Sisters artist launches Kickstarter campaign

Sisters artist and horsewoman Kimry Jelen has a big opportunity looming, and she's turned to Kickstarter to fund it.

Jelen's been invited to show her equine art at the pinnacle of "horsey" events, The World Equestrian Games (WEG) 2014, in Normandy, France. The late-August/early September event is an awfully long way from Central Oregon, and when hit with the reality of the cost of getting her paintings there, Jelen realized it was beyond the scope of her hay-filled pockets. Enter Kickstarter, the popular crowd-sourcing fundraising venue that several other Sisters Country residents have used to fund their projects.

A fine art calendar is the main incentive Jelen is using. She also offers others ranging from notecards to prints of her paintings to opportunities to purchase originals. A group painting class is also on the list.

The WEG is a four-yearly event, held in a different country each time. Eight equestrian disciplines are represented - showjumping, dressage, eventing, carriage driving, endurance riding, vaulting, reining and para-dressage. Along with the competitors, the spectator gallery swells to around 500,000 over the course of the event.

The 2010 games were in Lexington, Kentucky, the first time the U.S. has hosted. Jelen got her art into a Lexington gallery and spent the two weeks of the games leaving brochures and cards in places where they'd be picked up. One of the brochures was shown to a representative of the Paris gallery, Le Galerie du Cheval (The Gallery of the Horse.) One of Jelen's Facebook friends is represented by the gallery, and ultimately Jelen was asked if images of her art could accompany the gallery's application to the vendor area at the Games. To her knowledge, she is the only American artist to be so honored.

A successful Kickstarter campaign ensures that Jelen will be able to concentrate on creating a representative body of work to take to France. "I want to share the essence of Western landscape," she said. Even though she does not classify herself as a "Western" artist, she has lived all over the West and has a deep appreciation for the space, silence and beauty found here. "I'm looking forward to sharing that with Europe," she said.

To participate in Kimry Jelen's Kickstarter campaign, go to www.kickstarter.com. Put her name into the "search projects" box and go from there.