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 said that she saw a story in every face I portrayed.” That revelation changed everything for Ballantyne.

Carrie Ballantyne (Wyoming)

Wyoming Flower Child
Oil
18″x14″
“I have been lucky, through the years, to be able to work with my family and close friends. It makes my job more pleasurable, when I’m painting a real person I know and love. This piece is my Wyoming version of the flower child generation.”

Carrie Ballantyne (Wyoming)

Calico Country
Oil
20″x13″
“Portraying children within our unique ranching community that are being raised with “old fashion” values and traditions, is very close to my heart and continues to be a favorite subject.”