My Fondest Memories – Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature

Army Graduation Photos

Leanne — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:05:24 +0000

The drive was not as long as I thought it would be, about 6 hours from my house to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The scenery? UN-believable. What a beautiful time of year for that road trip! Illinois was boring until we got to Peoria, then boring again until we hit the St. Louis area. Thankfully, I had my mom in the car with me so I had plenty of entertainment! ha!!

We arrived Wednesday, late afternoon, and checked in to our hotels. I had chosen a dive, based on a completely misrepresented photo online – so reservationist beware. It cost me some bucks to cancel, and I did some begging for a room at a nicer place. I even got the military discount, without having my ID card. Whew! Thank God for small favors!

Much of my family made the trip, as well. Mark’s leave was canceled so he wasn’t able to come, but my Dad and his wife, my Mom, my sister and her family — and my brother all drove down to Missouri to see Brandi graduate from basic training. We met at a diner for dinner and yacked it up for a bit before heading back to get some sleep. We were up at Zero-Dark-Thirty (6AM, military style) to get together and yack more over coffee before heading to the base to wander around before the Graduation Ceremony.

Arriving on base, I had my camera in my lap and took as many photos as I could. I even have two or three videos of half-cadences, if I get to converting them to a normal media format I’ll post those as well. A cadence, for anyone who doesn’t know, are the songs that our men and women in uniform march to. Some are hilarious, some are sweet, most are snarky. I have a couple of them stuck in my head. I just don’t have the rhythm to march to them!

Funny and scary thing happened, when pulling through the gate a MP spotted our cameras. She asked if we took any photos of the gate area. I said no — I took a photo of my dad in his rear view, and I offered to show it to her. (See? I’m a total attention whore. LOOK AT MY PHOTOS! I don’t care if I’m in trouble, just LOOK!) She then poked her head in and asked Catybug the same question. She was about terrified that they were going to confiscate her camera! “Um, no, *big eyes* just the welcome above the gate, is that okay? Should I delete it? *terrified* Here I’ll show you…” And the MP told her that was alright. Phew! Ahem. Let’s get there before we end up in the brig, alright? Dang.

This is my big brother. I know. You didn’t even know I HAD a big brother. He’s like an invisible brother. Now you see him, now you don’t for five years. You know those kind? He’s magical, but I still love him. He looks a little “Top Gun” in this photo so I had to share. He’ll probably hunt me down or hack into my computer to get it off my system. He’s smart like that.

We parked and had a lot of time to kill, so we took a little walk around the base. It was FREEZING! I borrowed my dad’s gargantuan sweatshirt and gave my coat to Catybug. Chickeymonkey, the smart one, came prepared. She also came with strep throat, and antibiotics – but that’s another story.

Here are the girls in front of a tank, doesn’t Catybug look great in my new coat?

Me and my momma. Awww.

Me and my girls. Double Awwww.

Me and my Dad. Gasp. SERIOUSLY. That’s my dad. I think I may laminate this one.

Catybug and my Dad walking back up to go to the Ceremony. Sweet.

Catybug in front of the tank. She was seriously digging the tank.

No group of photos on my blog would be the same without wildlife, eh?

During the ceremony, she had to bite down on the inside of her cheek really hard to stop from smiling once she saw us. She was in serious pain, and she looked MAD. She really isn’t ticked off. Or maybe she was, thinking “get the he** away from me with that camera before I bust a giggle”. She would never admit that, though. I wonder how long it will take for the inside of her cheek to heal?

The Ceremony rocked. I cried, and passed out Kleenex because everyone else was crying too. Dang. The girls were totally captivated by the whole thing, which is why I wanted them to see it. There’s a certain pride and love of Country that wells up from deep inside when you see over a hundred people in one place willing to give their lives for any one of us. Having grown up Military style myself and having been married to the Military for 20 years, this is the kind of experience you want your kids to feel for themselves.

Once the ceremony was over, we went to pick up my sis and check her out for the afternoon. When we finally got to her, Mom had first dibs.

Proud Momma.

Congratulations, Private Belrichard. You look pretty dang spiffy!

Family photo at the hotel, before a late lunch.
(Yes, I brought my tripod. No one is missing! Yay!)

We went to a steakhouse for lunch. The outback was painted all over the walls.
I couldn’t help myself, and Catybug was a good sport!!

We hung out with my sis for the afternoon, not doing much – well, okay, we went to WalMart. We just hung out and yacked and shared pics and stuff. Brandi had to report back to base by 9PM so we returned to base early and she showed us around some places where she trained. It was very cool.

We said our goodbye’s Thursday evening. She’s starting AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) now and has 12 more weeks to go. I have to say, I am so proud of her. There are a certain percentage of every group of people that enter Basic Training that fall out because they are just not meant for it. It’s not easy, and you need to have a special kind of endurance to get through it. I am proud to be able to say that she’s got what it takes!

My mom, sister and niece saw us off yesterday morning. We had breakfast and chatted before heading home, and I got one more pic of me and my fam before we hit the road.

Me, Tommi, Rayne (my niece), Mom, Catybug & Chickeymonkey.

We drove through St. Louis on the way home so the girls could see the Arch. The traffic made me crazy so we didn’t stop, but I-44 goes right past it so we did get a good view. We also stopped just outside of Fort Leonard Wood to get a pic of Catybug by a rock wall. It didn’t look that big when we were driving past it – but dang! It certainly dwarfs her doesn’t it?

It was a great trip, a beautiful trip, a proud trip. And I’m glad to be home.

My Art in Dog World Magazine

Leanne — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:46:20 +0000

I had quite the giddy little girl surprise yesterday when I opened my mailbox – I received the July issue of DogWorld Magazine. I wasn’t expecting this issue until – well, July. So I was pretty surprised to see it and cannot TELL you how quickly I opened up to the inside cover contents:

Now, this is where the squealing like a little girl part came in. Those of you who know my work know exactly why already, those of you who don’t? Click here, then come back and have another look. If any of you would like to reminisce, you could go back to my blog archives and have a walk down memory lane, and see how Katie’s portrait came to life in my studio.

When I was asked to display artwork in DogWorld Magazine, I was absolutely ecstatic. I had to submit work for consideration, first, and then the editorial team would approve the final artwork selected for this issue. Katie was an obvious choice, she’s a gorgeous purebred Lab. I quickly provided everything they requested and it wasn’t long before her portrait was issued their stamp of approval. So much so, in fact, that they gave her a full page:

From start to finish, Katie’s portrait is “all me”. What’s different about this piece from my other portraits is that I also did the photo shoot with Katie. I selected this composition from my own photography – so it is exactly how I envisioned her from start to finish. Getting down on the floor with her and hanging out with her, seeing how she behaved around her mom, this conveys her spirit in a portrait perfect way, from first hand knowledge and experience.

The greatest part about this opportunity is that it is who it is. Dog lovers, those who have those special connections with their dogs, trainers, aficionados – these are the eyes that will pick up this magazine and see this portrait, so this is such an insane honor. Really. I can’t even wrap my brain around how flattered and overwhelming it is.

Other artists work included in the “Gallery of Dogs” spread include Michael Pfleghaar, Louise Peterson, Nicholas Moss, Paul Boddum, Marjorie Pesek, Lori Alexander and Hilda Spain-Owen.

If you’re in the pet store or Borders or wherever there’s a great big magazine rack – pick up the July (2008) issue of Dog World.

AVMA

Leanne — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:12:08 +0000

A few months ago I was contacted by AVMA, aka the American Veterinary Medical Association about my painting, Coon. Some of you may remember this painting I created back in 2004 for the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley (California), it was auctioned off to the highest bidder to raise funds for their rehabilitation and release facilities. I was happy as a clam to find out it brought them a few hundred dollars, especially since this raccoon is one of their very own rescues.

Now I’m thinking this must be good karma that the AVMA selected this painting as one they wanted to feature on the cover of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association this month.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), established in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 74,000 veterinarians working in private and corporate practice, government, industry, academia, and uniformed services. (source)

Of course, I am positively proud and absolutely flattered and humbled both that so many professionals will get a glimpse of my work, and perhaps catch a sense of my love for wildlife. There’s no better reward for me than this, really. Truly. It’s like being in a room of 74,000 who all have everything in common – especially since my “what do you want to be when you grow up” answer was always “A Veterinarian”. Now that didn’t happen, obviously, but I am doing what I’m meant to be doing, and it does involve animals. And for that I feel blessed, and grateful.

I don’t ask for much – I just do what I love to do, and hope that people see that and remember what I’m representing when they’re looking at anything in nature – right down to the intricate veins of a Cecada.

Today, I’m honored. I’m excited, I’m elated – I can’t even identify all of the feelings swirling around right now. This is just – in a word – cool.

Pinch Me, Quick!

Leanne — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:45:02 +0000

Yesterday was the day.Winners were announced.

My fingers jittered and twittered as I dialed the museum. My heart raced and skipped while I waited to be transferred to The One With The List. She answered the phone. I stuttered and stammered, pronouncing my last name like the people who call here with sales pitches in the middle of the afternoon. I asked the question. Needy, like a child begging for acceptance into the “in crowd”. She recognized my name.

That surprised me.

She shuffled and flipped paperwork looking for the list. She laughed when the file was open on her monitor. She looked. She confirmed.

Judge’s Choice – Peacock. 1st Place.People’s Choice – Peacock. Honorable Mention.

I’ll take photos of it with the actual ribbons when I get back over there to pick up my prize, which is a surprise! It (as well as my other entries) will be on display through November 19th at Putnam Museum.

My first exhibition.My first awards.

Both the public and professional judges.

It’s official, I’m a Professional Photographer, too.

This rocks.

Thank you for supporting and encouraging me through this! I would have been a total basketcase without you guys. Hugs. Love. and more Hugs.

Final Scan & Detail : Joey

Leanne — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 01:58:54 +0000

Click to view detail shot!

Custom Portrait J&L : Final Scan

Leanne — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 03:45:48 +0000

Bindi : Final Scan & Details

Leanne — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 21:54:08 +0000

Click to view detail images!

Yellow Rose Final Scan

Leanne — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 21:33:17 +0000

Yellow Rose
5″ x 7″ Oil Painting
Canvas Panel
$100.00

4X4 Collage

Leanne — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 16:51:04 +0000

Commemorative Patriotic Paintings
From top left:
(1)Patriotic Squirrely, (2)Patriotic Harley Mouse, (3)Patriotic Angel,
(4)Patriotic Gator, (5)Patriotic Wolf, (6)Patriotic Bluebirds,
(7)Patriotic Polish Chicken
For detailed explanation, see Commemorating the Countdown.