Bonnie Marris, b. Michigan, United States
Bonnie Marris has taken an unusual path into art: she developed her talent by portraying animals “from the inside out.” While she was a student at Michigan State University, Bonnie illustrated several major books. One volume she worked on was a leading expert mammalogist’s text that contained several hundred drawings and detailed studies. This massive project attracted the attention of noted zoologist George Schaller, who invited Bonnie to prepare the art for posters that would support his worldwide rare animal relief programs.
Beyond academic training and emotional involvement, art requires another element for which there is no substitute: experience. Each year, Bonnie makes two major trips, and countless smaller ones, to observe and learn about the wildlife she loves. In 1980, one such voyage took her to Alaska, where she lived in the wilderness for six months. She recounts, “To get into a natural environment and see the animals on their own terms is as important as knowing the animals themselves. For instance, gray wolves on the Tundra with the wind and other forces of nature at their most extreme-that’s what makes them what they are. To stand not far from a grizzly which is so overpowering, so beautiful and so large…to watch itself pull up a small tree with a swipe of its’ paw and just a few minutes later see it delicately picking blueberries. Alaska changed me. It gave me the biggest incentive to paint and increased any interest in predators: the cats, bears, coyotes, wolves, and foxes. They exist on so many levels: their moods show in their eyes and we can learn so much from them.”
Western Art Collector Magazine
Exhibition Preview
In wildlife painter Bonnie Marris’ new show, she walks right up to iconic North American wildlife. And then takes another step forward. “I have always had this passionate need to ‘get close and then closer‘ to animals, dogs, horses…The brain just intrigues me. When studying a particular wild animal you reach that point where you want to share the exhilaration of getting that close to it with other people, to allow them a connection,” she says. “I thought it would be fun to totally zoom in on the animals I know so well, feel the fur and textures and be held captive by their eyes".
Fine Art Today
Fall Arts in Jackson Hole
By Andrew Webster - September 14, 2017
The Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival is currently in full swing with auctions, exhibitions, luncheons, dinners, musical entertainment, and more. Whether you’re in attendance or not, we’ve got some details you’ll want to consider.
The 2016 Fall Arts Festival packs an amazing number of events into a short time. Trailside Galleries follows that lead.
This year the gallery will host shows for four artists during the festival. The four artists spotlighted at Trailside during this year’s Fall Arts Festival are Adam Smith, Bonnie Marris, Dustin Van Wechel and Brent Cotton.
Wyoming’s 10 Best Events and Festivals this September
Colloquially known as the ‘Cowboy State’, Wyoming is a peak-strewn region of the Western United States replete with mountain ranges and the surrounding foothills, notably the Eastern Rocky Mountains. This summer, Wyoming plays host to myriad arts and cultural events, from festivals celebrating the arts in Jackson to chomping on Greek delights in Cheyenne. Wyoming proves the month of September to be a cultural one and offers passers-by these 10 unmissable events, and more.
Art | Logan Maxwell Hagege – Changing Light
1 September – 14 September
Jackson’s Trailside Gallery is hosting Logan Maxwell Hagege’s new exhibition, Changing Light, in which he conjures up quintessential scenes from the American Southwest in a series of figural and landscape works. Hagege deftly depicts scenes emulating Native American life and culture, framed in the thirsty environs of the Southwest desert; his appetite for dusty scenes developed during youthful sojourns at his grandmother’s house in the California desert. To meet Hagege to discuss his art, there will be an artist’s reception on 13 September. Hagege’s works on display at the Changing Light exhibition will be sold by draw.
Art | Fall Gold
1 September – 14 September
For a melange of some of Oklahoma’s best wildlife, landscape and sporting art, lumber into the Trailside Gallery in Jackson for the annual Fall Gold Exhibition and Sale. This yearly aesthetic fiesta occurs to coincide with the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, also featured. Participating artists include Brent Cotton, Michael Godfrey, Bonnie Marris, Jim Morgan, George Northup, and many others, some of whom will be in attendance at the artists’ reception on 13 September. Many of the artworks on display will be procurable so be sure to pack your wallet; you might even walk out with some Fall Gold.
Fall Gold, 130 East Broadway, Jackson, WY, USA, +1 307 733 3186
The Culture Trip showcases the best of art, culture and travel for every country in the world. Have a look at our Wyoming or United States sections to find out more or become involved.
The Jackson Hole Art Auction is pleased to introduce the inaugural Top Tier juried competition this year. Top Tier artists, chosen by invitation, are a select group of contemporary artists with exemplary auction records. Participants include William Acheff, John Banovich, Carl Brenders, Ken Carlson, Jenness Cortez, Martin Grelle, Z.S. Liang, Bonnie Marris, Tucker Smith, Mian Situ, and Morgan Weistling. A $10,000 cash prize will be awarded to the artist whose work is of significant merit, as determined by a three person jury: Peter Hassrick, Director Emeritus & Senior Scholar, Buffalo Bill Center of the West; Jerry Smith, PhD, Curator of American & Western American Art, Phoenix Art Museum; Adam Duncan Harris, PhD, Petersen Curator of Art & Research, National Museum of Wildlife Art. The award will be announced prior to the start of the auction, during which all Top Tier paintings will be sold.
Click on artist name to view additional detail on the artwork