Ted Moore, artist
Grandma’s Colors, 2020
Acrylic on canvas

I am an Osage from the Grayhorse district. My grandma is Mary Osage Green. We have a camp of our descendants of Mary Osage Green at each In-lon-schka dance at Grayhorse each year in early June.

The pandemic has allowed me to focus more on my painting. I try different art techniques while painting and typically stay with similar themes of our Osage culture and life. Our culture is the way we live such as prayer, how we teach, think, and plan, raise our children and grandchildren, cooking, gathering and just enjoying life. During the heart of our In-lon-schka dances, our ways of doing things is orderly and makes me proud. Our drum, songs, and dancers bring us together in a good way. The aesthetics of our culture is all around us during our dances.

The role of art making can play in dealing with the effects of the pandemic in that it keeps me grounded to who I am as an Osage and as an artist. There is a story behind each of my paintings.

My painting is called Grandma’s Colors. The colors in the painting are my grandmother’s colors she has talked about often in her lifetime. My wife assisted me in the color arrangements as the art depicts the traditional ribbon work of the Osage.  I hope you enjoy the painting.