Ann Korologos Gallery presents “Western Moods: Wild & Whimsical,” an exploration the playful personalities of the American West featuring the mixed media works of Mike Weber and Paula Schuette Kraemer. The exhibition is on view now through March 14, 2020 at Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, Colorado.

“The dynamic exhibition mirrors the changing moods of the West, highlighting the energetic nature and varied culture of life in this part of the country,” shared gallery director, Sue Edmonds. “Mike Weber depicts the wild nature of America’s National Parks and rescue animals in his multi-media work, while Paula Schuette Kraemer turns life’s lessons and interactions with the natural world into whimsical dry-point monotypes.”

Paula Schuette Kraemer is a printmaker working predominantly with drypoint monoprints and monotypes to preserve special moments with wildlife and human experience in the woods of Colorado. Her expressive style is reflected in the immediacy and spontaneity of drawing directly into a copper plate using a steel etching needle. Her newest series honors tales around a campfire, and the momentous and sudden meetings with wild animals such as bears, deer, mountain goats, foxes and coyotes. Paula’s work is full of symbolism and metaphor, ways the artist works through life’s inherent struggles, anxiety and loss, as well as its joys and unexpected moments in life.

Mike Weber was born in St. Louis, Missouri and resides in a rustic log cabin 90 miles east of Los Angeles, California. Weber’s art is a combination of paint and his own nature photography, turning his lens on the wilderness of America’s National Parks and rescued animals. The colors, textures and patterns are inspired by earthly landscapes, decaying signage from human life, and deteriorating German and Dutch homesteads near his childhood home in the Midwest. He seeks to inspire his viewers with the innate beauty of the animals he witnesses, pulling them out of their wild settings and transporting them to one’s home where they may be observed and admired.

Also on view are woodblock prints by Sherrie York, a humorous cattle series by Heather Foster, sweet homesteads in oil by Sean Wallis, exquisite still lifes by Sarah Lamb and textured landscapes by Peter Campbell, Dinah Worman, Dan Young and Nathan Solano.  Gallery visitors can also experience ranch life through the moody portraits of Western ranches and cowboys by Terry Gardner; touch the equestrian importance in the West through ceramic and bronze sculptures by Amy Laugesen and Lisa Gordon, and observe at close range the wild animals captured in bronze by Gordon Gund and Veryl Goodnight.

“Western Moods: Wild & Whimsical” is on view at Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, Colorado from February 4 through March 14, and may be viewed on korologosgallery.com, or in person at 211 Midland Avenue, Tuesday through Saturday 10 to 6 or by appointment. For more information, please call (970) 927-9668 or email art@korologosgallery.com