Posts by Vicki Stavig

From Westerns to Santas

From Westerns to Santas

October 13, 2026 | by

The Two Artistic Worlds of Cowboy Artists of America Member Tom Browning   As an artist, Tom Browning has two sides. On one side is his dedication to creating realistic Western paintings that include wildlife, horses, cowboys, and Native Americans and softer subjects that include women and children in vintage clothing. The other side has him painting Santa Claus in whimsical settings that include golf courses, beaches, and his workshop. No matter what he is painting, the award-winning, internationally known Oregon artist is determined to capture the essence of his subject and to do so in a painterly style. Browning
Read More

The Magic of Mokuhanga

The Magic of Mokuhanga

October 8, 2026 | by

How Leon Loughridge Uses Watercolor and Mokuhanga to Capture the West   Leon Loughridge is a busy artist—and that’s just how he likes it. Living in Denver, Colorado, and working out of a remodeled garage that serves as his studio, he shares his love of landscapes by creating watercolor paintings and woodblock prints that are carried by several galleries and featured in several art shows each year. He can thank his grandmother for instilling in him a love of art. When he was a young boy growing up on a ranch in Pojoaque, New Mexico, his grandmother, who was very
Read More

Still Lifting the Human Spirit

Still Lifting the Human Spirit

October 8, 2026 | by

Sculptor Gary Lee Price Brings Dr. Viktor Frankl’s Statue of Responsibility to Life   Gary Lee Price—what a man, what an artist, what an inspiration! He’s been using his sculptures to lift the spirits of people for more than four decades through thousands of sculptures that have found homes in museums, churches, cemeteries, airports, botanical gardens, and corporate offices throughout the world. While Price is grateful for his success with those sculptures, he’s most excited about the one he is planning for the future. That one, something he’s been dreaming about for years, will be a massive 305-foot monument titled
Read More

Fiddlers Green Productions Returns to the Bloom Ranch

Fiddlers Green Productions Returns to the Bloom Ranch

August 17, 2026 | by

  An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the event name as “Artist Ride.” It has been corrected to “Fiddlers Green Productions.” There will be plenty of action at the Bloom Ranch near Wall, South Dakota, for three days in August, as Western artists and photographers gather to get ideas for future works that will feature the Western past. During the invitation-only event on August 28, 29, and 30, they will gather together to take in the wonder and action in classic Western scenery that boasts high plains grasslands, colorful badlands, numerous hills, canyons, and drop-offs.     Fiddlers
Read More

The Drama of Black and White

The Drama of Black and White

August 6, 2026 | by

Influenced by Cherokee Heritage, Stephanie Campos Creates Striking Realist Portraits of Native Americans When Stephanie Campos was in kindergarten, her teacher gave the class a drawing assignment. She finished her drawing and gave it to the teacher, who then asked her to draw it again. “I think she wanted to know that it wasn’t ‘accidentally’ good,” she says. “Then she called my parents and said, ‘Your daughter is an artist.’” She is indeed. Today Campos is known for her realistic charcoal portraits of Native Americans. Her work has caught the attention of collectors—and other artists. In fact, when asked about
Read More

Chasing Her Dreams

Chasing Her Dreams

August 6, 2026 | by

How Taos Artist Katherine Irish Turned Her Love of Nature and Clouds into a Celebrated Painting Career   Katherine Irish has chased—and caught—two dreams. The first one came to her when she was a young girl. She had pulled out the “P” volume of the family’s set of encyclopedias and flipped through its pages until she landed on “painting.” The masterpieces featured within those pages fascinated her. “I studied those paintings for hours,” she says. A dream was born. The second dream came to Irish many years later while she was studying art and living in New York. In 1981,
Read More

Celebrating Richard Schmid

Celebrating Richard Schmid

August 6, 2026 | by

  How do you honor the life and work of someone as talented and generous as Richard Schmid? How do you celebrate a master artist who championed the beauty and integrity of representational work through his magnificent paintings? How do you acknowledge an artist who generously shared his knowledge by mentoring countless artists in various stages of their journeys? How do you celebrate and recognize the joy he found in creating art? The answer is this: You gather with others who loved, appreciated, and learned from him. That will be the case in October, when the Palette & Chisel Academy
Read More

Route 66 Celebrates 100 Years

Route 66 Celebrates 100 Years

July 16, 2026 | by

The Enduring Appeal of Route 66 Inspires Artists Like Dennis Ziemienski to Capture Roadside Americana   As the United States of America celebrates its 250th anniversary, there is another celebration taking place this year: The 100th anniversary of the iconic Route 66. The iconic highway was constructed on November 11, 1926, as part of the country’s first highway system and stretches more than 2,400 miles from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. Route 66 became famous after World War II as families hit the open road, traveling to destinations that included the Grand Canyon and Disneyland and cementing the concept
Read More

Ink, Oil, and Graphite

Ink, Oil, and Graphite

June 9, 2026 | by

How Maia Chavez Larkin Transitioned from Illustrator to Acclaimed Western Fine Artist You would think that having parents who are successful artists would naturally set their offspring on a path leading directly to fine art. Not so if that offspring is Maia Chavez Larkin. “I was certain that I would never be an artist, because it seemed like a tough way to make a living,” she says. “I thought it also meant being nervous about finances. It seemed like a hard life and a tough way to make a living. I thought I’d have a real job.” After years of
Read More

The Color Connection

The Color Connection

June 9, 2026 | by

From Emerging Artist to Gallery Favorite: Jessica Garrett-Lawrence’s Rise in the Western Art World   Once the gate opened, Jessica Garrett-Lawrence ran through it like a wild bronco. Less than a year after she started to paint seriously, galleries began to take on—and sell—her work. One of those galleries was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where almost a dozen of her paintings sold in just six weeks. It’s not surprising that her vibrant landscapes caught the attention of gallery owners and collectors so quickly. Garrett-Lawrence portrays nature in all its glory, from aspen trees, mountains, and streams to sunrises, sunsets,
Read More