Archives for Figurative

Drive and Determination

Drive and Determination

June 30, 2022 | by

Crouched behind a wooden fence, tail down, ears perked, heart racing, he watches. His auburn fur blends into the fall grass and vines, a perfect camouflage from the danger galloping across the field, as horses, dogs, and riders in red coats are leaping, yelping, scrambling—all searching for him. A seasoned adversary, he knows not to move a muscle. He stays perfectly still, his eyes watching for clues to his next move—his chance to change his fate. Outfoxed is a spellbinding story of being hunted told by Ezra Tucker with acrylics on a three-foot board. He paints animals with so much
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Anything is Possible

Anything is Possible

June 30, 2022 | by

“It’s incredible how magical the desert is when you go with the intention of self-reflection,” says Colorado artist Anna Rose Bain, who began a tradition of taking solo trips to the California desert when she was struggling with severe adrenal fatigue just before the start of COVID. “I found that I was getting burnt out at least twice a year, to a point where it was affecting my health and my relationships,” says Bain, who balances painting with raising two young children and practicing CrossFit, a high-intensity fitness program. “I started going to the desert to recharge and meditate and
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A Burning Obsession

A Burning Obsession

June 30, 2022 | by

As a child, Susan Eyer-Anderson would sneak into the garage to watch her father paint. He worked long hours as the manager of a silkscreen plant in Los Angeles, California, but he spent his evenings and weekends painting in the family garage in rural Orange County. It was intended to be a quiet sanctuary, and three of his four children respected that enough to stay clear of the space. But Eyer-Anderson was too intrigued by the work he did in the garage to stay away. “I couldn’t help it,” she says. “I was so fascinated by it, so I would
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The Studio of Len Babb

The Studio of Len Babb

June 30, 2022 | by

In the almost-darkness just before sunrise, a retired cowboy emerges from his house and silently walks the short distance to a small, tidy log building with a sheltered porch. He takes a seat near the handmade door, easing his old bones onto a bench created from a split log. There, with Oregon’s high desert spread out before him and the sun coming up pink beyond the distant dark mountains, he makes his preparations for the day. Once inside, he builds a fire in the little, round wood stove in the corner, warming his hands before the flames. In the thin
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A Lifetime of Experimentation

A Lifetime of Experimentation

May 1, 2022 | by

If you spend enough time looking at Stan Davis’ art, you will understand who he is. You will understand how he’s evolved as an artist, how his experiences have led him to exactly where he is now, how his artistic influences have converged in his body of work. You will understand why he feels more creatively alive than he has ever felt before. “This is the most creative thing I’ve ever done,” Davis says from his home in Perry, Florida. “It absolutely draws every ounce of creativity out of me.” “This” is the mixed-media collage that is part of the
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The Beauty of Black and White

The Beauty of Black and White

May 1, 2022 | by

When Rachel Brownlee walked into the Mountain Oyster Club art show in Tucson, Arizona, last November, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There, hanging in a prized spot in the center of the back wall, was her charcoal drawing, At the Ready. “I was speechless,” she says. Things got even better when her drawing won the Best of Show Award and when it sold. Brownlee says that at the time she didn’t know much about pricing artwork. She was left speechless again when the man who purchased that drawing told her that he had walked into the building, saw it, had
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Quality Over Quantity

Quality Over Quantity

May 1, 2022 | by

It is no surprise that some people might wonder if R. S. Riddick has retired. He has not. In fact, the nearly 70-year-old artist has been very busy making some of his most meaningful work ever. He has also acquired a new ranch studio and a clear perspective on the messages he wants to pass on through both his art and his life. For more than 40 years, Riddick had made his home and studio in southern Arizona, though he has always had a genuine longing for mountains. “Your faith becomes alive there, nature becomes a profound teacher, and people
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The Studio of Ed Mell

The Studio of Ed Mell

May 1, 2022 | by

For more than four decades, Arizona-based painter, Ed Mell, has charmed the public with his vibrant images of the Sonoran Desert and the Colorado Plateau. The beauty and veracity of his paintings give testimony to his love of his native surroundings. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Mell grew up in what was then just a small desert oasis, leaving when he enrolled in the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles, California. After completing his courses in 1967, he accepted a position with a large advertising firm in New York City. A year later, he and a friend started their
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Putting Marrow In The Bones

Putting Marrow In The Bones

March 1, 2022 | by

“I used to sit at Clark’s desk and draw. Who does that?” Acclaimed Western sculptor Richard Greeves is reminiscing about his childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, and yes, he’s talking about that Clark: Captain William Clark, of Lewis and Clark. Greeves’ childhood home, a stone’s throw from the Louisiana Purchase celebration grounds, afforded him the opportunity to serve as an unpaid gofer at the Missouri History Museum where he would rummage through the archives and make himself comfortable on the explorers’ furniture. “Back in those days, nobody thought much about it,” he says with a laugh. “They just thought of
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Beauty Past and Present

Beauty Past and Present

March 1, 2022 | by

“I’m 76, and I’m going to paint what I damn well please.” So says Rock Newcomb, laughing heartily as he does so. In fact, he laughs freely and often during the interview for this article. With a successful teaching career behind him and more than 30 years as a successful artist, he’s earned the right to say what he wants—and to paint what he wants. There is no niche for Newcomb’s art, and that’s exactly how he—and his collectors—like it. He’s earned national and international acclaim for his paintings of subjects that range from wildlife, landscapes and ruins, to cowboys,
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