Posts from ‘Books’
Image by Taylor Glenn
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
On Sunday, May 12th, National Geographic photographer Wade Davis makes an appearance at Jackson’s first annual Mountain Story Festival, courtesy of the Murie Center. There’s no getting away from the fact that climbing treacherous, challenging peaks here—and anywhere in the world—is a huge part of our culture. Climbers take in the outdoors in a mind-bending way. The closest I’ve come to being that high, with a few thousand feet between me and flat ground is the year I skydived, on a dare, at college. I’d do that again before I’d climb the Grand or any other giant, jagged, craggy mountain!
Others have infinitely more guts. These extreme personalities can’t keep themselves from climbing; they climb in their sleep. Which is why Davis’ talk on his new book “Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest” should be packed. Mothers, be warned! Content may be nerve racking!  7:00 pm start, Pink Garter Theater, downtown Jackson.
Wednesday, May 15th, the Murie Center’s Mardy’s Conservation Collection Book Club meets to discuss the Murie’s book, Wapiti Wilderness.
“In this autobiographical tale…Olaus and Mardy describe their life together, raising a family in the mountainous wilderness of the Tetons, while Olaus worked for the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey,” says the Center. The gathering takes place at the the Murie’s original home, Murie Ranch, in Moose, WY, at 6:30 pm. Lively discussion, reflection and inspiration are a promise. Â www.muriecenter.org.
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The Grand Teton Association (GTA) has announced its line-up of plein air artists for this summer’s “Artists in the Environment” (AIE) series, taking place the second Saturday of every month, June – September, in Grand Teton National Park(GTNP). Each of those weekends, regional plein air painters provide free painting demonstrations at locations throughout GTNP.  Founded by the late, great plein air artists Greg McHuron and Conrad Schwiering, the program has offered countless visitors and art lovers a free chance to see artists capturing the beauty surrounding us.
I have a personal passion for this program~~I believe the history of plein air painting in this valley, and in the Greater Yellowstone Region, is one of America’s most important art history stories. Its tradition is unbreakable; the artists’ bonds are like steel.
For fifty years, the GTA has celebrated GTNP via the arts. All proceeds realized by the GTA serve to broaden education, research and interpretation of GTNP.
Times and locations are TBA, but participating artists for 2013 are: Â Dwayne Harty – June 15th; Â Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters & Co., – July 13th; Wendell Field - August 10th; Â and Fred Kingwill - September 14th. Â More on all these artists as summer progresses!
Most furniture designers – Â small custom shops or factories – let the rectilinear shape of the boards and power tools dictate design. So that’s what you see. I do things the other way around; that’s what informs my designs. ~ David Trapp
Ninety percent self-taught, woodworker David Trapp has built custom furniture and sculpture in his Victor, Idaho workshop for 30 years. Through a series of local connections and using machinery, books and tools he’d bought, he began gaining commissions to design furnishings, cabinets and most recently, abstract sculpture. His craftsmanship is flawless, but he’s not had Jackson gallery representation since his days at the former J.H. Muse Gallery, where his work sold extremely well. Trapp did benefit from his relationship with the great California woodworker Sam Maloof.
Sam Maloof
“Sam is still considered by most woodworkers to be the best furniture maker and designer in the country. He conducted regional classes, and anytime he was anywhere close, I would go,” recalls Trapp. “We got to be friends; three decades back I began working with Sam.”
In the woodworking world, it’s pervasive to take pride in the length of time spent working on any piece. While teaching a semester at Rhode Island’s School of Design, Maloof blew that preconception out of the water. Trapp was there.
Children’s book illustrator Sylvia Long has received the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s (NMWA) 2012 Bull-Bransom Award. Long was selected for the award, given annually for excellence in childrens’ books with a wildlife and nature focus, for her 2011 picture book A Butterfly Is Patient, written by Dianna Hutts Aston.  The honor follows in the tradition of such prestigious children’s book illustrator honors as the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King and Hans Christian Andersen awards. Long was presented with a medal and a $5,000 cash award. The museum named the award for Charles Livingston Bull and Paul Bransom, among the first American artist-illustrators to specialize in wildlife subjects.
