landscape. Most often they work by themselves. However today on Main Street Wyoming you'll meet a group of the Rapido artists who have joined together. Welcome to Main Street Wyoming. I'm Deborah Hammond and today my guests are as diverse a

group as artists as you could find in the entire Rocky Mountains let alone Wyoming. They call themselves the blue sky artisans and the members able to be with us today include Tino Montoya Raelene Montoya Eugene frigidly and rice brown. Tino I want to know how did your group originally formed. Well originally I believe it was a member from the next 500 years out of Boulder Colorado and I believe Rice's father Eugene Sr. put an ad in the paper and called everybody together in the park and from there and we just kind of thought What did you know each other as artists before your group formed. You're basically an artist myself. Yeah. How did you personally decide that you wanted to be part of a group instead of working all by yourself or ice. Well I thought that we could help each other and support each other in our

own. Showing our arts and crafts you know that that's a way to really help each other you know form an organization like that yeah. Has it worked out the way that you plan to work out that way for you know I have to get back on Royce when we informed his group or other objective two of us to help subsidize subsidize or or or. Finance we could get enough shows. To make enough money. We all put so much of a percentage should to the year group account and when someone runs into problems as far as buying materials for needs used to get to show we need to get as many were something like that. That's what what we have when he's for us to help us out that that we do so is it worked out that way that you're making more money because you're part of a

group. Yeah I think I think there's a lot of security in that. One of the one of the neat things I saw we were in Colorado one with a board member showed up that he was broke and everybody pulled through all of some kind and the same day he paid us back. And so there's some security in that. And not only that but we travel kind of caravan style. And somebody has problems with the vehicle. It's not a worry you're not stuck by yourself you know. We're just like a family. Well you've mentioned showing in Colorado what kind of an art show was it that was the Arapahoe cultural festival or the people of Boulder kind of invited us back. That was the whole wintering grounds and in Boulder Colorado at one time they kind of invited to SPAC and and had a set a day aside to call the Arapahoe cultural festival basically and we would take our wares and and sell them in the mall at the appropriate mall there in Boulder. Well I think that's fantastic. RAELENE What has it helped you being part of the group with your art.

I think it's been really nice because if one artist has has heard of a show that's coming up or received information they bring it to the meetings and then pass it around in. So we've gotten a lot more information from the other artists and stuff that we might not have gotten if we weren't in the group and of course it helps being married to one of the other members too. If you don't mention that it's not a coincidence that you both have the same last name want to have it that you work together. Well I want to find out about we have all of your beautiful work out here and I want to talk to you as individual artists but really let's start with you because I think I'm with you have a big work that you do. But something happened for you down in Colorado being part of the group can you talk about that please. Yes. Well we were down there at the Arapahoe cultural festival a company approached some of the artists and some weren't able to to be able to be you know work with them but they approached Tina and I to do these hair pieces called Hot tails. And they asked us to design an Indian line for them.

They're all Arapaho symbols they all mean something. For example what's the symbol on that one this is the Arapaho butterfly. And this is a black star and this is the whirlwind. Oh that's beautiful Isn't that wonderful. Now how long would it take you for example the world wait how long would it take you to do that. That takes about 20 minutes to do this piece here and they send us the blanks and they've supplied the beads and things for us to do it. We beat it and it goes back to the factory they finished putting it together. There's a rubber band that goes on the back that it's put into the hair and then it Velcro around and hooks on the hair. That's what so they they in essence design the their design and this is their design and now this. Now they have the they call it the Arapaho line. They have other lines too with conch O's and some with a beach

line that they have little beach logo things on it. Now for all of you as art as you've been doing your particular kind of artwork for different lengths of time for example how long have you been doing bead work. Thirteen years now 13 years. How did you learn to know Tommy when we were dating. I was talking to master then you know. Do you still do beadwork. Oh I do so much going on to do other things I do a lot of different things. I kind of got bored with strictly beauty but I learned when I was about 13 from my older brother Richard and just something that kind of threw him. We just did it all the time as a hobby we're going to take up time I guess in extra income as well there was a time when Raylene and I when we first got married were financially strapped well that subsidize nicely. It would help buy groceries pay some bills here and there and that's really neat and you know we like to as well. We'd like to share a lot of you know our

benefits with everybody not necessarily just the members but we've also really was talking about the hotels some of those are released on the reservation to people that weren't members of our group and and they're bringing in you know finances to help themselves as well. So that it's kind of a cottage industry where other people can do the work and that's fantastic. Let's talk about some of the work that you're doing now that you have with you here today. Hey this is a this is a dance stick and it's there's a contemporary design a little bit of beadwork and laid in there and the fourth four feathers and now there I think is their symbolism so they're going for that for is a sacred number and for the four directions. And usually editors for The Sims just pretty noisemakers when you're dancing while the guys wear bells it's just a real that's the kind of fear is that this is rabid for the law and you can probably get the rabbi to prefer down attendees.

And I think this is I think how much of this did you go out and collect yourself all the pieces that are part of it something like this tell me where they've come from. OK I will. Another benefit of the group is I trade these feathers to Royce. It has beautiful feathers right if you made those right. He does some of the best feathers I've seen and the world. My wife's sister works at a place where they make a will shirts and things and we buy get the scraps from them will waste anything and just the little Jingles here tin can lids. We recycle too. Like all right you mean like soup cans right. Right and they're just bent into a cone shape and just how do you not know that you don't get cut. No you just you can't you can get a new nose pliers and you just twist them around in the bell shape and you pinch them on to the to the printer or the beads were handmade in India they look really close to period Deedes around 2200 or so that's what I like in the

glass from the plastic just now the rawhide Where did you get the rawhide from a dear. OK so there's something there that you. Yeah same thing with the mostly everything you kind of collect We don't just write the big words but most stuff you can buy downtown or actually the stick shaft I was a lodgepole that we went to the mountains to get some some lodge poles and it was one that I brought back but now we don't have to go out and kill anything anymore. Well there was a store and purchase a lot of our stuff. How long did it take you to make this could take you know I'd say at least 16 18 hours. Well it looks like I mean it's magnificent. How did you learn to making this. I just had seen him when I was a kid at the powwows and things like that and he just kind of look and you watch and you see a lot of people make an image just some you pick up you know after a while you see an older

people or other people just somebody's always working on something you know and just just being a kid just things kind of just stick in your mind. Going to the library looking in the books looking at pictures reading the descriptions and if you if we can find anyone that makes them we try to get hold of them and talk to them about it so that because we do try to go is authentic as we can and you still have those resources around where you can you can find out talk to people who can tell you if you're doing it accurately and is there anything that you've changed since you first started doing them. Quite a bit we've we've added a lot. I mean it's evolved into the first we didn't have the fringe. We didn't have the tax most of them were just a stick with some fur on them and a couple feathers basically. But as you go on you get more ideas and you had more produce too. And it's just ends up being your individual piece and Rob art doesn't. What is the big

work that you know how to do I'm sure that there are individual signature for it. Well Rice can you talk about your work that you have with you here today. Yes. Basically what I what I do is what I make is the miniature warble and I can do the big war bonnets as well but I like to specialize in the miniature war bonnets. The feathers are not eagle feathers because you know they're outlawed and you can't use the real eagle feathers anymore. You can use them personally as Indians you know to dance with. But what I do is I buy the feathers and they're quite huge about that lawn and I strip them down and I cut them down and then I kind of formed them and then I gotta heat them up or I can straighten him out. How do you take them. I use a lightbulb myself. You can pick the feather and run it over the shaft of the. And then you will straighten it out you can straighten it out. Then I can

start cutting it down I got to measure them what size I'm going to use for the cap here. Then I got to wrap them wrap them with a felt then tie them down with different colors of thread. When I came to tell me when you're putting this together you've got all of the feathers loose and then you've got the base ready and then you individually start wrapping the felt around it and put it. Try it on there. Yes I I have to mark the hat itself the cap and then I can start going to move on to the places where I've got a mark of a great detail work of your threads on the felt is it's wonderful. And you do the beating yourself. Yes I do the beadwork myself I get to use the smallest breeds possible and then they're not too wide as you can see them. I just saw them sew them onto the hat there.

I use rabbit fur for the side too as I want to I just want it that's what you want to do is you just want to feel it it looks so soft and wonderful and I use close air for the sides to also use a horse or chair for the. How do you tie that horse hair on there for the end of the month. We have real quality glue that I use and then these are here arrived at the fur that I used to. Keep the money you know. Now how did you first learn to do this. Actually I just experimented with the with a bomb it itself took me a while before I actually done it. Took a lot of time and experimented with. I had to. I put it on it and I have to come back off. Then I finally got it to where I liked it you know and it came out really good.

Yeah well they're they're magnificent. Can you tell me about that. The one that's farthest down on the table there that's the largest one that you have. Yes this is the largest one. I just actually what I do is when I get a cap like this then I have to figure on how long the feathers are going to be you know you don't want to be too long or too short so I just kind of use my judgment on how and how big that one it's going to be. You can make them bigger you can make them smaller you could make this one smaller too you know with feathers about that long you know. But this is basically the same as this. This one here. Well now the beadwork in the front is that also a symbol. Is that in a room that these here are. Mountains the designs here are supposed to be mountains. Some people who took them also is a key piece to you know in between like that.

So when you're putting something together like that how do you make the decision the choice you just do what you feel like you're having. I just use my judgment and they usually come out fairly decent you know. But then you can next time you can do it different or you can do it the same way. You don't just you just use your own judgment on this. Now of of all of the material that you use how much do you know as Dana was saying going to the store and buying it how much do you go out and collect yourself or do you just buy the horsehair I get myself that's what I want to know about a horse that's that color. That's right and this is actually a white horse here that I dye a grid I think it is red as I wanted to but when it how it looks it doesn't look very different. This is a little darker red here maybe. And I was the one here you know. That's great but YOU DOn't YOU DOn't YOU said you can't have made the full sized bonnets but you would prefer to make these gifts.

I prefer to make the small they seem more interest. The public likes the small small innovators someplace they can put it in there right in their home. A large venue would have to have items. How long did it take you to make that particular one. This one here I would probably say five six hours probably with everything you know you just keep at it until you get it don't you know it takes as long as it takes. Right. That's great. Now Eugene you do a different quite different type of art. Can I Can you share with us what you do. I'm a visual artist for an arts and I've been painting about 20 20 years no more than 20 years but as far as doing it they're going to go into a profession with it and turn professional. This didn't happen tell about eight years ago. Was that a difficult decision for you when you decided to go professional.

Right. So yes I taught art for 15 years and during the last five five years of my teaching I got into some of the shows that. I've heard about you know shows mainly geared toward Indian you know artists that I've attended and. Tried them out and it was good. So as far as a person in a full time I did that for three years really wormy down and it's a that's a big responsibility big tour to try to keep up with being here that before we been over there put a lot of mileage on or you know it really cut back my time. Also trying to produce.

There really are two sides when you're an artist and I'm sure you've all experienced that one is even creative Can you need to produce on the other side is the marketing which almost takes a different kind of personality to be out there showing your work and can you show us some of that what you have with you today. Well you know my recent one this one here it's a rather colorful and one of the popular ones that the public can really enjoy looking at and purchasing. It's the lonesome writer series. And it's been a couple years now that I've incorporated the airbrush. You use the airbrush to do the shades and to add depth using that as background perspective you have and that is wonderful how did you come up with the idea for this particular picture. I've got the closest friend by the name of Donald van. He's a Cherokee and I've got to know him. Goodie

goodie eight years ago and I got to talking to him and exchanging watercolor ideas he's a watercolor artist themself really working with Wash. And I just tell them my problems on how to you know. Workhorse the final bit more form on the writer. And his style do stick Nick. I really liked that he was good enough to give me a helping hand. Sorry assist expertise for the horses. Pete informs all the writers types of blankets you know what to do what do you see when you see this I'm and I'm kind of this is what happens in your group how do you respond to each other's work when you come and share it with each other. We've traded that we have some of Eugene's things. This war bonnet here is actually ours we brought it for Royce.

We have one of Robert Blackburn's paintings we have a drum that Eugene SR has. But the home lead that that evokes is it's just it's fantastic and go there's a lot of it as well you know I think Eugene's pretty modest he's won several state regional and national honors with his previews and Israelis he's got a lot of experience which helps a group you know they know what shows he and his father know which shows make money which shows are worth messing with and that helps a lot. We used to just hit and miss gamble. Life in the group too. Someone will come up to us and they know that we that we do the beadwork in the sea what do you know of anybody that pain so we go yeah we do and we can get him in touch with the other artists and you know even Robert and Eugene both paint. But they have two different styles and it's nice and and it's you can be on a show and you can hear Eugene saying well you know if you don't like this then there's Roberts over here

and Robert doing the same thing the same with rice on his beadwork and this one here's my end of the day Payton on the quick. And the series is titled The Thunder hood. And I've also incorporated the airbrush record and where I do the series in a water color also. Now the reason I call it the end of the day painting is or maybe do three or four in a day and you don't pay its expenses. No want to waste anything so what's left over right. Kind of mix them up down together. The fame wishing to cross and explore aggression just fine detail. Yeah that's it. That's wonderful you know what I'm thinking about a thing that I think the lights kind of reflecting off of that it's hard to it's hard to see it. The color choice in there is so radically

different from from your other painting and I'm curious you say you do several paintings a day and this is where these paints that you used at the end of it you go ahead and put you down hard for the coming out I'm not. Yeah when I'm working with a particular medium like a watercourse you know you hear one soft and subtle and they're not too intense like you're croaks. So I give them work with the critics one day I've got a poet full of what you've just seen or and the cover between the two media of my choices you could see the difference in. What's fine is to know that both of those are inside of one person. Isn't that that's fascinating to me. Yeah that's that's wonderful. Well we have another one last thing at the end of the cable and of course I know all of your homes are full of all of your work in progress and whatnot. Why does that just tell me why Patty has the knife scare with the knife I forged.

And it had the brass in the wood and the antlers well like the antlers and and built the base from a piece of oak and brass tacks that. I think that just really shows the variety of that. How did you make the night you said you forged it yourself. Well I actually did really forge it. I made it from a file on your horseshoe file that I found it was a good size of and it's got a double edge on it and it's some brass stocks and some cedar handles in there stay in them and then lacquered him. But I used to form the. Good knife I used for Susan grinder. Basically good for me add him and buff that up and send it to him. So the work that I think that the call yourself the blue sky artisans is so accurate because you have such a wide variety of things rightly and you've also been involved in basket making.

Yes I don't actually weave the basket I work with another lady that lives in Jackson. Diane Witcher and she has Teton baskets and it was her idea she approached me she uses the antlers most paddles and naturally reeds and plants that grow here in Wyoming and she weaves baskets with them and she wanted to have bead work inlaid into it so she approached me and we do these baskets we do smaller baskets throughout the year with smaller pieces of bead work in it and once a year we do a very big basket with moose paddles and we pick out one particular story that interests us. That happened in Wyoming's history and we do the bead work on both sides of the moose paddles and we use all Arapaho cymbals and we try to stick with the old colors and we tell that story in the most panels then she leaves the basket. Well your mentioning that I have to ask how you came up with your name. The blue sky artisans.

Mostly it's tradition. That's what the Indians called this was a blue sky people and we found that pretty suitable or appropriate but that really feels comfortable for you. That's you know that's the group that you're aware. Well Eugene you mentioned that between the amount of time you have to spend on your work and the amount of time on the road how much does your group have to go out to various shows how much time does that take. Well myself I've cut back I've cut back all of the travel and now for about close to a year. Oh yes. And I'm what I'm doing now is hitting a major major major shows that that have to come up like the travel arts and now Sioux Falls Colorado region market then where the herd down in Phoenix. So you know those are one of the big major major shows to where I get to

diversity. You have an odd amount of force do you. Will you all be going to all of those shows are you just going to some of them are and whether others have the inventory that's another thing we spend a lot of time with most of us work full time jobs as well and we if we could make it we make a move for Kim good. That's OK too. Now I understand you're registered with you were telling me about what you did so that your work is registered so that people can find out about it. Hi all that my boy ex-military I think most of us in the group are registered with the Wyoming slide bank the artist's bank. And that's in Cheyenne and that's where an individual or a gallery or e museum can contact them in China and say that we would like to see some Indian work of some kind. They would say OK fine they pull up our slides then that person can view him and then they let them know who they don't

give out our address or anything they just let the slide Bank know who they want then the sly bank contacts. Us well gives us their address and we can. Well now I know who to contact because your work astounds and fascinates me. Thank you all of you for coming here today and sharing this with us. I'm Deborah Hammonds and this is Main Street why only. Main Street Wyoming is made possible in part by grants from Kennicott energy proud to be a part of Wyoming's future in the uranium exploration

mining and production industry. And by the Wyoming Council for the Humanities enriching the lives of Wyoming people through the study of Wyoming history values and ideas.