Amy Lilley Designs: The Broadmoor and Tonto...What????

'I Am Crow', by Kirby Sattler

Johnny Depp as 'Tonto' in the movie, 'The Lone Ranger'

'Nightfall', by Kirby Sattler

'Yellow Horse', by Kirby Sattler

'Red Braids', by Kirby Sattler

The Broadmoor

Summer days are sizzling up here in The Springs and it is nice to get out in the late afternoon and early evening for a walk. Jimmy and I decided to drive 'down' to the Broadmoor to do just that. There are shops, the grounds are beautiful, it beckons. We found out that the outdoor shops, with their very friendly staff, were a relatively recent addition to the historic Broadmoor. The additions to the hotel are seamless. We walked around, enjoyed each of the shops we visited, along with speaking to the interesting shopkeepers along the way. However, the highlight of our little jaunt, was walking into a gallery, named, Hayden Hays. The gallery has 2 locations @ the Broadmoor. One houses more traditional themes while the other caters to a western and wildlife aesthetic. Together they compile a unique collection of oils, acrylics, watercolors, bronzes, etchings, lithographs, sketches, photographs and wood sculptures sure to please both the serious collector as well as the casual visitor. We, the casual visitors, were completely taken by some of the work we saw. This is the reason. We walked in and were immediately struck by the beautiful detailed, bronze sculptures of horses and wildlife, children at play, Indians in their glory. The artist, Kirby Sattler, paints magnificent, stunning, breathtaking portraits of Indians. This is an important quote from the artist:

'My paintings are interpretations based upon the nomadic tribes of the 19th century American Plains. The subjects are a variety of visual references and my imagination. I am not a historian, nor an ethnologist. Being of non-native blood, without personal history, it would be presumptuous to portray the subject I paint from any other view than as an artist with an innate interest in the world’s indigenous cultures. I purposely do not denote a tribal affiliation to the majority of my subjects, rather, I attempt to give the paintings an authentic appearance, provoke interest, satisfy my audience’s sensibilities of the subject without the constraints of having to adhere to historical accuracy.'

We entered into a lively discussion with the lovely gallery keeper, about these paintings by the gifted Kirby Sattler. They are painted with golden heavy bodied acrylics on linen canvas. They are not small, 22 x 20, 34 x 24, and the gold framing brings out their beauty. Here comes the real kicker, here it is people. It seems that Johnny Depp's make-up in the movie, 'The Lone Ranger', in the role of 'Tonto', was inspired by Mr. Sattler's painting, 'I Am Crow'!! REALLY??? You can clearly see, the proof is in the, well, make-up. Jimmy and Edward had just seen the movie over the weekend. I know that there has been a lively debate, if you will, about Johnny Depp playing Tonto, which added to 'the moment', of this golden nugget of information.

So, our late afternoon/early evening stroll around The Broadmoor gave us much more than we bargained for, hence, 'The Broadmoor and Tonto'. We walked away knowing that we will go back for more, dig a little deeper into the whole area, and who knew, a blog post too boot!