Donna Howell-Sickles was born in 1949 in Gainesville, Texas and raised on a 900-acre farm. She first started painting cowgirls in 1972, after seeing an old postcard from the 1930s bearing the image of a rodeo cowgirl. She was earning her BFA at Texas Tech in Lubbock at the time. Fascinated by the woman on the postcard, Ms. Howell-Sickles began to research the history and imagery of the cowgirl. In her hands the cowgirl achieves the status of a heroine. Her work is rich with symbolism and allusions to classical mythology, but the appealing graphic style of the images allow them to stand on their own, drawing in the viewer. This exhibit is pulled from the personal collection of the artist.
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