BY KAREN BOSSICK

Artist Thom Ross tells stories of the American West through cartoonish characters that he paints in bold colors. They’re a little abstract, and that’s on purpose.

“The American frontier is a place where history and myth collide,” says Ross. “My desire is to pull these historical figures from a dim, often misunderstood past into the present moment. Rather than paint it in a realistic, photographic style, I'd much rather suggest something of its eternal, mythical quality."

Ross will be on hand at Hemmings Gallery in Ketchum during Gallery Walk from 5 to 7:30 p.m. tonight—Friday, July 11-- to discuss his paintings being exhibited there. They include an acrylic Native American polo player in headdress, Sundance and Butch and a “Wild West Wonderland” featuring Native Americans on sleds. The gallery is located at 340 Walnut Ave.

Rudi Broschofsky creates vibrant spray paint-on-panel art.

Ross, who describe himself as a storyteller who paints, has spent 40 years seeking out the lesser-known areas of American history for artistic inspiration. Based in Lamy, N.M., he often creates life-sized cutout figures depicting famous people and historical events for installation exhibitions.

He looks for iconic villains, in addition to mythical heroes. And he loves adding a touch of humor to engage viewers with his works.

Here are some of the other highlights of tonight’s Gallery Walk:

*** Kneeland Gallery, 4th Street and Leadville Avenue, will showcase works by Robert Moore and Ovanes Berberian. Moore, a plein air painter, has mentored many accomplished artists in southern Idaho, including some of those in the Wood River Valley.

Ovanes Berberian’s “Still Life with Red Poppies” can be seen at Kneeland Gallery west of Atkinsons’ Market in Ketchum.

He applies mounds of oils on his canvas, then works a palette knife with both hands until his composition emerges from a chaos of texture and color. His work is even more extraordinary given that he suffers from partial color blindness.

Berberian, meanwhile, is a nationally renowned teacher and plein air artist whose students come from near and far for a chance to attend one of his workshops.

*** Anderson Architecture, 320 1st Ave. N. Suite 101, is featuring a local artist group show in its new space on the ground floor in the building that also houses Sun Valley Contemporary Art. Featured artists will be Tina Cole, Jineen Griffith, Kim Howard, Karen Jacobsen, Deanna Schrell and Pamela Street.

These artists—matriarchs of the local artists’ community-- have been the cornerstones of Anderson Architecture’s Gallery Walk nights for eight years. Therefore, they are perfect to celebrate the first Gallery Walk of summer with the beautiful work that honors the places they love, said Kristin and Pete Anderson.

Robert Moore’s “Fullness” is an oil on canvas.

*** Sun Valley Contemporary Art, 320 1st Ave. N., is featuring paintings and sculptures by a myriad of artists, including Christine Mittermeier, who has produced such unique works as “Egg Yolk Jellyfish.” Mittermeier, who was born in Mexico City but now lives in British Columbia, has been hailed as one of the most influential conservation photographers of the time, her work published in National Geographic, TIME, Men’s Journal, O and others

Another featured artist is Ontario, Canada, native April Matheson, who uses a “remove and reveal” process to layer and unearth elements within her work. Her current series of mountain-scapes is a attribute to British Columbia where she now lives.

*** Sun Valley Museum of Art, Fifth and Washington streets, will celebrate the opening of a new exhibition titled “Mending Across Borders & Boundaries.” It will include an in-gallery performance at 5:30 p.m. by artist Elisa Harkins, who will sing Muscogee Creek and Seminole hymns and hand drum songs before taking her indigenous futurism electronic music project “Wampum” outside to SVMoA’s annual Street Party.

“Mending Across Borders & Boundires” explores the experience of migration through contemporary art. It is the second installment in a three-part series examining journeys to and within the Americas through sculpture, painting, sound, textiles and performance.

Karen Jacobsen, whose work can be seen at Anderson Architecture, is a plein air painter who concentrates on landscape, but she also has worked as an underwater illustrator for scientific expeditions.

Maria de Los Angeles will discuss her textile part of the project at 5:15 p.m.

    *** Broschofsky Galleries, 360 N. East Ave., is featuring a group show of gallery artists, including David Yarrow, whose “Bad Asses” pigment print photograph evokes thoughts of Mad Max as it showcases a female model driving a car with a cheetah in front of a bar in the desert of Namibia.

Other artists include Billy Schenck, who offers an interesting take on a cowboy watching over his cattle; Andy Warhol with his “Indian Head Nickel” and gallery owner Rudi Broschofsky with his “Range Rider,” a colorful spray paint-on-panel.

**** Gilman Contemporary, 660 Sun Valley Road, is featuring the work of Jason Crane, whose intriguing oil paintings include that of a crane trying to balance an apple on its beak. Also, Frances McCormack, who creates collages of botanical abstractions.

*** Gail Severn Gallery, 400 First Ave., is showcasing the acrylic paintings of Anne Siems, a German-born artist now living in Seattle who is known for figures that explore the human spirit. The gallery will also showcase the work of Jan Aronson, a New Orleans-born artist who now lives in New York but has created paintings, such as her Water Series, in her Sun Valley home. The works of these two artists will be joined by the sculptures of renowned sculptor Jun Kaneko.

 *** The ERC is showcasing the pointillism landscapes by Larissa DeHaas at its Washington Street office a half-block from the Sun Valley Museum of Art.