My love song for non-conformist Ann Ripley

By Sally King Redstone Review

I met Ann about 20 years ago

We were new to the neighborhood and invited to a party and there she was an in a white shirt with that white shock of hair

Looking like Amelia Earhart or Gertrude Stein

I knew I was in the presence someone significant Glorious in her mid-seventies (a timeline I now find myself in)

Ann lived on Antelope Road, just a short walk up hill

And during our visits. I would learn of the latest outrage

In politics and government. Her values were clear

She was a woman of Conviction –she didn’t hold back.

Completely contemporary in her views and understanding.

We’d drink coffee and talk out back by her garden

Taking turns… holding forth, as friends will do.

Ann began writing garden murder mysteries

In her retirement years

And then she took up painting in her 80s

Hosting a Monday morning art class, Clearing off the dining room table

Transforming the room into an art space

Where a loyal crew of artists would faithfully arrive

Bringing their art materials for a few hours of camaraderie

While making their art.

Ann’s painting style was a kind of folk art

Paintings that tell a story

Like the painting of a woman in her bathing suit smoking a cigarette (sexy women in her day, used to smoke)

And I especially loved the painting of her Venus on the Half Shell – Self Portrait

It’s of an old-fashioned bathtub

And a woman stepping away from us

As she stepped out of the bath

And as we sat in Ann’s room with her during her last day.

My eyes were drawn to this painting –of Ann stepping away

Just out of the bath

And she made it look doable

Just a peaceful step – out of the bath

We need our artists

People who are resourced from within. Self-authorized people.

And in sitting with her those few days of her life

This wild awareness entered my consciousness

It dawned on me

That I was in the presence of a Master

A person who had claimed life as her own. And this is the task Ann sets us to To fully move in And be in-house Inside ourselves.

Creatively, dynamically. Powerfully

Bringing in the creative life force

Through our own glorious selves.

Sally King is a local artist who has created whimsical bears and delightful wild flower acrylic paintings to enhance the appearance of Lyons all over the town. She lives with her husband John King, a kinetic sculptor artist, near Lyons. You can find her on her blog and website: hersoupot.net and sallywhiteking.com.

King

Clarifier Community Mosaic Love Day, Saturday, May 13

Thirteen volunteers, including many who worked on the original Clarifier mosaic sculpture, gathered to clean up, spruce up, and make needed repairs in anticipation of warmer weather and more visitors. The group weeded and weed-whacked the surrounding areas, as well as cleared the roof in preparation for fall switchgrass planting. We also cleaned the Clarifier’s surface and made needed repairs, and planted hens and chicks between the surrounding large buff sandstone boulders.Thanks to LAHC and Town of Lyons and all CCM supporters.

At the far left is Melinda Wunder, LAHC member, who worked tirelessly with Priscilla Cohan and Cathy Rivers on the content and creation of the new Clarifier Community Mosaic sign. PHOTOS BY CATHY RIVERS

Hailey Pierce – Silver Creek High School

Henry Joseph Barone – Silver Creek High School

Ryan Bruckner – Longmont High School

Maya Caplan – Silver Creek High School

Nataya Marie Cook – New Vista High School

Izzie Hayden – Silver Creek High School

Lily Hirt – Silver Creek High School

Isabella Kauffman – New Vista High School

Jamieson Legh – Niwot High School

Sophie Vivian Pike – The Colorado Rocky Mountain School

Kristen Jean Quinn – Niwot High School

Oliver Nunez – Longmont High School