Emily Howe
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Emily Howe
@eclairehowe.bsky.social
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Local Art is Life
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adamkinzinger.substack.com Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · Feb 6
Quick reminder: DOGE isnt real. Its a figment of President Musks imagination and has no power, and isn’t an agency
February 6, 2025 at 11:29 PM
eclairehowe.bsky.social
This acrylic painting, Rise Up, which I painted in 2025, is headed to the Lindsborg Arts Council’s Art Lovers Affair and Auction this weekend. The event raises funds for scholarships for Smoky Valley students entering their freshman year of college. This piece is an acrylic on board, 6 x 12 inches.
Acrylic-painted Sunflowers set against a bright, warm orange-red background with pops of contrasting colors peeking through. Three sunflowers are painted in a contemporary impressionist style, where every brush stroke is visible. This acrylic painting, Rise Up, which I painted (yesterday 😆) in 2025, is headed to the Lindsborg Arts Council’s Art Lovers Affair and Auction this weekend. The event raises funds for scholarships for Smoky Valley students entering their freshman year of college. This piece is an acrylic on board, 6 x 12 inches. It took me a while to decide what to paint for this auction. As many of you know, I organize a children’s workshop on the first Saturday of every month at the Smoky Valley Arts & Folklife Center. I asked the kids what I should make, and they had a lot of great suggestions. One of my high school classmate’s children (Clinton MacDonald/Chelsea Danielle MacDonald) suggested a sunflower. At first, I wasn’t entirely set on the idea, but after looking around for inspiration, I decided to go with it without any deeper intention beyond simply painting a sunflower. Then came the of titling the piece, which, in my opinion, is one of the hardest parts of making artwork. As I thought about sunflowers, Kansas, and the composition, I also thought about what sunflowers represent, what it means to be a Kansan, and then about the next four years and what they might mean for different people. I thought about Kansas and its resilience, and that idea stayed with me. At the Red Barn Studio, the current artist-in-residence is Shin-hee Chin, a Korean American artist living in McPherson. When she and her husband immigrated to the U.S. and eventually settled in Kansas, she was nervous about moving here. But over time, she found that it wasn’t as intimidating as she had feared. She told her husband (to paraphrase) that Kansans were kind and inclusive and that she never wanted to move again. Her story stuck with me. Recently, on Kansas Day, I watched the Kansas Tourism video about Ad Astra per Aspera, our state motto, which means “to the stars through difficulties.” That idea resonated with me as well when naming this piece. It’s a reminder that even when the path is uncertain, we keep moving forward, striving for something greater. All of this came together in the title Rise Up, a small statement about resilience. No matter the challenges ahead, a few bad seeds don’t define the entire crop. Sunflowers rise each morning, turning toward the sun, always looking for the light.
February 4, 2025 at 3:29 AM