For most of the past decade, C. Michael Dudash has been ramping up his annual schedule of shows. In the coming year, he’ll participate in at least half a dozen major art events, from Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana, to the Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

That means that Dudash paints between 40 and 50 pieces a year. Some are small, and some are larger, but each one requires dedicated time at the easel in his Rathdrum, Idaho, studio. “It is a lot of painting,” he says.

But Dudash is accustomed to being disciplined, when it comes to meeting deadlines. Until 2002, the 67-year-old artist was a full-time freelance illustrator. The reputation he built during almost a quarter century in the business hinged on providing clients—including Random House, Nike, Warner Bros. and NBC—quality work on time.

C. Michael Dudash (Idaho)

Nature Will Once Again Provide
Oil
30″x40″

“This painting, for me, is really about the brushwork, impressionism, and warm light. It’s also about a favorite subject of mine—the friendly intermingling of different cultures and, at times, their codependence on each other. The title also suggests that they have happened upon some game that will put food on their table for their families and friends.”

C. Michael Dudash (Idaho)

And the Land Will Forever Remain
Oil
36″x48″

“Just as Native Americans worshiped the earth, the mountains, and wide-open spaces of the earth that the Great Spirit had gifted to them, we all are moved by the infinite beauty, harmony, and majesty of the Western landscape. The Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho provide the backdrop for this picturesque moment of rest. Human history will come and go, but the sense of the eternal that comes from God’s creation is humbling, to say the least. I can understand the feeling that one gets that somehow the land will forever remain.”