For the month of November, and in celebration of the 'Year of the Archive' and the rich history of Estes Park, 'The Art Upstairs' at the library features black & white photos hand colored by local artist Cheryl Pennington.

Cheryl Pennington was born in Emporia, Kansas and received her Bachelors degree from Emporia State University. She then traveled to Colorado as a teaching assistant at CU where received her Masters Degree. She taught physical education and coached swimming, tennis, and track in Niwot and Longmont, Colorado. Upon retiring from the teaching profession, Cheryl rekindled her interest in black and white photography. She began to hand color black and white images with oil paints and colored pencils. Black and white photos were often hand colored before the advent of color film. Cheryl hand colors her own images as well as historic photos. She has been involved in hand coloring photos for numerous books and articles in Colorado. She hand colored over 43 images for the Rocky Mountain Nature Association’s book, Rocky Mountain Rustic. She also hand colored over 100 historic images for the YMCA of the Rockies centennial book, YMCA OF THE ROCKIES - Reflections, Traditions & Vision. She has recently hand colored covers for two additional historic books; Rocky Mountain National Park Pictorial History and Rocky Mountain National Park - Historic Places.

Besides photography, Cheryl enjoys skiing, hiking. and visiting with family and friends. She officiates many high school swimming meets. Cheryl is honored to be a part of the Estes Park Library’s monthly art show.

Cheryl has hand colored all of the images in this show. The photographs are both her own and those of Fred P. Clatworthy. Barbara Clatworthy Gish has give Cheryl
permission to hand color some of her father’s photos.

Fred Payne Clatworthy was an historic photographer who lived from l875 until l953. After graduating from law school he rode his bicycle west on a circle trip through Arizona, California, Oregon and back to Chicago. On parts of this trip donkeys carried his bicycle. He had to use several different bikes to make this long trip. After his trip to California he decided to settle in Estes Park & he
began a career in photography. He owned a shop and studio in Estes called “Ye Lyttel Shop. In his shop he displayed his black and white photos, sepia and color prints. According to his daughter, Barbara Clatworthy Gish, his early black and white photos were often hand colored by Colorado women who were paid 25 cents per hand colored photo.

His photos appeared in many eastern magazines including the National Geographic, but his assortment was always brought home to Estes Park. His Estes Park Studio had the largest assortment in the country from which to make a selection. His photos represented his own original work in landscape photography.

Mr. Clatworthy’s work gained distinction from his western scenery; especially photos of the Southwest, California and the Rockies. His collections of autochrome, natural color photography, were on exhibit in his studio. He gave many lectures throughout the United States, including Hawaii, and Mexico. In his lectures he showed his
autochrome color photos. His autochromes were often projected onto a large silk screen for the lectures. He gave local lectures at the YMCA, local churches and many other places.

He raised his family in Estes Park and California. He and his wife had three children, one of which is living in Estes Park today. The historic home of the Clatworthy family is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The home has been renovated by his granddaughter’s family and is in use today as their vacation home. It is a grand combination of the old and the new just as are these hand colored photos.