Artfully
yours
Artist finds
inspiration from
South Dakota
to California
Written & Photographed
By Laura Wrede
S
outh Dakota is a land of many extremes. There are flat dry
prairies surrounded by high mountains with glacial lakes.
Summers can soar above one hundred degrees and scorch
every thing in its wake. In the winter, the wind chill can drop
to less than 20 degrees; a temperature so cold that it can cause
frostbite in less than thirty minutes. In the springtime, it’s as if
the land forgot the harsh cold winter as miles of colorful prairie
grasses and wildflowers fill the view. This was home to artist
Elissa Neshiem for three decades.
“When you live in one place for thirty years you become
connected to that landscape in a magnificent way,” said Elissa.
“Each highway and dirt road is a map to your internal compass
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telling you, this is where you are and this is where you are
going. There is no doubt or fear even when you discover a new
road, because you are home. This is what growing up and living
in South Dakota is to me.”
The Black Hills National Forest, Buffalo Gap Grasslands, the
eerie Badlands, the red clay of the southern hills in Fall River,
high meadows and canyons in Spearfish, all were the familiar
sights to Elissa growing up. They became the visual seeds that
sparked her creative imagination as she traveled often over long
dusty roads to visit family.
“Much of my close and extended family lived scattered
amongst various small towns in western South Dakota. As
MAY / JUNE 2015
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