The American West
Wacipi Wakan is an image that has gone through several incarnations. The
original idea for the painting came to the artist during his first trip to
South Dakota. He had the opportunity to attend a Lakota Pow-Wow, and was
able to witness there much of the traditional Lakota Costumes and dancing.
He was mesmerized by the rhythms, motions and colors of the dances and
knew the dancers would make a great subject for a painting. Before
starting the painting, he first did a large finished pencil drawing of the
image to show the detailed flowing lines of the dancer. After the drawing
was complete, Smith then created an even larger painting of the image to
capture the colors and emotion of the dancer. In doing so, however, he
made a technical mistake on the canvas and almost immediately the paint
began to crack, ruining the painting. After about a year had passed, I
decided to try painting the image again. I made a few changes to areas
that I wasn't satisfied with on the first painting, and as a result, came
out with a better image. The title, Wacipi Wakan, is Lakota for
"Sacred Dance".
Printed on acid free stock with fade
resistant inks, the print is signed by Russell Smith.
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