‘Those Johnson Girls and All Their Horses’
"Mare and Foal at the Salt Ponds," acrylic on canvas, by Naya Johnson Rydzewski
Opening show: Saturday, April 21, 7-10PM.
Show continues on Saturdays and Sundays through May 13, 11-3
"Pryor Horse", charcoal and watercolor by Kristin Johnson Hoffman
Horses are magnificent animals to many people. Artists from the ancient cave dwellers to modern man have attempted to capture the essence of the horse in stone and on canvas, in miniature and larger than life. For centuries horses have worked with and for their humans; tilling the soil, carrying the hunter and the sportsman, fighting in wars and moving across continents. Horses enthrall us with their grace in dressage, amaze us with their skill in competition and win our hearts with their gentleness.
Our father and grandfather Reuben Johnson was born in the town of
Morris. He left Oshkosh Normal in the first semester of his freshman year, rejecting plans to become a teacher. He soon found work in the lumber camps, driving his uncle's team to
Northern Wisconsin to spend winter in the woods. He had a way with horses and liked having them around.
Reuben married Amie Anderson of Wittenberg, a teacher and artist, and reared five children in a home he built next to the little farm where he was born.
Five women, all descended from this man who loved and worked with horses, display their work here.
Naya Johnson Rydzewski, Cudjoe Key, FL, portrays horses in unusual poses with colorful backgrounds
Peggy Johnson Miller, Tigerton, WI, loves drawing the "unharnessed horse..free to move and dance"
Lisa Johnson, Rhinelander, WI, says "because of their size, everying depends on their cooperation"
Sonya Rydzewski Meeker, Baltimore, MD, creates her own horses from clay
Kristin Johnson Hoffman, Athens, WI, captures the play of light and shadow with her pencil
Watercolor, oil, acrylic, ceramic, fabric and mixed media are all represented in this celebration of the horse.
'To ride a horse is to race with the wind. To own a horse is to touch history. To be loved by a horse is to defeat loneliness.' Peggy Johnson Miller
Show is sponsored by Dan Gatz Construction LLC, De Pere, WI.
"Resting Horse", wood-fired stoneware by Sonya Rydzewski Meeker
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