Archives for Wildlife

Joseph Alleman Perfectly Imperfect

Joseph Alleman Perfectly Imperfect

December 12, 2019 | by

There’s only so much time you can spend driving, trying to find that perfect barn,” says Joseph Alleman, whose very livelihood depends on the quality of barns he’s able to locate and depict. Sometimes he renders them in dense, saturated watercolor; more often, he uses oils to achieve the opaque surfaces and clean lines for which he’s known. Driving in search of those barns, Alleman recites the inner monologue that kicks in as the mile markers pass: “I’ve got to get out of the car. I’m wasting too much time. Let’s just stop here and make the best of it.”
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The Studio of Mary Ann Cherry

The Studio of Mary Ann Cherry

December 12, 2019 | by

Given the diverse range of her talents and commitments—oil and pastel painter, workshop instructor, novelist, and current President of the Women Artists of the West—it’s not surprising that Mary Ann Cherry loves the opportunities she enjoys by having two working studios. She does the majority of her creative work in a studio at the family home she shares with her husband Bob. Situated on two acres at the edge of the Snake River, just a few miles north of Idaho Falls, Idaho, that studio is informal, with a rural feel that is somewhat of an extension of the outdoors. “When
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A Celebration of Nature

A Celebration of Nature

December 5, 2019 | by

Tucker Smith was born to be an artist. He always knew it—he just didn’t know how he’d make a living at it. So it was that he took a more practical route. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1940, Smith and his family moved to Wyoming in 1952. There, in the wilds near his new home, his yearning for art took shape, as he developed a love affair with the land and the wildlife in the mountainous region. Nature became his muse, and it was just a matter of time before he would take up a paintbrush in earnest. Smith
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COWBOY ARTISTS OF AMERICA: New Beginnings

COWBOY ARTISTS OF AMERICA: New Beginnings

November 14, 2019 | by

The Cowboy Artists of America (CAA) has taken a bold step—right into the cultural heart of Fort Worth, Texas. For the first time in its history, its annual art show will not be tethered to a museum, and members couldn’t be more enthusiastic. Utah artist and current CAA president, Jason Rich, has been a member for eight years. He says, “Fort Worth is a mecca of art institutions and Western culture museums—the Amon Carter Museum, the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, the Cattle Museum, Sid Richardson Museum, etc.—that all focus on the West and Western art, and we just really fit
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Beyond Everyday Reality

Beyond Everyday Reality

November 14, 2019 | by

Ethereal and omniscient, often steeped in clouds or fog, the imagery of Wyoming-based painter, Kathryn Mapes Turner, features a mystical blending of physical and spiritual. “My style is inspired by the Celtic word CAOL AIT – places separated by a thin veil, where spaces in the solid world and the realm of spirit come close together,” she says. Bringing that concept to her work, Turner employs brushes and paint as a means of sharing with others the joy and awe of nature that lie deep within her own soul. “My relationship to the natural world is spiritual and, ideally, I
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A Personal Passion

A Personal Passion

November 8, 2019 | by

When Ralph Oberg was 23, his brother invited him to go to Alaska on a mountain climbing adventure. Oberg was doing architectural renderings and basic graphic design at the time and was completely unsatisfied with the work. The trip to Alaska provided the perfect opportunity to make a change. “When I got the opportunity to quit my job and go climb ice-covered mountains in Alaska, I took it,” Oberg says. “That decision cemented the adventurer in me.” It also gave him a closer glimpse of the glaciers that now have become a hallmark of his work. Since that trip 46
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Beautiful Moments

Beautiful Moments

July 14, 2019 | by

For nearly 20 years, Utah artist Nicholas Coleman has created realistic paintings, with impressionistic overtones, as he preserves the history of the American West. His Western history and art education began at his father’s side. “[My dad] was always buying me sketchbooks, or we’d go to the art store and get colored pencils or clay,” Coleman says. His father also bought him history books and told stories of cowboys, Native Americans, and mountain men to expand his son’s knowledge of the country’s heritage. As early as age 3, Coleman worked alongside his father, renowned artist Michael Coleman. The younger Coleman
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Wildlife Wonders

Wildlife Wonders

June 15, 2019 | by

For years, wildlife artist William Alther had painted in his spare time, taking brush to canvas on a limited basis. Finally, in 2004, confident that he had refined his skills to a satisfactory level, he decided the time had come to make the transition from his day job with the zoology department of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and begin earning his living as a professional artist. It was a good decision. Within 15 years, galleries in Colorado, Texas, and Wyoming were carrying Alther’s evocative wildlife imagery, and his work was regularly juried into prestigious national exhibitions, including
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The Hemingway Version

The Hemingway Version

June 15, 2019 | by

Today, the name Sandy Scott is synonymous with sculpture. But there is much more to this versatile artist than meets the eye. Her experience and expertise spans decades—and abilities. No matter what Scott does, she charges full bore into it and excels at it, leading the kind of life many of us can only dream of. Born in rural Oklahoma, near Tulsa, Scott knew early on that art was her destiny. The path she took, however, didn’t follow a particularly natural progression. She’s the first to tell you that her journey has been propelled by good fortune, but it’s clear
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Hooked on the Feeling

Hooked on the Feeling

February 15, 2019 | by

If she hadn’t been diagnosed with Type I diabetes during her first year of college, Carol Strock Wasson today would be a chemical engineer rather than an artist, who is thrilling collectors with her beautifully rendered landscape paintings. In order to deal with that diagnosis and the required twice daily insulin injections, she returned home to Union City, Indiana, where she currently resides, and began to paint. “It’s the reason I’m an artist today,” Strock Wasson says. “I had painted in high school, and my mother was an artist, so I turned to art. Carol Strock Wasson (Indiana) Yellow Bucket
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