Leiann Klein

I am truly proud of this body of work that was inspired by the modern day cowgirl. For the past four years I have been attending and photographing western horse events and after thousands of pictures taken I decided to do a western themed body of artwork. Choosing to do this was an interesting path because in looking at what is out there in terms of western art, the concentration weighs more on the side of cowboy art, not cowgirl art. Therefore I felt compelled to create artworks that were more cowgirl oriented.
Then the second part was how to infuse my contemporary stylization into the d...

I am truly proud of this body of work that was inspired by the modern day cowgirl. For the past four years I have been attending and photographing western horse events and after thousands of pictures taken I decided to do a western themed body of artwork. Choosing to do this was an interesting path because in looking at what is out there in terms of western art, the concentration weighs more on the side of cowboy art, not cowgirl art. Therefore I felt compelled to create artworks that were more cowgirl oriented.
Then the second part was how to infuse my contemporary stylization into the drawings. Then finally how I wanted to execute the work. Originally I had started to use paint. Since that is the medium I use most I felt is was the natural course of action. Then once day I found a linoleum block in the studio and it was like love at first sight. One of the things that I love about western riding is the craftsmanship that goes into creating tack(saddles and bridles). The amount of hand tooling that goes into a saddle was such an admirable task to me. So I thought that carving linoleum was the way I could be true to the subject matter and yet bring a modern flair to it.
So it is with great pleasure I share this cowgirl art and cowboy art with you. Please check back often as I am continually carving new blocks to print. This is going to be long and wonderful journey, so enjoy the ride!
Leiann Klein-Artist