We Planted Way Too Much Corn (Eagle Butte, SD)

I painted this piece from life using oil paints, in the town of Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. Eagle Butte, population 1300, is surrounded on all sides by the vast stern plains of South Dakota. Teens play basketball in a gym covered in murals; rap music blares. A man stands at the entrance of the Lakota Thrifty Mart selling beaded jewelry. In the evenings, young kids skateboard down the street into the sunset, wild dogs running behind. I worked in the produce garden at the Cheyenne River Youth Project. Sometimes little kids would come to the garden to learn, and we also mentored a group of teens. Our harvest was hundreds of pounds per day. We hauled it on small wagons into the Keya (Turtle) Café, to be cooked and served to locals. This painting is a still-life of our seed crop, Bloody Butcher Corn. I painted it in the window of the café, with the sun coming in. This piece was featured in my recent solo show, "Finding America". It was held at Headquarters Gallery in Telluride for the month of September, 2020. The print measures 8x10 inches, and comes with a protective sleeve and cardboard backing. Standard size, easily framed. Come to my office hours if you have any questions!