Someone once said that August is the Sunday of summer and that is why the Orphanage has lined up two local artists to finish up the summer and launch into autumn. The two artists are Deb Wise from Joes and Elaine Rudnik from Anton. This art exhibit will be on display from Friday, Aug. 2 through Sunday, Sept. 8.
Deb Wise is calling her portion of this show Wise Meditations. Wise was born and raised in Yuma County and eventually moved to Phoenix, Ariz., where she lives most of the year. But the beautiful Colorado Plains and her family continue to draw her back to Joes, where she spends her summers in a small cottage.
Wise graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1976 with a master’s degree in speech pathology and later earned a master’s degree in elementary education. She worked as a speech pathologist for most of the Yuma County school systems and in the Yuma and Wray hospitals and nursing homes. She started taking photographs in 1999 to capture the beauty of the High Plains as well as her travels across the U.S. and abroad. She took photography classes in Phoenix and loves shooting what she calls “God’s Kodak moments for treasured memories.” Wise finds that “meditating on a personally meaningful photograph can bring peace and solace to your soul.”
Discovering art was a serendipitous journey for Elaine Rudnik ,who has named her portion of the show A Painting Journey. Originally on a path toward becoming a health and life coach, she unexpectedly found her passion through a course on decluttering the home. As she began clearing physical space, her mind followed suit, opening to newfound creativity and artistic expression. Alongside painting, Rudnik has explored sketching, acrylic and oil painting, watercolors, and even wood burning, each medium offering its own unique canvas for her ideas to flourish.
Rudnik has had diverse career paths, from training to become a nanny and a certified nursing assistant to farm business management. But it was in caregiving that she discovered her true calling. For 17 years, she dedicated herself to compassionate service, working as a CNA with Hospice of the Plains and currently with Eastern Colorado Services for the Developmentally Disabled. Amid caring for others, Rudnik “discovered painting (is) an outlet that allows me to declutter my mind and focus deeply.”
There will be an artist reception, at The Orphanage, on Friday, Aug. 2, from 5 to 8 pm. Refreshments will be served, and The Orphanage Trio will play a short program of love songs starting at 6 pm. The Orphanage is at 300 South Main Street, Yuma. For more information about this exhibit or future shows, please contact Richard Birnie at (970) 630-3360, or visit the website at orphanageyuma.com. Hours for the duration of the show will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The Orphanage is closed Mondays.
