ICONS & LEGENDS OF THE AMERICAN WEST

ELIZA GEDDES

HF BAR RANCH

Like many guests to HF Bar Ranch, Eliza Geddes’ life was enriched and changed by her time visiting the ranch and experiencing the raw natural beauty of Wyoming, during the warm summer months of her childhood.

“I fondly remember, the wide open spaces, beautiful bright clear skies and the scent of kerosine wafting from our cabin that kept the fires roaring after a night ride on Rosebud, my favorite trail. My first horse “Jigger” was one of the old classics. I can still hear the Clydesdale approaching with fresh ice. These are lingering memories I have of HF Bar from when I was a child visiting with my family. I remember a true sense of freedom, the fun of being young and wild, running around without boundaries, riding horses, swimming in cold creeks and coming into the cabin covered in dust but somehow I still felt clean and definitely very alive. All of your senses are awakened at HF Bar and I felt a deep connection to the place and its people.

In the last few years, I became interested in exploring my lasting impressions of HF Bar Ranch, Wyoming and of “the West” that are still vivid to me. My exploration of the rich and complex history of the American West, brought with it images of iconic figures that I wanted to paint. Native American Chiefs, lawmen and outlaws, natural wildlife... the lively array of characters that have permeated our collective imagination. I submerged myself in my studio looking at historical accounts and portrayals in popular culture and attempting to capture images that resonated with me as I painted. I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for having experienced HF Bar Ranch at such an impressionable age and for how it opened my world as an artist in ways I never expected.”