Carrie Arnold (1944-1998) was a Denver business woman with an active interest in Western history, which she expressed in drawings. She became a pen and ink illustrator for a number of Western books. She was commissioned by her friend Bill Lagos to create scenes of Lagos’ home areas of Hartville and Sunrise, Wyoming.
Between 1971 and 1997, Ms. Arnold created elegant line drawings that included overviews of Hartville and Sunrise, the old jail, the school, churches, the YMCA and historic homes. Her drawings also included depictions of Guernsey and Laramie.
The scenes are historical, taken from old photographs and enhanced by visits to the sites and conversations with Wyoming natives. Arnold always humanized the historically accurate drawings of buildings by adding people. “Main Street in Hartville, Wyoming” features a group enjoying a lively conversation in the middle of the quiet street. Lagos used the drawings as holiday cards.
After Ms. Arnold’s death in 1998, Lagos published her drawings in a book entitled The Art of Carrie Arnold.
To see examples of the holiday cards mentioned in this post, visit our Virmuze exhibit “The Christmas Cards of Carrie Arnold,” which features Arnold’s pen and ink sketches.
