Daphne Clark • North Dakota • waow
| Figurative | Landscape | Horses | Trees | Prairie | Sunset | Canyons | Buffalo | Goats |
"Her paintings capture a moment in time, whether that would be the disappearing lifestyle of the rancher, a beautiful day or the essence of a loved one. She is still developing her abilities and will work on continuing to grow. She invites you to enjoy both her work and her journey. She truly is“The Prairie Princess".”
Women Artists of the West, Associate
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Daphne Clark
“Every day in America, there is a tragic loss of family owned, working ranches. Through my paintings, I am trying to capture this lifestyle, before it disappears altogether. I want to provide a window into a world of how the ranchers work, and to commemorate the disappearing landscape, animals, ranchers and traditional tools of their trade.
I have lived all my life near the border of North Dakota and Montana, and it is in this area I spend time on these vanishing ranches. While taking reference photos, I tried to stay out of the way and not influence the roping, branding, sorting and other actions taking place. I then create the oil paintings in my studio from those images. I paint with muted colors because I don’t want saturated color to distract from the traditional ranch work or ranch implements, like saddles and ropes in the painting.
In “Branding Day” I explore the visual reality and specific action of the branding process. One method was to keep in my composition, the baseball caps the real ‘calf-wrestlers’ were wearing in the photos. When wrestling calves, instead of cowboy hats, most ranchers wear baseball caps, so they can stay on. In “Brushing and Bonding” I wanted to show the tenderness and bonding that goes into the caretaking of their animals.
Through my artwork, I feel an obligation to tell the story of these ranchers as it really is. In presenting their story with form and color I am reliving my childhood memories, honoring their work and keeping this disappearing lifestyle alive.
Women Artists of the West
