Archives for Figurative

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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‘I’m Just A Vessel’

‘I’m Just A Vessel’

March 1, 2022 | by

Nathan Solano took the long way to becoming an artist. He spent years working in restaurants, shooting photos, and working in graphic design before finally settling down as an artist when he was 40. And, for the past 30 years, that’s what he’s been. From his studio on the second floor of an historic building in downtown Pueblo, Colorado, Solano paints Western landscapes, cowboys, and Native Americans—and sometimes the simple scenes that unfold on the streets below his windows. He recently took a break from painting to talk about the path he took to get to where he is now—and
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Classical Realist

Classical Realist

March 1, 2022 | by

Joshua LaRock will turn 40 in August. Artistically, however, he’s a bit of an old soul. Inspired by the 19th century painters, he is a classical realist. Brilliantly executed, LaRock’s paintings have earned him designation as a living master by the Art Renewal Center and have been exhibited at prestigious venues that include the Autry Museum, the Beijing World Art Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery in London. LaRock’s paintings have been described as “classic nostalgia with a masterful touch.” That’s quite a compliment considering the fact that he began to study art just 16 years ago. Read the full
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‘This is My Life’

‘This is My Life’

January 1, 2022 | by

Sculptor Chris Hunt has dislocated each of his shoulders at least four times and broken both clavicles, both scapulae, and a couple of ribs. The Texas-born artist and former Air Force senior airman has always jumped feet first into new things, be it riding in rodeos or introducing a new medium to his repertoire. “‘No fear’ was my mantra, and still is to this day,” he says. Hunt grew up in Damon, Texas, on a ranch on the Brazos River, where he was raised by his father Maurice and had no problem amusing himself by drawing, fishing, hunting, and riding
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