Review of \u3ci\u3ePortraits of the Prairie: The Land that Inspired Willa Cather\u3c/i\u3e by Richard Schilling

Ultimately, it seems, most Nebraskans seek to return to their roots: to the home place, a tree-shaded glen, a favorite swimming hole, or a hilltop view of the old town. Essentially, this is what Richard Schilling returns us to in Portraits of the Prairie: The Land that Inspired Willa Cather. Strolling through Cather\u27s works, he weds her words to his own sketches and watercolors, although quickly pointing out that his paintings are not illustrations of Cather\u27s stories, but images of the land that an artist sees today. As a result, Schilling creates a work of art that explores the sensitivity of both the writer and the painter as each meets the power of the Nebraska prairie