Hunting themed weekend ArtStroll

Joint the ArtStroll Friday and Saturday, March 11 & 12, to salute the hunter and gatherer in all of us. The Second Friday ArtStroll is from 5-8 p.m. in downtown Thermopolis. Strollers will enjoy featured artists, live music, refreshments and door prizes. Hunters and gatherers will be in businesses displaying, discussing and demonstrating food preservation, poultice making, wildlife and landscape photography, leather crafting and making art from bones and things you find along the trail.

You can be entered to win one of several door prizes Friday evening by picking up a map at any participating business, have the businesses you visit initial the map and return the map with your contact information filled in to the host business, Hot Springs County Museum, at the end of Friday evening’s stroll. Names will be drawn and winners will receive a piece of artwork donated by the artists.

Using natural herbs, oils, charcoal and other found items, people created poultices to heal and relieve. Susan Lankford will be demonstrating how to make a charcoal poultice Friday evening. This poultice is used to treat infections or inflammation. Learn how Lankford uses a diffuser with oil, charcoal and other items to make a poultice. Be sure to sign up for her class, which will be held March 26 at 10 a.m.

Debbie Stroppel will show and discuss leather working. “I’ve always taken an interest in the craft of fine leather works, from Native American clothing to fashionable items seen today. I’ve taken various pieces of leather and with imagination and borrowed style have created my personal pieces that tell their own stories”, she said. Stroppel will also have her photography available for viewing.

Jennifer Taylor will be at the stroll with her handmade goat milk soap. Soap making is an old art. Jennifer uses milk from her raised goats and adds her own special ingredients to make her soap. Michael and Jacky Wright and friends will be providing music.

Gatherer Mitch Carlisle’s current work reflects his long-held fascination with found and discarded objects.  His media can include scrap metal, discarded and refurbished wood, animal pelts and more.  He works as a tanner and an artist. Mitch, his wife Wendi and their daughter Olivia, recently moved from Spearfish, S.D. to Thermopolis. Enjoy an artist reception with Carlisle Friday evening during the ArtStroll.

Gayle Phipps will be on hand with her jam preserves, handmade jerky and paintings. She will be discussing the art of canning foods. Other artists include Andrea Linn and Jane Oldridge, who use textiles to make useful items for the home and items just for fun. Shawn McWilliams, Rick Phipps & friends will provide music Friday evening.

Jeb Schenck will feature a new display of wildlife and nature photography. Terry Sani brings the outdoors inside with his cardboard bird decoys.

Jaimie Warnick is new to the ArtStroll and will have her organic eye-catching jewelry on display, combining chainmaille, wire work and metal craft.

Other artists along the stroll path include Jewell Sievers (jewelry), Joyce Fletcher (textiles), Mona Wilson (country collectables), Harold Hutson (music), Carol Smith (stained glass), Jennie Blakesly (jewelry) and Cindy Toth (handmade textiles).

Joining the stroll this month is S Squared Designs and Black Bear Flea Market.

Other activities during the ArtStroll are a scavenger hunt for children and adults, the UW Artmobile family-friendly traditional surrealist game and the announcement of the winner of the Wonderful Wild Wyoming Coloring contest. Remember to pick up a map at the beginning of the stroll so you can visit the many locations participating in the stroll.

 Saturday the stroll continues with Still Strolling Saturday. Stroll the downtown business during regular business hours to see artists and demonstrations.

Other activities include: another scavenger hunt for children and adults, UW Artmobile guided viewing and deep looking, UW Artmobile art making activity, “Wyoming Paleontology: Fossils that inspired a Nation” program presented by Dr. Laura Vietti.

 The Second Friday ArtStroll and Still Strolling Saturday are organized by Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation and Smoking Waters Art Guild with additional help from Wyoming Arts Council, Main Street Thermopolis and Hot Springs Travel & Tourism.

For more information, contact Toddi Darlington at 921-4640.