Archives for 2017 May-June Issue

The Studio of Greg Beecham

The Studio of Greg Beecham

May 18, 2017 | by

Dubois, Wyoming, is billed as one of the last Old West towns in the country. Its Chamber of Commerce web site touts its charm as a “gem with that frontier feeling. Far from everything, and the center of everything.” The town, nestled in the foothills of the mountains, is an hour away from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, just over the scenic Togwotee Pass highway. Greg Beecham has called this enchanting Western town home since 1997, when he and his family moved to Wyoming from Washington State. Initially, when they purchased the home, he thought a small room off
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Living an Artist’s Dream

Living an Artist’s Dream

May 18, 2017 | by

“Every painting I start I hope is going to be the best painting I’ve ever done. That doesn’t necessarily come true, but it can, so I keep going.” Spoken by some artists, these words might scan as overconfident, even boastful. Coming from Dennis Doheny, though, they sound like a simple statement of possibility, offered up in a playful spirit of optimism and a willingness to stretch as an artist, even after 40 years in the business. Doheny’s artistic outlook and philosophy are as sunny as the warm California landscapes he’s best known for painting. He wakes up in the morning
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Western Inspiration

Western Inspiration

May 18, 2017 | by

The son of American missionary parents, Don Oelze was born in New Zealand in 1965 and lived there for the next nine years of his life. Despite those beginnings half a continent away, who now lives in Montana, has been blessed with the ability to portray the history of the American West with a remarkably vivid and captivating reality. The explanation of this gift is simple: From early childhood, his mother and father had piqued their son’s curiosity about Western and Native American cultures by sharing stories of their own upbringings in Arizona and Montana. His maternal grandmother reinforced the
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Lighting the Way

Lighting the Way

May 18, 2017 | by

Peter Adams admits to being somewhat of a rapscallion in his early years. When he was a junior, the military school he was attending instituted an art program. Unimpressed with the artwork created by the teacher and students and displayed in the cafeteria, he took action. “I took it all down, stole some paints and put my paintings up under the nom deplume Von Seitz,” he says. “I put my paintings up all over campus. About five years later, I was back at the school for some event, and there was a sign that said, ‘Von Seitz, come back; we
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Counting Her Many Blessings

Counting Her Many Blessings

May 18, 2017 | by

If you were a mouse in the corner of Sherrie McGraw’s studio, you would be amazed at two things: her skill, as she transforms a blank canvas into a magnificent painting—and her pirouettes, as she goes to the kitchen to make lunch. While her paintings have earned her high honors, she admits that her pirouettes still need work. At the center of her life, however, are McGraw’s love of art and her love for fellow artist and long-time partner David Leffel. A native Oklahoman, McGraw studied for a time at Central University in Edmond, Oklahoma, then studied for three years
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Personal Connections

Personal Connections

May 18, 2017 | by

When Huihan Liu was a child in rural China, he managed to save enough money to buy a small sketchbook. The store, where he could purchase it, was several miles away from his home, but Liu chose to walk instead of taking the bus, so that he could use all of his money on paper. “It was just a little piece of a sketchbook, but I was so happy to have it,” he says. “I would draw on it and then erase it, so that I could draw on it again. I drew on that paper over and over again.”
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Balancing Art and Life

Balancing Art and Life

May 18, 2017 | by

Unlike most artists, who claim to have been born with a Crayon in hand, Utah artist G. Russell Case came to his avocation a bit later, even though he was surrounded by art from a young age. His father, Garry Case, a watercolor artist of some renown was also an illustrator. He had a studio in the family home and his young son, seemingly impervious to art, was just a normal kid with interests any young boy would have. Sure, he might have dabbled in drawing and coloring, but what child doesn’t? Things changed for Case, when he was a
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