I am truly proud of this body of work inspired by the Modern Day Cowgirl. For the past few years I have been attending and photographing western horse shows and events and after thousands of pictures taken I decided to do a western themed body of artwork. Choosing to do this was an interesting path. When I looked at what is out there in terms of western art, the concentration weighs more on the side of cowboy art, not cowgirl art. Therefore, I felt compelled to create artworks that were more cowgirl oriented.

The second part was how to infuse my contemporary stylization into the drawings and how to execute the work. Originally I had started to use paint. Since that is the medium I use most I felt is was the natural course of action. Then once day I found a linoleum block in my studio and it was like love at first sight. I was so inspired because one of the things that I love about western riding is the craftsmanship that goes into creating its tack (saddles and bridles). The amount of hand tooling that goes into a saddle was such an admirable task to me. So I thought that carving linoleum was the way I could be true to the subject matter and my style of drawing would bring a modern flair to it.

So it is with great pleasure I share this cowgirl art and cowboy art with you. Please check back often as I am continually carving new blocks to print. This is going to be long and wonderful journey, so enjoy the ride!

Leiann Klein-Artist