By the flicker of candlelight, Crawford, Colo., artist Kathy Steckel paints freshly cut snapdragons in a vase. The pastels were laid out ahead of time because darkness was quickly falling inside the rustic cabin that has provided chosen artists inspiration for the past 15 years.
Steckel spent a week at the Aspen Guard Station deep in the San Juan National Forest in summer 2010. Now, she will showcase the snapdragon painting as well as other work that was completed or inspired during her time at the cabin.
I thought it was a wonderful week. I had a really nice time there, Steckel said. I painted all day, and after dinner I would paint by candlelight.
Four other artists who similarly stayed a week in the historic cabin will present their works at the annual art show from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at the Cortez Cultural Center.
The former ranger station was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps in an aspen forest north of Mancos. For 15 years, the Aspen Guard Station Artist-in-Residence program has offered painters, poets, writers, musicians, photographers, sculptors, performers, dancers and other artists a unique setting in which to practice their chosen art form, according to Ann Bond, a spokesperson for the San Juan Public Lands Center.
In return for residencies, artists donate to the program, offer free public workshops and participate in the annual art show. Residents are selected each year by judges representing local arts associations.
This years art show will feature acrylic works from Lisa Mueller, Day of the Dead shadow boxes from Amy Vaclav Felker, mixed media from Chandler Wigton, writing from Irene Wanner, and pastel and glass works from Steckel.
Besides the candlelight snapdragons painting, Steckel plans to show a large tabletop made from thick glass with an image of aspen trees, a trout image in glass, and pastel and oil paintings of landscapes and still lifes.
The artists are given a year to complete work inspired by their stay at the guard station. Steckel said it wasnt until this summer, almost a year later, that she started working on the tabletop.
Its a long process, a labor-intensive process, and you want to be careful about your design and have all that thought out ahead of time. Glass is not a quick process, Steckel said, adding that her sketches of aspen trees she made while at the guard station was how she structured the glass image.
Steckel has been a glass artist for 32 years and a fine-art painter for 10. She owns K Dahl Glass Studios in Crawford, and creates glass for lighting, doorways, window panels and stained glass, along with her husband Rick.
The artist-in residence show will be on display throughout September at the Cortez Cultural Center.
Reach Paula Bostrom at paulab@cortezjournal.com.