Claudette Mowery

by Christi Marsico
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 2:49 PM MST

Blooming where you grow has been how Claudette Mowery has flourished from one art form to another.

Mowery is keen on sharing her collaborative designs with fellow artesian, Holly Bishop, in their upcoming show "Silk Sensations" on Sunday, Nov. 11, from 2-4 p.m. at the Casper's Artists’ Guild/West Wind Gallery, located at 1040 W. 15th.

Growing up in Oregon, Mowery appreciated plants and flowers and soon found herself engaged in the art of floral designs, especially oriental arrangements.

That form seems to work well with Wyoming's available assortment.

Mowery has been in Casper since 1953, and after raising a family and retiring from teaching, she has explored other art forms, finding her creative side in watercolors and silk designs.

"Art is such a big part of my life now, and you don't know what you are capable of until you try something new," she said.

Mowery started painting with watercolors 10 years ago. After taking a painting with silk workshop at the Nicolaysen Art Museum last spring with Bishop, her friend and collaborator, silk painting has become a passion.

Mowery and Bishop set up shop in Bishop's basement to explore and create their silk sensations.

"After we took the class, it was pretty much experimentation on our part of learning what you could do and what you couldn't do," Mowery said.

Creating through a process of trial and error, she feels confident about her approach.

During the first step, Mowery sketches her designs on butcher paper with a marker.

She then stretches the silk over the designs and applies a resist liquid, which closely relates to a paraffin-type product.

While drawing her designs onto the silk with the resist liquid, Mowery's main focus at this point in the process is "to keep the colors from crossing the line."

When it comes to developing the lightness or darkness of colors she uses to paint, Mowery incorporates salt. That lifts the dye from the paint, creating lighter colors and a diversity of patterns.

According to Mowery, it takes from 2-3 hours to create a silk piece; scarves can take a little longer due to the stretching process.

When it comes to future silk sensations, Mowery has some new patterns in mind.

"Holly and I feel like we are just getting started, and after the holidays, we are going to try some other things. But since we have accumulated all this art, we needed to show it," Mowery said.

The pair has 50-60 pieces that will be displayed in their upcoming art show and sale, which will be on display for the rest of November at West Wind Gallery.

Mowery is looking forward to sharing her art, saying, "It's fun to show people this particular medium."

Even though this is Mowery's first show with silk, this isn't her first show at the West Wind Gallery.

In July of 2004, she and her daughter, Christine Stebbins, created a mother-daughter show that displayed their artwork and poetry.

While working with silk has been a main focus currently, Mowery hasn't forsaken her watercolors. She continues to take classes every week at the Casper Recreation Center.

Mowery proves that growing where you are planted is not just a pastime for her, but a way of life.

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