Free art draws a crowd in Sisters

Ciera and Maceigh Yost stood midway in the Cascade Avenue line Saturday morning, a bit chilled but hoping to get one of Dan Rickards' prized prints before they ran out.

In the 9th annual Clearwater Gallery Cascade Landscape Series giveaway, fans and friends traveled from as far as La Pine, Prineville and Redmond to be one of the lucky 150 persons to receive a free signed edition of his latest art piece, "The Bachelor."

"We love all the activities and events here in SIsters," said Ciera, adjusting her three-year-old daughter's purple witch's hat. "It's good for our small little family. We have a ton of Dan's rodeo poster so we're excited to get a print and go see the Harvest Faire."

More than 200 people, some in coats and hooded sweatshirts, others in soccer cleats and bike shorts, braved a cool start to the day but quickly thawed as the line began to move at 10 a.m.

Inspiration for this year's print came from the local artist's hiking through the beautiful Cascades with his wife, four children and many friends. Titled, "The Bachelor," it depicts the awe and serenity of the venerable mountain bathed in the warm embrace of a summer sunset.

"So many people know Bachelor and have hiked its trails and skied its slopes at some point so it's kind of an extra significance," said Rickards, greeting his guests with a smile and a swipe of his pen on the freshly printed editions. "This year I got a late start and was finishing a commission and it suddenly dawned on me that Bachelor was a mountain I'd never painted as a main focus. The view is west-facing and I chose one of the nearby buttes to add depth to the composition. I just completed it two weeks ago." 

A steady crowd spilled into the gallery to be greeted warmly by Rickards and his wife Julia, and be presented with a signed and numbered print.

Margie Hunter drove from Prineville with a group of six very happy friends and scanned the many discounted framing options hung on the walls amid Rickards' prolific nature

paintings.

"We come every year," she said. "The whole group of us. We try and get here an hour early for Dan's picture. I just love this one of Mount Bachelor. We enjoy coming to Sisters and it's always a special day to look forward to."

"This has become such a fun tradition for us for the past nine years," said Rickards. "It's so great to see all the people every year, new ones and returning ones. It's really an honor for me too and I think it's one of the coolest things ever."