In Dr. Seuss Foot Book, he writes about left feet, right feet, wet feet, dry feet, slow feet and quick feet. Local, retired art educators Karen Stapf-Harris and Barbara Grist are putting their best feet forward with the fun show Hundreds of Feet.
The art show, now hanging at Spruce Tree Coffeehouse in Cortez through August, features self-portraits of their feet, and others, in various locations around the world. Most of the show comprises photographs, but there are a few watercolors of feet thrown in, too.
Stapf-Harris painted the watercolor images of feet and has some photos she took that have sentimental value.
Sometimes youre in places where you want to capture a moment, and its just you and your camera and you want to say, I was here, she said.
Over the years, Stapf-Harris feet photos began adding up. Twenty years spent in Alaska are partly remembered by a photo of her feet sporting moon boots in the back of a mushers sled.
As an art teacher in Dolores and on the Navajo reservation, her students got into the game too and started taking photos of their feet and sending them to her.
Stapf-Harris met Grist, now a professional photographer, when she was seeking a substitute teacher to take over her class in Dolores after she was involved in a bad car crash before school started. Stapf-Harris had been involved in many student shows, but she is just getting her foot in the door with her first show Hundreds of Feet.
I feel like Grandma Moses, Stapf-Harris said, remaining ageless. (James) Michener didnt start writing until his mid-40s, so I thought alright. Not that I have any ambitions, its just great to have this opportunity.
Grist, on the other hand, has had numerous shows featuring her photography from all over the world. For this show, however, she was looking to display the fun side of her art.
Ive been taking feet photos for years. And I talked to Charlie (Campbell, owner of Spruce Tree Coffeehouse) about having a show, and I wanted to do something fun, Grist said.
She agreed with Stapf-Harris that she likes taking photos of her feet as a reminder of her travels and her experiences.
Grists photos from around the world include Mexico, New Zealand and, closer to home, at the Aspen Guard Station, where she was an artist-in-residence this summer.
A part of me in the photo makes it more special, she said.
Not all of Grists photos include her feet. Some of them are of friends during a hike, family members at a reunion, and she recently shot a wedding at which the wedding party wore custom-made Converse shoes. Besides snapping pictures of the groom sweeping his bride off her feet, a photo of a circumference of feet in Converse shoes were included in the wedding album.
One of Grists photos is of her family kicking back and putting their feet up during a family reunion. Does she regularly pamper herself with pedicures when taking photos of her feet?
Oh, never! she said. In fact, in that family photo I have of our feet, I thought they looked terrible.
At the same time, Grist acknowledges that the photos will provide a humorous look back in time.
Thats a riot. Thirty years from now, Ill be able to say, Thats Rick; thats so and so, she said about the strange way of recognizing people through their feet and footwear.
Its amazing how common feet photos are. People setting foot in Spruce Tree to view the show are invited to bring their own images to hang on an interactive board, Feet in Art, a theme thats been used for hundreds of years.
One photo hanging on the board is of two giant feet sculptured from snow after a major noreaster hit North Carolina at the end of December 2010. Other amateur photos include feet at an unknown professional baseball game, feet in a kayak in Montana, and feet with a view of Long House at Mesa Verde in the background.
It appears that both Grist and Stapf-Harris are on the right foot when it comes to popular art of the lower extremity of the leg.
And, Dr. Seuss, long ago, knew what he was talking about:
In the house and on the street, how many, many feet you meet.
Reach Paula Bostrom at paulab@cortezjournal.com.