It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words...we know many that are worthy of a poem.  In Art Spur, we invite poets to let selections of Western art inspire their poetry.

Our twenty-third piece offered to "spur" the imagination is "The Little House That Grew," a photograph by Jeri Dobrowski. The image depicts a house in Golden Valley County, North Dakota. Read more about the photograph below.

Jeri Dobrowski's photograph, "Leadin' a Spare," was a National Day of the Cowboy Art Spur project in 2006. See the image (of South Dakota rancher Robert Dennis) and the resulting poems here.

Poetry submissions are welcome from all, through September 21, 2010. Find submission information below.

"The Little House That Grew"
Reproduction prohibited without express written permission
"The Little House That Grew" © 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, www.jeridobrowski.com
Find a larger image here.

Jeri Dobrowski writes:

This example of a homestead house that grew with the needs and prosperity of a pioneering family stands alongside North Dakota State Highway #16 in the western part of the state. It was photographed late in the day in July, 2006.

The past several years have not been kind to the assemblage of wood and mortar; it is beginning to falter at an alarming rate. I am fearful the next time I pass by I'll find that it has been burned or dozed. A barn that was in the same yard has been razed. I know it's a matter of time before the photo is all that remains of one family's time spent on the Plains. As it is, I am taken by its beauty every time I see it.
 

photo by Jen Dobrowski

About Jeri Dobrowski

Award-winning Western journalist and photographer Jeri Dobrowski's works appear in publications nationwide.

Her photo gallery at www.jeridobrowski.com includes a gallery of Western entertainers and many images from gatherings and locations across the West.

Her monthly column, Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews, is a regular feature of the Tri-State Livestock News and appears in other publications and at CowboyPoetry.com.

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Working as a photographer and journalist since 1981, Jeri Dobrowski has been recognized for excellence in writing, photography, graphic design, and editing. Her projects have appeared in magazines such as American Cowboy, Persimmon Hill, Country Woman, Cowboy, and Grit; on calendars, billboards, monuments, posters, and recordings; and in books, newspapers, in-house newsletters, programs, web pages, and promotional packages. They are also archived in the permanent collections of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Dobrowski and her husband live in eastern Montana, not far from where four of her great-grandfathers homesteaded at the turn of the century. Born in Miles City, Montana, and raised on her family's cattle ranch and small-grains operation south of there, Dobrowski attended a one-room country school through the sixth grade. She was active in 4-H and FHA, showed registered Quarter Horses, and rodeoed.

Interested in writing and photography from an early age, she sold her first article for publication to the Montana Farmer-Stockman while still in high school. She sold a second article as a student at Montana State University. Thousands of features, stories, and photographs have followed, the majority dealing with agriculture, rural life, cowboy and Western entertainment, cooking, and family history.

Her business, Lamesteer Publishing, offers graphic design, including CD packages, web pages, and books, photography, promotional and writing services. Traveling a four-state area, Dobrowski has captured the emotions and surprises of the marriage celebration for dozens of couples with her photo-journalistic style wedding pictures.

Dobrowski is a field editor for America’s #1 cooking magazine, Taste of Home. She became the review editor for Tri-State Livestock News in January 2005, authoring the monthly Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews. Since 2006, she has worked as the booking and promotion assistant to Wylie & The Wild West.

Visit Jeri Dobrowski's web site for more of her images.
 

 copyright 2008, Jeri Dobrowski
National Folk Festival, Butte, Montana, 2008

Submissions

Poetry submissions are welcome from all, through September 21, 2010.   

Even if you have a poem pending, you are welcome to send one poem inspired by "The Little House That Grew."

Art Spur subjects are meant to inspire poetry; we look for poems inspired by the piece, not necessarily for a literal description of the image or its subject. 

• Do follow our regular guidelines for submissions here.  

• When you email your poem, please indicate that the poem is an Art Spur submission in the subject line.

• Submissions are welcome through September 21, 2010.

Several top submissions will be selected and posted in late September.