In the Western art genre, Donna Howell-Sickles has taken the image and idea of the cowgirl beyond charcoal lines and into reality. Howell-Sickles has been exploring the layers beneath the cowgirl’s engaging exterior for more than 30 years. A vintage postcard from the 1930’s featuring a cowgirl with ruby red lips sitting atop her horse instilled in Howell-Sickles a lasting fascination with the cowgirl spirit. The cowgirl in the postcard was at once both familiar and unreal. This dichotomy in the imagery has fueled Howell-Sickles’ artwork, and inspired her to create images of women that are both real and myth. Howell-Sickles’ artwork captures the quintessence and timelessness of the cowgirl
spirit.
“My fascination with the cowgirl image began in my last year of college. I received an old postcard from a friend in a typical art student trade. He brought over a large box of stuff including some of his own pottery. Near the bottom of the box were several old postcards, one of a cowgirl c. 1935 seated on a horse captioned “Greetings from a Real Cowgirl from the Ole Southwest”. The image spoke to me and I had no idea why. Although I had grown up on a farming ranching operation in Texas we never really thought of ourselves as Western. I surrendered to the attraction and as I used the Cowgirl in my art and I slowly filled in the blanks about my fascination with the imagery.”
~Donna Howell Sickles
www.donnahowellsickles.com/studio.htm
