Ohrmann Museum: The Road To Yellowstone II

On our Day 2 we break our rule and take # 90 from Missoula towards Butte but as soon as we come up to the intersection with Hwy # 1 we take a sharp turn to SW. We are on our way to Butte via Anaconda expecting ...  not much - just enjoying the spectacular scenery under the proverbially blue and wide Montana sky.
It is a beautiful day indeed.

Not wanting to stop at every corner we are shooting photos from the car - a camera on a tripod set at F 5.6 or a just a tiny bit higher, ISO 400 and a cable release usually work OK. One must shoot straight ahead and hope for the best. I must say that the Montana roads are well built and maintained so the bumps are not a big issue.
Clean windows work too although after the first thousand kilometers "clean" takes on a slightly different meaning. 
In any case - we are having fun.




Some 4 km down Hwy # 1,  in vicinity of Drummond, a community of about 300 with a motto: "We have two gas stations!" Judy exclaims:

What was that?"

"What?" in a stereo from Nel and I.

"That! Back there! A bird!"


"Where? Where?"


We are determined to turn back to check out another wildlife photo opportunity.





"No .... no ... it is a museum" Judy is the one occupying the back seat, the only one able to check out anything that we could have missed.

By that time we are approaching a tempting sign:

Nel is already steering the car to her left - one swift turn and we are just about to discover a very neat place, something that will be really hard to forget in years to come.

Ohrmann Museum and Gallery

There, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, sits spacious low building with inviting entrance and  an assuring, handwritten sign: 

We love the humor and the practicality of it.
Explained and done.



We also love the fact that the sign and the door are guarded by a neat owl welded out by 
someone we are now hoping to meet.

We try the door and it yields
but there is 
no-one inside.

Timidly, we tiptoe out and, obeying the sign, we start snapping away. 

There is so much to be photographed! 

And it seems that everything had been scaled to a proper size. Who is the artist, we wonder, but so far, the yard is quiet, as if it belonged only to the three of us.

It is close to noon and the light is harsh so we decide to put all the photo-club discussions and all the readings we have done to a test of truth.  
We are going to try an HDR technique again! If we can figure out how to set our cameras to take sequences of photos with different exposures, that is. 

Hmmm. Isn't life one extreme challenge!

Finally, out of the house directly opposite to the gallery comes Mrs. Ohrmann. 
"Just come right in," she says, "feel free to check out Bill's work. He used to do his wood-carved and welded sculptures while he was able to handle the media. Now he works with John, our son, on big projects like that." 
She nods at the large statues outside the door.
"He was always artistic, but later on, at maybe 78 he picked up the painting. Much easier to handle," she smiles. "That was a long time ago, maybe fifteen or almost twenty years."
Wow! That would put Mr. Ohrmann somewhere in the 95 year range. REALLY?

We stand inside in awe:

There are so many! Each is loaded with a message - many weighing heavily on the very soul. Many grasping the human heart .....are we really like that? The humanity? Unfortunately, we are.

The artist is the defender of the Earth and in the wisdom of his long years, sees things clearly; much more clearly than many of us ever will. He takes no prisoners to his ideas and his art - now I fully understand the handwritten sign at the entrance door.
For those who want to really know what I am trying to talk about go to his website  and check things out for yourself. Careful though, you might come out with many thoughts and a heavy heart. 

Back outside, Nel and Judy are already chatting with Mr. Ohrmann. The statue of a Kodiak bear is carefully observing the trio. "Yes," he says, "my son is now welding all those ideas. That one took us several months to finish." 
He looks at us with the kindest, brightest eyes I have ever seen.

We are leaving (much too soon) with a copy of a DVD done by Sean O'Brien "Be Thou Always As A Guest" featured on PBS television. It is a month later that we can finally watch the film. (You can watch it on YouTube - it is time well spent. Just click here.)
It is mind provoking and touching at the same time. So proud that we stumbled upon the place and met Mr. and Mrs. Ohrmann.
Thanks Judy .... it is all your doing. Thanks for your eagle (heron?) eye!

Oh, and I almost forgot: 
There was a heart on the mammoth - the red of it caught my eye and I did take a snapshot. Then walked away! 
I never checked the message - never opened the little door - never will know what it meant!
Unless ... we go back one day.