Step into a captivating exhibition now on view at The Grace Museum! Cindi Holt: Little Mouse on the Prairie pays homage to the Texas prairie landscape reimagined in bright, beautiful colors by self-taught artist, Cindi Holt. Inspired by her imagination, memories and immediate environment, Holt’s paintings are a rich visual experience that invite viewers into a world of enchantment and fantasy.
The public is invited to meet the artist at a free reception hosted at The Grace Museum in Abilene on Friday, January 9 at 6:00 pm. Guests can enjoy refreshments, tour the exhibition and hear directly from Cindi Holt about her work. Here is a brief excerpt from a recent interview with the artist.
What does the Texas prairie mean to you?
“Being born in Southern California and being near the ocean all the time, there was always this vast open space that seemed to go out into nowhere. My experience felt the same the first time I visited my husband’s family homestead in the Texas Panhandle (Wheeler, TX). The rolling grasslands and big sky reminded me of the feeling of being near the Pacific Ocean. I had a real fondness for it and could relate to that openness. I fell in love with the prairie and the plains then.”
What does Little Mouse on the Prairie refer to?
“When I was working on the paintings for this show, my sister asked me what I was going to call the exhibition. I had considered a few titles but hadn’t felt like any of them were quite right. When she suggested Little Mouse on the Prairie, I knew immediately that I wanted to add a tiny mouse into each painting. As I gathered up images of mice, I realized that the title was meant to be because each mouse I found fit perfectly into one of the paintings.”
How did you become an artist?
“I didn’t start creating artwork until I was 34. I remember that because my son, Justin, who was only 4 years old at the time, had one of those little paint boxes in his room. One day I sat down in our living room and did a little drawing of the interior. I used his paints to color it the way it really looked but felt like the colors weren’t very interesting. I turned my back to the living room and repainted it in brighter colors from memory – it was much better! Shortly after that, I did another little painting of the inside of my friend’s house. I liked how it came out and decided to have it framed. The frame shop where I took it was also an art gallery. The woman who ran the shop asked me who had done the painting. When I told her it was me, she said that the gallery would be very interested in carrying my work. I laughed and told her that this was only my second painting, and her response was, ‘Paint some more!’ So, I did.”
Contributed by The Grace Museum
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