Laura Petrovich-Cheney "Prairie Sky"

My imagination for the West is likely as idealistic as any East Coaster's: images of unspoiled beauty, the harsh conditions of the climate, the struggles against encroaching development, the boundless freedom of wide-open, expansive land and sky.

My earliest memories of the West are painted by my father's favorite show, Gunsmoke, and my cherished books, Little House on the Prairie. My first true encounter with the West was from 50,000 feet above, peering out of a plane window. The vast stretches of land below was breathtaking. The earth was a quilted patchwork of tans, greens, and deep browns, broadening endlessly in all directions. Subsequent visits to Colorado, New Mexico, and Nebraska only deepened my appreciation for the immense, untamed beauty of the West.

Real experience with ranches was modest, confined to several horse barns where I rode English style as a teenager. Barns were more plentiful back then, and many have since been sold off for developments. The wood included here is from a horse barn just outside Philadelphia, torn down in 2011.

My granddaughter's pony bridle and reins are from Equest Show Stables in New Egypt, New Jersey, owned by Dawn Edwards. The white and blue wood comes from an old goat and chicken barn in Marblehead, MA, some of the last 19th-century outbuildings in town, demolished in 2021. The shiny green square and some of the mustard yellow wood are from two separate old garage in Asbury Park, New Jersey, once used for horse and buggy storage.

Some of the white wood is from fencing found along the roads in Yardley, PA, preserved by Farmland Preservation and agricultural conservation boards. The wood with branding marks, chain, and some reins are from Alice Leese at YT Ranch in Andrews, TX. The denim is from Kim Trickery in Springerville, AZ, and the wool is from Robin Lynde of Meridian Jacobs in Vacaville, CA.

Each piece holds a fragment of history, a whisper of a time when the West was still wild and free, filled with the dreams of those who ventured into its vast, untamed beauty.