September 28, 2010 Cheryl McMullen

Women Who Design the West

..

I'll admit, I was really dreading breaking my routine

and flying up to Cody, Wyoming for the

Women Who Design the West Conference,

but now that I am back, I can't stop smiling.

First - as I got off the plane I was greeted by this auspicious poster and knew I was going to have a great trip,

Oh, what a lovely jacket ...why it is DDR Spring/Summer 2007!

Second - I was privileged to speak at the WWDW conference and was fortunate to meet so many talented and enthusiastic women artist. One lady has revived the lost art of horsehair braiding, another gal is a blacksmith that forces manly steel to submit into beautiful contemporary floral sculpture. Another gal drapes and manipulates brain tanned leather, while another tools and stitches it into beautiful apparel and handbags. There were woodcarvers, beaders, furniture makers, and jewelry makers. I hope to do a future post and feature some of these women - they were amazing. Third - I got to meet and brake bread with the CEO from Stetson. Yes, that Stetson - the one my dad said,

is the only hat to wear - 30X silver belly

and it's bad luck to leave laying on the bed.

I had a four-hour dinner with Pam Fields, CEO of Stetson Worldwide, who awed and entertained me as she jumped from Yiddish to Portuguese telling stories about being a New Yorker and dealing with good 'ol boys in the western industry. I am still laughing! And finally, a trip to Cody would not be complete without a visit to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center so I made a quick swoop through. The Center's big annual fundraiser was also in full swing and if I would have had my pocketbook open, I would have loved to have taken home Duke Beardsley's Muy Caliente. So that's it. I'm back home and back at it.

.....................................................................................................................................................................A special thank you is extended to Thea Marx of Contemporary Western Design and Heather Christensen for being a lovely and gracious host and to Shaulee (sorry on the spelling) for pics from the event.

Filed in: art, blacksmith, brain tanned leather, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Contemporary Western Design, Duke Beardsley, furniture makers, Heather Christensen, horsehair braiding, jewelry makers, Museums & Exhibitions, Muy Caliente, Pam Fields, Portuguese, Shows, silver belly hat, Stetson, Thea Marx, Whitney Gallery Western Art, Women Who Design the West, woodcarver, Yiddish

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Comments

Shelagh - May 16, 2016
I’m so attending next year & hopefully showing too! Sounds like it was a great sister-hood of fabulous-ness!!

Cheryl - May 16, 2016
Amber Jean – it was so nice to meet you and to get to see your amazing work. When you have time, I would love for you to do a guest post here on our blog and feature some of your craft.

Clair Kehrberg - May 16, 2016
Cheryl, you were great! Your presentation was inspiring and fun! I really enjoyed meeting you and hope to see you again next year!

Cheryl - May 16, 2016
Awesome – why don’t you work something up with a lot of visuals and let’s do it!

Amber Jean - May 16, 2016
Would be happy to guest blog (and an honor) Cheryl. Let’s stay in touch!

Cheryl - May 16, 2016
Shelagh – yep, you missed a good one, but not to worry because I know Thea will have a bigger and better event next year! Hope to see you there.

Cheryl - May 16, 2016
Oh Clair, you sweet thing – you were precious! It was so wonderful to meet you and see your wonderful work. Please consider doing a guest post for us here on Double Talk. I want to feature some of the great craft I saw last week and spread the word.