Ethan Nelson "Artist of the Month" April 8 - May 8

Ethan Nelson is currently a freshman at the Nelson Homeschool and a member of the Windy Plains Christian Home Educators.  Ethan began his career of drawing and painting at an early age.  One of Ethan’s earliest artistic accomplishments is the Nebraska Fence Post Christmas Art Contest in 2002 where, at the age of 5, Ethan won his first award.
 

Ethan joined the Cheyenne County Art Guild at the age of 10 in 2007 with the thought of improving his art techniques and learning about the business of marketing visual art.  That same year, Than and his older brother, Jake, founded their own business and launched Nelsonart which specializes in original art notecards and limited edition prints.

Ethan has pursued improvement in his photography skills through the Western Nebraska Community College and is currently enrolled in a series of online website design classes and has his Nelsonart website up and running.  Ethan has received numerous awards for his artwork and his Nelsonart business has received the following awards for Youth Entrepreneurship:

Outstanding 4-H Project Ribbon 2007 Cheyenne County Fair,
Outstanding 4-H Project Ribbon 2007 Nebraska State Fair
2007 - 2008 Nebraska 4-H Entrepreneurship traveling exhibit
2010 Biz 4 Kids Presenters, 2010 Sidney  Public Library – “How to Start Your Own Business”
2011 Western Nebraska Community College High School Career Day Presenters
2012 1^st Place Nebraska Biz Idea Conference for Youth Entrepreneurs and $400 1^st place award.


Future plans include advanced lessons in watercolor techniques and working on web site sales. 

See Ethan's art work at the Cheyenne County Community Center and on his website:

www.nelsonart.webs.com

Ben Darling "Artist of the Month" March 11 - April 8

ARTIST OF THE MONTH IS BEN DARLING
BenDarling has been selected as the current Cheyenne County Artist Guild Artist of the Month.
His work will be on display at the Cheyenne County Community Center and the Sidney Public
Library through April 8, 2012.

A Sidney resident since 1997, Mr. Darling is the middle school and upper elementary art teacher for Sidney Public Schools. Darling also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Sidney Campus of WNCC, offering courses in painting and drawing. He has had numerous residencies with the Nebraska Arts Council Artist in the Schools and Communities program and toured shows with the Nebraska Touring Program. In 2004 he received a Masters Degree in Education from UNK.

Darling is known for his landscape paintings which are in many private and public collections.The appeal of the changing light and interaction between the weather and the land keeps him out and looking for new work. Ninety percent of the time his work

is started on location.Sketched in with oil paint on canvas, the paintings are then completed in the studio. His recent drawings are of local wild flowers, generally started from life and finished in pastel and colored pencil. He also does theatrical painting for Way OutWest, and has helped with the High School musicals and One Act plays as a scenic artist. 

With some of his spare time, makes hand built pottery, most often using the coil and paddlemethod. Darlingalso enjoys bicycling, backpacking, hiking and gardening.