Dance Of The Sun Gallery.com

"Portraits are my passion....Each shadow cast tells a story of a person's life."  

   To burn these portraits I must sit in the sun burning one dot at a time, each dot takes about four seconds to burn. "Without the creators strength and guidance there is no way that I would be able to burn these images." When I sit for hours(sometimes up to twelve at a time) I endure extreme dicomfort.  My fingers,  wrists, and back get stiff and cramp up. Even though I wear #5 welding goggles my eyes get sore and I get a headache after about ninety minutes. I push myself to get through the first couple of hours . I never take breaks because I know if I go inside and rest where it is cool in the summer or warm in the winter I probably won't go back out. 

   I feel a strong connection to my ancestors when I am creating a portrait because I know that they were thinking about me when they chose to endure through the hardships on the plains.  They did what they had to do to survive so that I could be doing what I am doing today.  I feel a great sense of pride when I go through physical pain to honor them, although, my pain is nothing like the pain they had to go through. 

   I thank  the Creator, Maheo, that I am able to use the same sun that gave life, strength and visions to my people to burn their likenesses and share their stories with everyone today.  I feel honored to be able to work with Maheo on these portraits.  I've enjoyed giving presentations at Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, Montana, Little Bighorn College in Crow agency, Montana, Montana State University (MSU-B) in Billings, Montana, Hardin Primary School in Hardin, Montana, Go Native America's private museum near Buffalo, Wyoming and their teepee ranch on the Northern Cheyenne reservation and various camp meetings and churches in eastern Montana. I have also been honored to give presentations and take part in annual fundraising events for P.L.U.K.- Parents Let's Unite For Kids, a non profit organization formed in 1984 by parents of children with disabilities and chronic illnesses in the state of Montana for the purpose of information, support, training and assistance to aid their children at home, school and as adults. 

   I have mainly just done commission work for various people and entities in the United States but I have also had the opportunity to sell my artwork to people from all over the world who had come to our businesses, Native Grounds Espresso, and Dance Of The Sun Gallery, that we owned and operated near the entrance to the Little Bighorn Battlefield from 2002 to 2007 (the gallery is in the process of relocating to the chamber of commerce building/ Apsaalooke Visitor's Center near the Little Bighorn Casino, I-90 battlefield exit 510.) There are various other galleries interested in my work in St. Louis, MO, Aspen, CO, Estes Park, CO, Big Fork, MT, Bozeman, MT, and Livingston, MT, but each piece takes so long to make that I must first concentrate on my commissions  then I can produce for my gallery and lastly produce for other galleries. At the present time I have originals and prints for sale at the Jailhouse Gallery in Hardin, MT, The Bighorn County Historical Museum in Hardin, MT, The Custer Battlefield Trading Post, across from the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Crow Agency, MT, The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Crow Agency, MT, Dance Of The Sun Gallery in Crow Agency, MT, Picture Perfect Gallery in Billings, MT, and the Gallatin River Gallery in Big Sky, Montana.

   I began doing portraits with pen and ink as a hobby for my family and friends until I came across an old magazine called the Mother Earth News from May,1980 featuring an article called Sun Burned Art about a San Jose artist named Dan Leahy who was burning pictures of trees onto wood using a handheld magnifying glass and the sun. This really intrigued me because the article asked the readers who read the original article which ran in like 1976 or something to write in to the magazine and let them know if anyone was making money using this new medium after reading their magazine. Since this magazine was 23 years old I didn't think anyone had probably written in on this subject for a long time but I thought I would try it with my portraits. It took a great deal of trial and error before I was satisfied with my work and when I first started I only had a large lens so I couldn't do any fine detail. It wasn't until I found smaller lenses that I became obsessed with this new medium and took it from a hobby to a career. I didn't have access to the internet and didn't know if there were any other people doing this kind of art. and so everything I know I had to teach myself but it has been fun because just about everybody who has seen my artwork has never heard of solar pyrography before and is completely blown away by my patience and attention to detail. Now that I am internet saavy I have discovered other solar pyrographers around the world and keep in contact with some of them. When I begin a piece I've learned to start with the face because its dimensions have to be precise, however, I have more artistic liberty when designing their clothing. In the past my coffee customers have requested certain portraits of their great grandparents and so on so they could purchase prints for themselves and that was how some of my original portraits that I have sold have come into existance. I am blessed that I live among the Cheyenne and the Crow people and there is so much rich history to use as subject matter. At my new gallery I want to let people know that they can come in during Crow Fair or Fourth of July Pow Wow or other local pow wow events- or anytime and pose in their indian regalia for photographs that I can work from and then offer them a percentage of the final selling price.

   I am honored that you would come to my site to learn about my artwork and I look forward to meeting you at the Littlebighorn Battlefield where I sit many sunny days near the museum or at my new gallery in Crow Agency. This site is fairly new and I imagine I'll be adding more to it in the future, but until then, nea ese, thank you !!