The Cheyenne County Art Guild has announced its April “Artist of the Month,” Margaret Ann Evans.
Evans has been an Art Guild member for two years, and has chosen to dedicate her showing at the Sidney Library to her mother, Betty, who passed away in January. Her mother fostered her photography skills, often reminding Evans to bring the camera when she visited the farm. Evans became the family photographer.
As a child, Evans’ interest in art developed through drawing, and after enrolling in high school art classes, she learned to work with various media, including oils, colored pencil, pastel, watercolor and ink. Oils and pencils were her favorite to use.
Those are now skills she hasn’t used in about 20 years, as she keeps her artistic creations in the realm of photography.
Sometime around 1972, Evans bought a Kodak 110 pocket camera for her dad on Father’s Day. Although he didn’t use it, he thought someone should and allowed Evans to take photos. Her grandfather shared an interest in photography, and he showed her how to use the camera. Fondly, she remembers his advice to hold her breath while pushing the shutter button, so the camera wouldn’t shake and cause a blurry photo.
Following the failure of the Kodak 110 during a NASCAR stock car racing event in 1981, she saved her money and bought a Canon AE-1 35mm camera. It didn’t take her long to discover the superiority of the 35mm format over the 110, and soon she was taking more than just snapshots.She subscribed to a few photography magazines, which taught her some of the tricks of the craft and helped her take better photos.
When digital cameras swept the market by storm, Evans switched to the new format and said she hasn’t looked back at film since. She said digital allows her the freedom to take hundreds of photos, to practice her craft and discover how to create the image she’s looking for. Her current favorite digital cameras are the Panasonic FZ18 and FZ20.
Evans has entered her photography in the Cheyenne County Fair and has won a few ribbons for her shots. She also entered a few photos in the 2010 and 2011 Cheyenne County Art Guild Annual Spring Shows. In 2010, she took a digital photography class at Western Nebraska Community College and has noticed a difference in her photos. Four of 10 photos she submitted to the WNCC “Emerging Voices” Journal of Literature and Art publication were published.
Evans has been an Art Guild member for two years, and has chosen to dedicate her showing at the Sidney Library to her mother, Betty, who passed away in January. Her mother fostered her photography skills, often reminding Evans to bring the camera when she visited the farm. Evans became the family photographer.
As a child, Evans’ interest in art developed through drawing, and after enrolling in high school art classes, she learned to work with various media, including oils, colored pencil, pastel, watercolor and ink. Oils and pencils were her favorite to use.
Those are now skills she hasn’t used in about 20 years, as she keeps her artistic creations in the realm of photography.
Sometime around 1972, Evans bought a Kodak 110 pocket camera for her dad on Father’s Day. Although he didn’t use it, he thought someone should and allowed Evans to take photos. Her grandfather shared an interest in photography, and he showed her how to use the camera. Fondly, she remembers his advice to hold her breath while pushing the shutter button, so the camera wouldn’t shake and cause a blurry photo.
Following the failure of the Kodak 110 during a NASCAR stock car racing event in 1981, she saved her money and bought a Canon AE-1 35mm camera. It didn’t take her long to discover the superiority of the 35mm format over the 110, and soon she was taking more than just snapshots.She subscribed to a few photography magazines, which taught her some of the tricks of the craft and helped her take better photos.
When digital cameras swept the market by storm, Evans switched to the new format and said she hasn’t looked back at film since. She said digital allows her the freedom to take hundreds of photos, to practice her craft and discover how to create the image she’s looking for. Her current favorite digital cameras are the Panasonic FZ18 and FZ20.
Evans has entered her photography in the Cheyenne County Fair and has won a few ribbons for her shots. She also entered a few photos in the 2010 and 2011 Cheyenne County Art Guild Annual Spring Shows. In 2010, she took a digital photography class at Western Nebraska Community College and has noticed a difference in her photos. Four of 10 photos she submitted to the WNCC “Emerging Voices” Journal of Literature and Art publication were published.
