“I hope people will look at my art work and find it brings a memory or feeling of ‘ having been there’.  My style is very realistic.  I want the viewer to identify with a feeling they might have experienced before or can say, “I was just roping that calf yesterday!”…”  -- Carla Stroh.

Local Artists presented by the Niobrara County Library is back for another year and the first artist featured in the fall lineup has been Carla Stroh. Stroh, who’s artwork went on display at the beginning of September, has a heavy background in the subject, having begun drawing horses at a young age then growing up to become an art teacher during her time in Colorado. “I can remember sitting at the kitchen table with one of my older sisters.  I was 5 and she was 7. I asked her to teach me how to draw a horse.  Even at that early age I knew they would always be my passion.  I tease her about it today because she has no interest in drawing and a horse is the last thing she wants to be around!”

Today, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a rancher, a yoga instructor, and an artist, Stroh is still just as passionate about the field as she was when she was younger. Dabbling in various mediums while creating her pieces, Stroh says, “I always use the medium that I feel suits the subject matter.  I can take a look at a photograph and know immediately what medium will lend itself best to it. I can use acrylic, water color, graphite and pastel.  My first choice is usually graphite but I recently discovered water-soluble graphite and it has become my favorite medium.  It incorporates drawing and painting so I get the best of both worlds”.  

Stroh’s reception fell on Wednesday, September 13 where locals were encouraged to come see her work and chat with her. However, this isn’t the first time that Stroh has been hands-on with the community through her artistic talents, “Through Community Ed classes I’ve been able to share my knowledge and ‘ tricks of the trade’ with others.  Some of the students just want to be able to paint something and have a fun time doing it, while others would like to learn more and become better artists.  I’ve offered painting classes, drawing classes and pastel classes.  I try not to be intimidating and make it fun for all abilities.  My classes end up laughing a lot.  My experience teaching middle school art has helped me become better able to explain technique to people who are just there for the fun of it so they end up successful”. 

Stroh dubs herself a realist when it comes to her artistic style, and while she generally sells off what she creates, she does keep pieces that are related to her family, “I have a few pieces I’ve done of my family that hang in my house and they are the only ones I will keep forever.  Our two sons have already decided that the only thing they will argue about at my funeral, is who gets the pastel I did of the two of them looking for tad poles in a pond”. To Stroh, finding a subject is easy, “My inspiration usually comes from seeing light and shadow on a subject.  That subject matter can be anything.  Beautiful shadows intrigue me.  I especially love early morning light or the long shadows of late afternoon”.

Stroh’s work will be on display until the end of the month. “…I like to use subjects from around our ranch, be it chickens, cattle, or horses.  I can be driving down the road and see the neighbors horses standing there swatting flies and know it will make a great painting. These are things I know.  These are things I can paint from the heart because I love this life so much”.