Meet Jody Buck of Cowbells Art

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jody Buck.

Jody, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up on our family’s cattle ranch outside of Kit Carson. It was a magical childhood of exploring, imagination, horseback riding, and ranch work. My hometown has about 200 residents, and we were a distance from a large, populated town or city. As a result, we made our own fun. My grandma and I spent hours together sewing, doing needlepoint, crafting, and drawing. From a young age, I have always been creating things. My great aunt had me over to her ranch on Saturday mornings for oil painting lessons, from there I tried macrame, drawing, and then as an adult, I have quilted, done needlework, scrapbooking, and some photography.

I attended Colorado State University and became a high school and college English teacher. My husband and I own a ranch outside of Wray where we raised our four kids. The years flew by, and my creativity branched out into projects involving our kids – making posters and fliers, for events, and creating and editing football highlight films. However, I was itching to get back to painting after our youngest left for college so I signed up for a year-long, online art course taught by many different artists in a variety of genres.

It was a great introduction to many mediums and techniques. Before long, I found my new passion-Mixed Media Art. I love the mixture of supplies, loose format, hidden meanings, and open end of Mixed Media Art. Additionally, I have always been sentimentality drawn to handwritten notes, recipes, old sheet music, vintage magazines, receipts, newspaper clippings, etc. and so I began using these in my pieces hoping to add to the “story” of the art and to create a new dimension to the work. I have continued to take classes from a variety of well-known artists whose works I’ve admired throughout the country, and have combined their tips and techniques into my own style.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m not sure if anything is a smooth road. There is a learning curve, and there are obvious feelings of not being “good” enough. My art is kind of messy, happy, loose, and accidental. I like to break rules. I am not formally educated in art techniques, but I am glad I’m not because I can just make things the way I want to. It has been a joyful ride! Every day when I am making art it feels as if I am a kid at play.

I love going into my studio and getting lost in a project. My art has also led to the opportunity of teaching Mixed Media classes to both adults and children. I find that with adults especially many are unsure of themselves, reluctant, and shy when beginning the class. When I state that in my classes there are no rules and also there is no such thing as a mistake, I see that gradually my students become more relaxed and start to have fun. That is such a gratifying thing for me as a teacher! Creating joy. I also learn so much from my students. They teach me something new every time.

We’d love to hear more about your art.
My art business is pretty organic to be honest. My primary business is our ranch, and I am very involved and active in cattle work and bookkeeping. My art business is done on the side and when time, the weather, and the season allows. I do commissions, teach classes, do signage, sell art, and try to give back to my community with my art. That might include donating art pieces or hosting an art party for a charity auction.

Basically, if someone has an idea or request for a piece of art, a class, or party idea, I try to do my best to make it happen. I have an Instagram account and Facebook page and have also sold items on Etsy. I have hosted Art Weekends at the Ranch where a group of gals will come out for a weekend of art, food, conversation, and ranch immersion. They have been a fun endeavor for me.

I am most proud of the joy on my students’ faces when they create an amazing piece and have seemed to have had a fun, stress-free time doing so! I also have created some art pieces for special friends that have had significant meaning to them by incorporating personal papers and items in the artwork. Their happiness at seeing the final product just makes everything worthwhile.

What sets me apart from others is that my art creations are unique and meaningful due to the extra “layer’ of papers and stories within. For example, I created a piece for some friends who had lost their son to cancer at the age of 26. He was a college athlete and a wonderful young man. His family gave me a box of their son’s handwritten notes, report cards, letters, newspaper articles, football, programs, etc., and I made an art piece depicting his life, college logo, and jersey number using the paper ephemera. Something about seeing a person’s handwriting keeps their memory alive.

What were you like growing up?
I was the only girl in the family with three brothers on a big cattle ranch, so I learned to be tough, to keep up, to entertain myself, and to be low maintenance. I had a big imagination and loved playing outdoors for hours or could huddle up in my room creating things. I loved to read, draw, color, ride horses, play games, and doing any sport, we were fortunate enough to travel the world as a family, so the love of new places, adventure, and travel were ingrained in me at an early age.

Contact Info:

• Address: 40369 US Highway 34
  Wray Colorado 8-758
• Website: wrayranch.co
• Phone: 970-630-4062
• Email: jojobuck.jb@gmail.co,
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cowbellsart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cowbellsart/?ref=bookmarks

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