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By Victoria Plasse
This season, WHJ is pleased to feature the work of local painter Amy Ringholz as well as introduce the newly opened Gold Mountain Gallery. From an 18-foot painting hanging near departures at the Jackson Hole Airport to works hanging at 3 Creek Ranch, Trio, and Cloudveil Hotel, Ringholz creates colorful wildlife portraits and landscapes that are part of the Jackson Hole culture. One of her pieces is in the permanent collection at the Booth Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, and she also recently published her first children’s book.
New to town and located in the historic Wort Plaza, Gold Mountain Gallery offers a curated aesthetic of the modern West. Chandeliers and furniture by award-winning artisan, Matt Downer of Matt Downer Designs, illuminate large-scale photographs by David Yarrow and Western artists Nate Law, James Corwin, and Kira Fercho. The gallery also has custom ping-pong tables with buffalo hide paddles – playful reminders to collectors that art is meant to be fun.
“The personalities in the animals are very human-like, and so there’s an intuitive attraction to that. Even if you’re not familiar with wildlife, you are familiar with the expressions and emotions that these paintings present.”
—Amy Ringholz, Artist
Gold Mountain Gallery
Having called Jackson home since 2002, artist Amy Ringholz has a zest for the West that is as recognizably Wyoming as the Grand Tetons and Devil’s Tower. However, her expressive portraits resonate with art lovers on an intimate level that knows no geography.
“I have no boundaries, no lines,” Ringholz says about her newer paintings that she considers abstract works of wildlife and landscape. “There’s so much abstraction going on that you’re immediately attracted to the energy, the color palette, and the expressionist qualities that I love. I am switching the roles so that I am more focused on the process of making a well-painted piece before forcing it to be a fox, bear or wolf,” the artist explains.
The shift to abstraction started for the artist two years ago. Ringholz abandoned the outlines that her previous work was well-known for. What emerged was a range of subject matter, including landscapes and a new passion for connecting with clients on a much more personal level.
“This is art that will connect them to Jackson,” Ringholz says. Her gallery, Ringholz Studios, is downtown. It’s unique in that outsiders can feel welcome just off the street.
“I am always pushing forward, always trying to outdo myself, learn more about myself, trying new things and learning how to create differently.”
—Amy Ringholz, Artist
“The personalities in the animals are very human-like, and so there’s an intuitive attraction to that. Even if you’re not familiar with wildlife, you are familiar with the expressions and emotions that these paintings present,” she shares. “They could be a reflection of where you are in your life, or your personality and character. These paintings are a bit like mirrors,” Ringholz adds.
Clients visit Ringholz Studios and encounter the art with a spectrum of options for how wild warriors project off the canvas with intimate emotion despite their tenacity—an owl at full descent or a hare at full attention.
Ringholz works with the individual collector’s needs, matching the energy with the elements from palette to antiques to wooden floors and lighting, and commissioning a work is liberating and not intimidating. For commissions, Ringholz initially sketches out a concept. She is primarily concerned with meeting the logistical needs and the spiritual needs of her clients.
“People wait a decade until they have the right spot and opportunity for my paintings, and what I learn through commissioned works is to pursue directions I wouldn’t normally consider,” she says. “With the client’s vision as the foundation for the collaboration with the artist, the experience for the client is enhanced.”
“People wait a decade until they have the right spot and opportunity for my paintings, and what I learn through commissioned works is to pursue directions I wouldn’t normally consider. With the client’s vision as the foundation for the collaboration with the artist, the experience for the client is enhanced.”
—Amy Ringholz, Artist
Ringholz says she’s diversifying herself and the gallery, evolving after living in the Tetons and is inspired by the weather, landscape, and creatures. “I am always pushing forward, always trying to outdo myself, learn more about myself, trying new things and learning how to create differently,” Ringholz adds.
The artist grew up outside of Cleveland, Ohio, in a family full of teachers, musicians, and artists. She won sizable scholarships in high school and went to Bowling Green to study art. After teaching in Ohio for a few years after college, she says she was “desperately craving to get out West” and found a summer job at the R lazy S ranch, and while in town was accepted into the Art Association of Jackson Hole’s art fair that August.
“That October, I was in tears having to leave, so I came back to Ohio, gathered my things and headed straight back to Jackson Hole,” she recalls.
The formally trained portraitist is an author and a creative entrepreneur. Her book, Rabbit and the Crown of Dreams, draws deeply from the artist’s personal experiences, rooting into the pursuit of dreams and the quest for self-reflection, connection, and practice.
Many of Ringholz’s collectors are Jackson Hole second homeowners, traveling in from Texas or California. She also has a large contingency from the East Coast.
“As I grow in my career, it shows on the canvas,” she tells WHJ. “I’m having fun with it, I’m pushing myself, I’m being risky and that’s ultimately what you’re looking for, is if the artist is having fun while they’re making the work,” she says with a smile. “That will always come through in the piece and awaken the viewer’s perspective.”
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