Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Vonnie Kohn receives MVP award in Art

It's been one of those unpredictable weeks! This week I received an email from the current president of my art guild -a group that has over 100 members. He was requesting that I present a very special award to the past president, Paul Latham, standing to my right in the photo. The reason? I shared the same time frame as an officer (Vice-Pres. of Shows), & this new president was not a member at that time. Sounded good to me...I agreed.  The Betty Murray Award in our art guild is equivalent to the Most Valuable Player award in football.This award usually goes to the one person who best represented the guild to the community and who exemplified a high standard of dedicated service to the art group. 
When the moment arrived to step up to the microphone, Paul preceded me to the microphone to speak to the art members. To my surprise, he was announcing my name for the Betty Murray award! I froze. Upon recovering, I took the mike, spoke of Paul's dedication during that four years & handed him an award too. It was his turn to become speechless.. It was a night full of delightful surprises. The board members had decided to engage each of us to present the other with this award to ensure the element of surprise.  Anyway, Paul and I were both humbled and grateful for the honor. 

There is a good lesson from this...I will not be playing "poker" with any of those board members.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

"La Golondrina" by Vonnie Kohn, equestrian Spanish woman on horseback, oil

A "golandrina" is a young Spanish woman skilled in equestrian drill team riding. Here in the Southwest, there are many such drill teams who perform on Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May), a holiday celebrating Mexican heritage and pride. This holiday is celebrated both in the United States & regionally in Mexico to celebrate the cause of freedom and democracy.

This young beauty has taken a pause to enjoy the moment between the  performances. Her drills have taken many hours of practice to synchronize in perfect timing with many other young ladies. These women are all dressed alike, with matching tack and gear and are a delight to watch as they perform.

Oil on canvas. 24 x 36". 

Installed at Beto's Restaurant in Springtown, Tx. for grand opening. 

This painting is already sold, however, other works may be found at:

http://www.vonniekohn.com/