Autumn Art
Painter Autumn Hnilicka stood for a portrait in a patch of light on Main Street in her hometown of Lander, WY, Sep. 11 2023. Hnilicka has been painting for as long as she can remember, but she found her own style while taking her final art class at Lander Valley High. "Even my mom didn't even know I could paint until I was twenty years old," said Hnilicka of coming into her own originality. "When I was 18, my art teacher, Shawna Pickinpaugh, had us do a watercolor project where the color bled into the paper in a certain way." Autumn would go on to win first place at the Wyoming High School State Art Symposium with the project that year. "Along with the positive feedback of winning an award, it was the first time it really clicked with me and I was like 'I really enjoy doing this… maybe I should try it more,'" added Hnilicka.
Expressing herself through her art, Autumn Hnilicka navigates creating a living out of being an artist in small town Wyoming. Hnilicka has put her pedal to the metal promoting her work at shows and other events, gaining her traction as a sought-after muralist and painter around Fremont County.
Hnilicka rolled a dark blue-green paint over the mural wall as a base layer Sep. 8 2023 in Thermopolis. She landed the job through the city of Thermopolis’ and the state of Wyoming’s art grant program.
Painting supplies sat on a desk at Sage Brushes' studio on Main Street in Lander Aug. 30. Supplies are the most expensive part of painting the 200ft x 20ft mural Hnilicka has been commisioned to paint in Thermopolis. Hnilicka is welcoming the difference in mediums between her usual watercolors to painting on cinderblocks because of the leeway for corrections it allows. "On the mural, wherever you put your brush is where the pain goes, there's no bleeding into the paper," said Hnilicka. "When we're painting the mural you can do darks and add lights, which is impossible with watercolors, where you can't add lights back in."
Autumn Hnilicka and Aiyana Perez discussed colors for the Mural they've been commisioned to make by the state of Wyoming for the city of Thermopolis Aug. 30. The pair started their studio, Sage Brushes, to create a space for the younger generation of budding artsists in the Lander area. "As a younger generation, we felt like we had a hard time fitting into the more traditional art (scene) in Lander," said Hnilicka. "Sage Brushes was created to pool resources and create art with input from other artists." Hnilicka and Perez secured the grant to paint in Thermopolis six months ago without any prior mural painting experience, but with plenty of technical capability and vision to promise something unique for the central Wyoming town.
Autumn Hnilicka rode the mechanical bull in front of the stage in City Park Friday at the Climber's Festival's Trade Fair July, 2023. For Hnilicka, enjoying Wyoming traditions is an important part of drawing inspiration for her work.
Roundtop Mountain loomed to the northwest of Thermopolis as Hnilicka rolled paint onto her mural on in early September. While she has trouble picking favorite letter scenes from the mural, Autumn tends to like first O and the letter S, which will depict the Gift of the Waters Ceremony honoring Chief Washakie's gift of the Hot Springs to the state and the modern economy of Thermopolis with the Big Horn River, accompanied fisherman and a Rainbow Trout. In the future Hnilicka hopes to bring Wyomingites together with her art. "There's a very unscathed aspect to Wyoming," said Hnilicka. "Having grown up in Lander I've been around a lot of controversial topics involving the outdoors and I relate to people on both fronts of these issues. I want to use my art to shed light on natural topics that can bring people together.”
Light shined into a window and onto Autumn Hnilicka as she rounded up her painting supplies before a full day of painting in Thermopolis Sep. 9. "I love how community oriented painting the mural is," said Hnilicka of the local community's reception. "You’re pulling people in who are telling you stories of their lives... Doing this here is like a rite of passage for us." The Lander team hopes to be finished with the mural by the end of September to move onto other projects and because of the imminent change of seasons in Wyoming.
Hnilicka manned her booth a the Art Fair on Main Street in Lander July 2023. While selling art at fairs is a productive way to make money, the connections it has lead to for Hnilicka is why she keeps coming back.