Art

Item Description

This is a beautiful painting filled with rich detail that draws you in: an Acrylic Pour Portrait of "Chief Thunder Cloud."  18" x 14" and beautifully custom framed! Truly a dramatic presence in home or office!  Free Shipping! 

"Noted American Indian. He was a member of the Blackfeet tribe and a scout with the US Army. He also worked in show business with P.T. Barnum and he was also in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He posed for artists such as Fredrick Remington and John Singer. It is believed that he was the model for the U.S. nickel coin as well as the last five dollar gold piece that was minted in the U.S."  

Generously donated by Renowned Artist, Patricia Turner!  Thank you Patricia for your friendship and support of Constituting America!

To see additional pictures, please see: Turner Studio Abstract, Expressionistic Art, Pillows and  Jewelry Design at www.patriciaturnerstudio.com.  Patricia's art is also being shown at "Cultivate7Twelve" on Austin Street in Waco, Texas and at "The Vinyards at Florence" north of Georgetown, Texas.

Patricia Turner

Richard Whitenton 

Turner Studio, Georgetown, TX  78626 

512-584-0061

pturnerstudio@suddenlink.net

www.patriciaturnerstudio.com

Patricia Turner - Artist Statement
"Painting is a wild adventure! Each time I start with a blank white canvas I am exhilarated, especially when I end up with something new and alive.  This is a rich world that I get to experience." 

My Greatest Influence - Dick Turner:
"It’s not a stretch to say that I was meant to be an artist.  At 8 years old, I was very impressed when my teenage cousin, Dick Turner, came over to our small house in Corpus Christi, Texas and painted a tropical mural on our back porch so my mom wouldn’t be so homesick for Miami.  Through the years, I spent many wonderful hours visiting his studio and attending art classes.  He was an incredible artist, teacher and friend and I feel deeply indebted to him.  He is the trusted voice in my head when I paint.  He is gone now but I am comforted in knowing that he paints with me every time I start a new canvas." 

I am Self Taught.
"While studying with other Texas artists and at the University of Houston, I began to pour over art books about the old masters. I love the expressionist painters, works by Renoir, the figurative work of Amadeo Modigliani, and the beautiful portraits of John Singer Sargent.  I have always been captivated by the human face and form as much as I am excited by abstraction with heavy textures and strong contrasts.  It was while living in Los Angeles, CA that I began a real love affair with abstraction and expressionism and the idea of letting my emotions guide my hands." 

My Process:
"When I begin a painting I have no “plan,” I just try to stay completely open.  I think about light and dark areas and am often influenced by the music I play in the background.  I find that hot salsa, blues or soul, or acoustic guitar music produces entirely different color palettes.  When the French horns in the soundtrack of Out of Africa dictate big, flowing, sweeping motions, then I oblige.  Or when it’s a sexy salsa beat, I reach for the red.  The larger the canvas the freer I work. I use brushes but my favorite tools are large palette knives, rags, paint stir sticks, sponges and my hands. I believe each painting will tell its story if I just get out of the way.  Michelangelo expressed it so well when he said he just had to “release the slaves from the granite.” 

"I love the feeling that comes from throwing paint and artistic caution to the wind; the feeling of the presence of something transcendent, like a spiritual electricity, of being an alchemist, of staying open and letting the work come through me.    The excitement I feel with each encounter of the “canvas kind” is the feeling that I have no limitations."  

Education:
University of Texas Thompson Conference Center Continuing Education Division (1994) 40 hours certified Graphic Design and Marketing
University of Houston School of Fine Art (1985). Drawing and painting
Del Mar College School of Fine Art (1967-1968). Graphic Arts, Drawing and painting

Mentors and Private Instruction:

Filomena Andrade Booth, Texas and Florida Artist, Abstract Contemporary Workshop, October 2015, Irving, TexasMentored by Amadea Bailey, Los Angeles, CA, expressionist and abstract artist (2014 - 2015)
Atelier 3-D Studio – Steve Dubov (2013)  Anatomy - clay figure sculpture study 
Gregory Truett Smith – Austin, Texas  (2000 – 2001) pencil portraiture
Char Eppright – Austin, Texas (2000) pastel and oil portraiture
Daugherty Art Center, Austin, Texas – Meryl Berwick (1991-1992) pastel figurative and portraiture 
Dot Turner Studio - Corpus Christi, Texas  (1972) clay sculpture
Dick Turner Studio – Corpus Christi, Texas (1967-1972) oil landscapes 

Solo Exhibitions:

Turner Studio Gallery - Georgetown, Texas (2012-2013)
The Hollow Restaurant and Gallery - Georgetown, Texas (2015-2016)
The Vineyard at Florence, Texas (2016 to present) 

Group Exhibitons:

Georgetown Arthop, 2016

LagunaArt.com

LaTiDa Boutique and Gallery, Marble Falls, Texas (2015)

570 Gallery -  Laguna Beach, CA  (2015)

Pink Poppy Artisans Gallery – Georgetown, Texas (2013-2014)
Gallery of Salons - Austin, Texas (2010) 

Art Festivals

Bob Bullock Museum Arts Festival, Austin, Texas – 2009
The Christmas Stroll, Georgetown, Texas – 2008, 2009
The Poppy Festival, Georgetown, Texas  - 2007, 2008, 2009
Pecan Street Art Festival, Austin, Texas – 2008
Flatcreek Winery, Thanksgiving Art Festival, Jonestown, Texas – 2007, 2008
Oktoberfest Arts Festival, Jonestown, Texas – 2008
Salado Arts Festival, Salado, Texas – September, 2004, 2005, 2006 

Curatorial Projects:

Oktoberfest Arts Festival, Jonestown, Texas - 2008, Curator and lead juror for artists' submissions 

Public Collections:
The Hollow American Bistro, Georgetown, Texas

Riverbend Church, Austin, Texas

LaTiDa Boutique and Gallery, Marble Falls, Texas 

Private Collections:
Works held in private collections in Austin, Georgetown, Horseshoe Bay, Cedar Park, and Houston, Texas, Los Angeles and Poway, CA, Rio Verde, AZ, Carson City, NV, New York, NY  and Washington, DC 

Awards - Theatrical Productions:
Selected over 30 artists as Visual Artist for Upsetting the Apple Cart, an original play produced for Artspark Festival Competition, 2007, Austin, Texas

 

Two abstract paintings, Inferno and Cielo, were selected by The Vineyard at Florence and used as labels for their new artisan wines for 2017!  

 

 

 

Item Special Note

"I stumbled upon a website containing information about Dingmans Ferry. On it, they spoke about the local grave site of Chief Thundercloud, 1856-1916; he was a scout during the Indian Wars, a performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and a model in New York City. It is his profile that graces the Indian Nickel as well as the $5 and $20 gold piece.

I dug deeper and finally located our Chief Thundercloud who was born Dominique La Plante in Alberta, Canada. He was of the Blackfoot Tribe prominent throughout Montana and Canada.  He was also known as James Night Rider.

In addition to his show business life with Buffalo Bill, there are reports that he was in business with PT Barnum. What an incredible man!  I began looking deeper to confirm these amazing findings.

It is true that Chief Thundercloud was a model for many of the most prominent artists of the day. His portrait hangs in the National Gallery, painted by Eulabee Dix. There is nothing to support his claim as an Army scout although the years are correct for him to have done so. There is also nothing to support his performance career with both Buffalo Bill and PT Barnum, but again, the time line is correct.

It seems our Chief Thundercloud was an entrepreneur. He was inventive at a time when the American Indian was feared, subdued and misrepresented. Chief Thundercloud, aka Dominique La Plante, aka James Night Rider, learned to play the role and create a livelihood from it. 

His career as a model in NY is documented. And, clearly his profile on the nickel and gold pieces is accepted as fact. Well, unfortunately that is questionable as I discovered on my visit to The Columns Museum in Milford. (On a side note, this museum is chockful of interesting items and the stories that accompany them. I highly recommend a visit.)

In the meantime, our Chief Thundercloud still rests in the Delaware Cemetery. He owned and operated an Indian artifact store on route 209 for many years.  The New York Times posted his obituary on March 14th, 1916. In it, they say:

Army scout and Indian model, Chief Thundercloud, the famous warrior of the Blackfoot Indians, who was a scout with the United States Army during several Indian wars, during which he played a prominent part in the capture of Red Cloud, was found dead in bed at a rooming house in Rochester, NY. His wife who lives at Dingman’s Ferry, Pike County, Penn., claimed his body and it was sent to her.

It goes on to mention several famous artists who painted him:

…Frederick Remington, Edwin Abbey, John Sargent, Howard Pyle and F.D. Millet. He served under General Stanley throughout several uprisings until leaving the service in 1876."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Chief Thundercloud, Dingmans Ferry, History, Milford PA
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