Exploring the Wild at City Hall Through John Keeling's Watercolors

by Bob Bahr, Prairie Village Arts Council member

"First Light," by John Keeling, watercolor, 14 x 11 in.

When John Keeling was growing up outside of Salina, Kansas, he didn't live on a farm or a ranch. But the open spaces and wild horses beckoned, nonetheless. When he started spending time in Wyoming about 20 years ago, his affection for wild places and wild animals bloomed--especially when he experienced the Deerwood Ranch Wild Horse EcoSanctuary.

"My aunt took me to see the wild horses there, and I loved them," says Keeling. "They were pretty friendly, and I got to take a lot of photos. That's when I started painting horses. Wild horses are a bit rougher around the edges. They are not as showy. They tend to be stockier, although with beautiful markings--ruggedly handsome."

"Drinking Buddies," by John Keeling, watercolor, 12 x 12 in.

Now, Keeling spends as much time as possible at his place nestled next to Wyoming's Snowy Range. His paintings of wild horses exhibit his love for the animals, but it also demonstrates his overall knowledge of animal anatomy--Keeling makes a good living painting pet portraits and teaching workshops. Labradoodles and bulldogs come to life on his watercolor paper right there on his drawing table in the High Plains of Wyoming…when he's not painting "paints."

Humans are animals, too, and men find their way into Keeling's work. One standout from his current collection on view at Prairie Village's municipal building depicts two cowboys emerging from a canyon. "I call it my ode to "Brokeback Mountain"--not that I painted it referring to that, but it works."

"Wildhorse, Running Paint," by John Keeling, watercolor, 8 x 10 in.

This is the second life for this painting. Keeling painted a much bigger scene on a bigger piece of watercolor paper (16" x 20") several years ago. "It was the two on horseback, but it was a day scene, and the figures were small with a lot of canyon behind them, Keeling recalls. "I felt like I had overworked it, so I put it away. Then when I was talking to someone at a plein air painting event, she said that she makes something a nocturne when things aren't working on a painting. I decided to try that with this one. So I laid in a lot of indigo, along with ultramarine blue and some cobalt, building up multiple layers that took out all the yuck in the background. Then I added the trees and adjusted everything to make it nighttime. I consider it my ugly duckling painting, because it turned out beautifully."

Act fast and catch Keeling's work at City Hall--it comes down on March 8.