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In the tradition of previous exhibitions, the Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park Fine Art Gallery opens the fifth annual Estes Park Legends & Lore on Friday July 15, 2011. This series of summer exhibitions celebrate the lives and work of artists who made significant contributions to the evolution of the Estes Park art scene. Estes Park Legends & Lore VI focuses on the work of the late artists Robert R. Salo (oil, watermedia and acrylic paintings), Ed Hummer (oil, watercolor and pastel paintings), A Tribute to Annual Rooftop Rodeo – Jack Sterling’s Rodeo Art and photographic collection and other memorabilia, and by popular demand encore showings of work by Lyman Byxbe, Dave Stirling and Herb Thomson. The exhibition includes art and objects on loan and for sale from the family collections of Salo, Hummer, Stirling and Thomson. Other items are from the Dave Tanton/OldEstes Collection.
Estes Park Legends & Lore VI will open with a public reception on Friday July 15 from starting at 5:00 PM and running to 8:00 PM. Hors d’oeuvres donated by The Elkhorn Lodge, refreshments and piano music by Cynthia Hoyle will enrich the evening. The CAC Fine Art Gallery is located at 423 W. Elkhorn Ave. on the west end of downtown Estes Park.
"It is always a pleasure and honor to work with time honored artists and their work", explains Lynda S. Vogel CAC director adding, "the Estes Valley is rich with cultural heritage and history. The goal of the Arts Council annual exhibition is to share the traditions, stories and art of local artists’ current and past, so the legends and lore will continue to foster and grow with audiences of all ages".
Gallery hours are 12 noon to 5:00 PM daily. There is no admission to view the exhibition
which will remain on display through July 31, 2011.
The Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts agency supporting and promoting cultural arts programs in the Estes Valley and throughout Colorado for over 20 years. For more information contact the Cultural Arts Council by phone at 970-586-9203, or E-Mail: info@estesarts.com. A portion of all sales benefit the ongoing programs and mission of the Cultural Arts Council.
Capturing Shadows and Light on Canvas
Robert "Bob" Salo
By Gail Jokerst
  
Who's Coming
It seems especially fitting that the Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park would choose to honor the work of Robert R. Salo in this year’s Legends & Lore show. Although Bob didn’t reside in Estes Park, he spent so many hours painting the wildlife and terrain of Rocky Mountain National Park and volunteering with the arts council and Rocky Mountain Nature Association that his fellow artists considered him a local. And a talented well-loved one at that.
"This was Bob’s artistic home the later years of his life. He was a kind-hearted soul. Warm and willing to share his art expertise with others, including children. He was humble, too," says Lynda Vogel, CAC’s executive director, "but he was always confident in what he did. Bob knew what he wanted to express in his paintings and he made his animals come to life."
Lynda first met Bob in 2003 in Jackson when he was a participating artist in the National Arts for the Parks show. The first thing she noticed about Bob’s work—aside from the anatomical correctness of his elk—was his, "great color harmony and presentation. Like other traditional western wildlife painters, Bob used a limited palette and mixed his own colors," states Lynda. "It’s a good method that creates great results."
Raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Bob spent his life capturing images on paper or canvas that triggered his imagination. His childhood summers were passed at his Finnish grandfather’s farm where he milked cows, baled hay, and handled a draft-horse-driven plow. When done with his chores, he’d sit under an apple tree observing the movements of the cows, horses, chickens, cats and dogs he saw daily and sketch studies on paper. During the winter, Bob scoured the public libraries in neighboring towns, traveling as far as 15 miles to look for art books he could borrow. With his metal watercolor kit, he’d practice mixing his own colors and try to replicate the scenes depicted on the books’ pages. That sense of curiosity and passion for accuracy continued to be Bob’s trademarks as he evolved his own distinctive broad-brushed style.
He attended art school for just one year after serving in the U.S. Army, but learned lessons during that time that proved invaluable. He made the principles of perspective and composition his own and defined his palette, which consisted of two reds, two blues, and two yellows. Although that year ended his formal training, Bob never ceased honing his skills. Whenever he traveled to a city with an art museum, he’d study the masters and how they accomplished their ends. He went on to a varied graphic arts career, which included work with LTV Aerospace, Ford Motor Company and The Christian Science Monitor all the while creating and selling his wildlife, landscape, and still life canvases during his spare time.
Influenced by masters such as Claude Monet and Carl Rungius, Bob always strove to communicate a mood—be it peaceful and serene or frigid cold—with the light reflected in his paintings. As his wife, Jeanne, recalls, Bob hoped viewers of his artwork would feel the same sensations he did when creating a painting.
"He wanted people to see his work and think ‘I’d like to be up in those mountains, too, watching that bighorn sheep or mule deer.’ He’d want them to feel the wind in their face as it headed down from the summit. Painting outdoors so everything was right in front of him—the light, the context—was what he loved most. It didn’t matter if it was six degrees, or 96 degrees, Bob would paint in any kind of weather."
Of all the animals Bob portrayed, his favorite was the polar bear. According to Jeanne, Bob had been painting polar bears since long before the couple married— and that was in 1976.
"He liked the simplicity of their shape and how he could play with the various colors reflected at sunrise or sunset in the white of the bear’s fur and the white of the snow. He could feel the coldness of their world and put that into his paintings. When we went to Churchill, Manitoba, Bob was especially touched by the mother bear’s tenderness and watchfulness of her cub and how it mirrored many of the same attributes of a human mother."
"He painted polar bears with dignity and pride, never mean or violent," adds Lynda. "He had a keen appreciation for these bears."
Aside from painting his own canvasses, Bob enjoyed teaching others how to be better artists and to capture light and shadow. He taught adults as well as children for over 30 years in public and private workshops in Michigan, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Colorado developing a devoted cadre of students who treasured his patience, honesty, and skill with a paintbrush.
"Bob taught his pupils to see, to open thought to actually see a color in its purest form so they understood that bark was more than brown and snow was more than white," says Jeanne. "He instilled a sense of confidence in his students, too, encouraging them to develop their own style. He would tell them, ‘I want to bring out the artist in you. I don’t want you to be a clone.’"
In his own words, Bob had this to say about his artwork: "The first thing I create for a painting is an atmosphere. It’s kind of like trying to explain a feeling but it’s important because the atmosphere becomes the concept of the painting and I want my paintings to say a lot. I want them to be specific about the locality, the season, and the time of day. I hope they tell it all."
Professional Affiliations
Society of Animal Artists
Oil Painters of America
Allied Artist of America
Ed Hummer
Biography adapted from an article By John P. Simoni, WSU Professor of Art – Art Critic, Artist and Art Professor
with notations from Ed Hummer’s Family
 
Self portrait as a young man Grandmother's Wedding Dress
Born on September 26, 1914 in Weehawken, New Jersey; Ed Hummer showed signs of his talent in art at an early age. His parents sent him to study with Carl Kappas, noted painter from Toledo, Ohio. In 1937, while in law school, he went to Paris, France, to study art. He also had a scholarship under Emil Jacques at the University of Notre Dame, with thorough academic training for four years.
While at the University of Notre Dame, he studied both accounting and the fine arts, majoring in both areas. His graduate studies brought him the Doctorate in Jurisprudence.
In the early 1950’s, wanting to have more experience in landscape painting, he studied with C. Curry Bohm and Fred W. Rigley in Brown County, Indiana. Later his learning continued with Ken Gore of Gloucester, Mass., distinguished landscapist of the American School.
The landscape, seascape and figured landscape of the American scene, both of this country and Mexico, were his motifs. The portrait he enjoyed as a subject for his work. His paintings are in oil and pastel primarily.
Color qualities richly vibrant in light are characteristic content of his paintings. He was knowledgeable and skilled in drawing, possessing those sensitivities that form the basic structural design of his compositions.
A poet in expression, particularly in grasping the feeling of experience, he saw man and nature as integral form. He said, "I like to portray the dignity of man in nature. I am completely enthralled with color.
Ed Hummer’s studios in Estes Park included 1041 Pine Lane, downtown south of post office, and he also had a working studio in the home.
The family moved to Estes Park in the summer of 1962 from Defiance, Ohio.
The in home studio was part of the original design of the house. The separate studio was built some years later on the adjacent property.
Ed Hummer’s Estes Park Affiliations included the Rotary Club, Chamber Of Commerce, Estes Park Golf Association, Elks Club. He was also a member of the Colorado Bar Association.
In art he appreciated the visual experience of accomplishment. He could see the forms created. Ed stopped practicing law to paint. The interest in painting was a central part of living for Ed Hummer. In his art he portrayed the essence of intrinsic expression while seeing the qualities of the environment and interactions of man with nature.
His art was popular. Ed Hummer was an Artist – member of the prestigious North Shore Arts Association, Gloucester, Mass; the Hoosier Salon Association of Indianapolis. Many of his sales were in multiple picture groups to collectors.
The paintings by Ed Hummer belong to the liberal representation trend. He was not a follower of fads and "isms". The best of work by artists of past and present fame inspired him to perceive the forms of art that marked his work original.
He was the subject of a feature article in "Artists of the Rockies and Golden West" magazine (Fall 1974) and received a high percentage of prizes and awards in prestigious shows. Collectors value his work as representing a phase in the changing trends in art. He was an invited, participating artist in all shows sponsored by this national magazine.
Ed Hummer died on July 22, 1986 in Greeley, CO.
"In his words "law to live, live to paint". Dad would make the kids sit for portraits, although he did pay them, sometimes they would have to sit for punishment!! One time out hunting Ed Jr. accidentally shot Ed Sr.!! We have that painting hanging in our home!! Dad loved to go to new locations to paint, so most family vacations would be selected by his latest passions. He drew cartoons for the military while serving in the Army W.W.II, in the Judge Advocate Corp. Both his undergraduate and law degrees are from Notre Dame. He was shown in several of The Artists of the West shows." - Kris Hummer
John W. (Jack) Stirling (1925-1954)
Biography source: Estes Park Trail Gazette, "Salute to a Gentleman," Dave Stirling September 10, 1954
A young man who spent his entire life in the Estes Valley was the son of artist Dave Stirling. He was a graduate of Estes Park High School. Known by many as an artist, mountain guide, poet, horseman and naturalist, his greatest love was for horses and the western men who worked them in the great outdoors.
As a child Jack worked for Estes Park pioneer liveryman Elija Rivers and later Art Card and acted as his representative at the Stanley Hotel and Sprague’s Lodge guiding parties from these hotels. He was an expert rider, and he and his horse "Copper" traveled together for both hire and pleasure.
As an artist, Jack specialized in western illustration. His paintings and ink drawings of horses and ranch life were influenced by real life experiences and hands-on knowledge.
He was a partner with his father Dave Stirling in the Bugscuffle Ranch, and a junior member in the firm "The Stirling Boys" of the art galleries by that name.
His illustrations were published into postcards and various other forms of printed publications including a 1954 Rooftop Rodeo poster.
John W. (Jack) Stirling died as he lived, "with his boots on," among friends in the center of the crowded dance floor of the Riverside Ballroom.
Estes Park Rooftop Rodeo 85 Years of History
Excerpts from: http://www.rooftoprodeo.com/history.htm
1954 Rodeo program cover art by Jack Stirling
The Early Days 1908 – 1940
Most of what is known about rodeo in Estes Park comes from articles in the first newspaper, The Mountaineer and later, the Estes Park Trail. The term "rodeo" was not used in the United States until 1912 (Busch, 1984). Before that "rodeo-type" events were associated with community celebrations. The earliest reference to a rodeo-type celebration in Estes Park was recorded in The Mountaineer (June 25, 1908):
"Estes Park is now assured of a lively time on the fourth of July. Arrangements have been completed for the 'Frontier Day' celebration, to be held at 2 0'clock in the afternoon of that day, at the Base Ball Park, beside the 'lane,' one quarter of a mile east of town. The affair will be a genuine old fashioned "Wild West" exhibition, featuring some noted riders and horses in a Bronco Busting contest. The very best local riders have registered for the contest, and some bad 'outlaw' horses are being rounded up. A few of the most famous riders from the near parts of Colorado and Wyoming have also agreed to ride and are bringing good bucking horses. Besides the Bronco Busting contest, there will be a great many thrilling and amusing western ranch features such as roping and branding and steer riding."
The Beginning of the "Rooftop Rodeo" name - 1941
Contrary to what the accompanying picture might indicate, the title "Rooftop Rodeo" was not adopted because of advertising signs attached to roofs by rodeo queens. The title was actually introduced in 1941 because of Estes Park's 7500-foot altitude. It was billed as the highest altitude for any rodeo competition in America.
Estes Park's Rodeo Queens
The first queen of "Rooftop Roundup" was selected in 1941. No evidence is available of a rodeo in 1943 or 1945 possibly because of America's involvement in World War II .
The first queen of "America's Rooftop Roundup" was selected in 1941. She was supposed to be selected by applause of the spectators at the Riverside Ballroom the night before the parades and rodeos began. Candidates were entered by local business houses, hotels and lodges. They were scheduled to parade "in western raiment" while the audience "yoo-hooed" for their first choices.
"Rooftop Roundup" designation was changed in 1947 to "Rooftop Rodeo"
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