"Stand With Randy" Art Show at Meadowlark Coffee

I donated an illustration in good old fashioned illustrative media today (Prismacolor pencil and pastel on black Canson paper), and the subject matter is pretty dear to my heart.

Not long ago, I sat next to Buffalo Bruce at Meadowlark Coffee, and in his cheerful, endearing manner, he struck up a conversation.

Buffalo Bruce is the activist moniker of Bruce McIntosh, Staff Ecologist of the Western Nebraska Resources Council.

Bruce has earned my respect in so many ways, but the best part about hearing from him is that he is as informed and scientific as he is passionate.

In that brief, enjoyable time sitting and surfing the internet at our respective tables, Buffalo Bruce spun a tale of his research of a unique stand of Aspen trees in Nebraska. Aspens only proliferate through root systems, not seed. So the fact that isolated stands of aspen trees in Nebraska still attract the aspen's usual cadre of wildlife, despite the thousands of miles these species would have to travel, suggests to an artist like me that science may meet a sixth sense.

So when Adam Hintz asked if I would be willing to donate a piece of artwork about conserving the Sandhills ecology in the face of a possible TransCanada Pipeline, this stand of aspen was the first thing on my mind.

To see the piece (and so many more from local artists who have shown at Meadowlark in the past), enjoy an art show at Meadowlark Coffee this week. 1624 South St in Lincoln (next to Open Harvest Food Coop).

To learn more about how to write letters to Ben Nelson's office on the subject of conserving the Sandhills ecology, please visit http://standwithrandy.org

If you have enjoyed the Sandhills region in your travels in any way, whether floating the Niobrara River or enjoying grassfed beef from a Sandhills ranch, consider becoming informed at more "Stand With Randy" events.