Creating New Challenges

Carrie Ballantyne once told a young cowgirl that she didn’t think she was much of a storyteller. Her paintings—portraits of western men, women and children, often focused mostly on their faces—were too limited, she said, to tell stories. “This young cowgirl looked so surprised,” Ballantyne remembers. “She stopped me and

Lorenzo’s Land

Lorenzo Chavez loved faces. He loved looking at them; he loved painting them. When he started to paint outside with a friend, however, he tossed his dream of being a portrait painter aside and began a love affair with the land. Whether he is painting the desert, the ocean, or

Simplicity And Beauty

“I don’t know that I could be in a better place.” Although Gregory Beecham is referring to his home in Dubois, Wyoming, a rural area brimming with wildlife, those words also aptly describe the success he has realized with his paintings. The enthusiasm of his collectors, combined with several prestigious

My Richest Blessing Is My Imagination

Whether he is depicting a Native American hunting party, a stagecoach arriving in a frontier town, or a cowpuncher riding night herd in the moonlight, the imagery of Montana-based artist Gary Lynn Roberts clearly reflects his belief that he lives and works in God’s country. For him, it’s a reality

A Creative Calling

Albin Veselka wants to talk about art. First, though, he wants to say a few words about the meaning of life and the purpose of art. “I’m always trying to uplift people; I think it’s important to better the world,” says Veselka, whose Christian faith, along with his missionary zeal

Realistic Paintings, Idealized Subjects

Though France has produced many famous artists, one typically does not think of a French native devoting a distinguished artistic career to the depiction of Native Americans. But such was the case with François Henri Farny (later Anglicized to Henry Farny), who painted a proud picture of a Native American

The Studio of Rosetta

Loveland, Colorado, for all intents and purposes, is a sculptor’s mecca. The number of expert casting foundries is legion. Well, OK, that’s an exaggeration, but there are a lot of them, especially for a town with about 50,000 residents. The city’s annual Sculpture in the Park, which celebrated its 31st