Utah artist Robert Duncan’s motto could be this: Explore the depth of your surroundings to mine the beauty at hand. Meanwhile, his catalyst seems to be Andrew Wyeth’s artistic philosophy. “[Wyeth] never wanted to travel much, he just wanted to dig deeper into the things close around him,” Duncan says. “He’d talk about how just a footprint in the snow, as he walked across a field, would trigger a feeling that he could dig into for days and weeks. I think that digging deeper into the things we care most about, and to appreciate the things that we pass by, are what really matter.”

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952, Duncan grew up during a simpler time. Color television had just arrived on the scene, letters were the main means of communication with distant friends and family, and telephones hung on the wall, often part of a party line with multiple others sharing the same line. It was time he loved, particularly when, as a young boy, he spent summers on his grandparents ranch in Wyoming, where he reveled in the simple pleasure of exploring the wild and open spaces.

Robert Duncan

Iced Over
Oil
36″x48″

“Three hunters, following an old trail through the coldest part of winter, debate whether it’s worth trying to cross a frozen stream to look for game that might be long gone. I’m fascinated by the contrast of the stunning beauty of winter and the desperate challenges for survival it presents to man and animal.”

Robert Duncan

Winter’s Coming
Oil
36″x48″

“I was in Jackson Hole last November and happened upon these four majestic bull moose grazing in the sagebrush meadows below the Tetons. The rut is over, and it’s time to build up the reserves before the first heavy storms of the Wyoming winter hit. I had to try to capture the scene on canvas, as soon as I got home.”