Aaron Blaise spent three years creating a short, hand-drawn, animated film he titled “Snow Bear,” which was released last year. The film has earned approximately 40 awards at film festivals throughout the world. It’s been nominated for two Annie Awards, including Best Animated Short Film, and has been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Academy Award nominations will be announced January 22. The Annie Awards will be conducted February 21, and the Oscars will take place March 15. Blaise is justifiably proud of the accolades he’s earned for “Snow Bear,” but what means much more for him
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  Chris Navarro is an award-winning artist who thinks outside the box. Best known for his bronze sculptures that feature everything from cowboys to T-Rex. His latest project is a wind fence constructed from vintage wind turbine blades at the entrance to the 355-acre Wyoming Rescue Missions Recovery Ranch in Esterbrook, Wyoming. Navarro calls the sculpture “Wall of Renewal”, an appropriate title because it will keep a wind turbine out of a landfill by giving it a new purpose, which mirrors the stories of many people who come through the mission’s doors as they struggle with homelessness, joblessness, and drug addiction. The wind
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  “What began as a simple email turned into a journey of creativity, courage, and connection,” says Wisconsin watercolorist Caitlin Leline Hatch. It certainly did—but she almost missed it. Hatch says she considered deleting the email she found in her inbox five months ago, but when she saw that it was from someone connected with Coors Banquet and Wrangler, she opened it. The senders said they were looking for an artist to create a series of original, Western-inspired prints and that they immediately thought of her, mentioning that the tone, texture, and spirit of her paintings reflect the storytelling and sense of American
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  The folks at the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, have much to celebrate. In September, True West Magazine ranked it the number one Western art museum in the United States. The magazine evaluates museums based on their exhibits, facilities, multimedia and online accessibility, events, and promotion of historic and cultural resources. “Last year, we were ranked number two, after the Eiteljorg [Museum of American Indians and West Art],” says Darrell Beauchamp, executive director of the Museum of Western Art. “We’re not the ‘big guys,’ and we don’t try to be. We’re a little museum doing a great job.”   Museum of Western Art
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  Lisa Sorrell is a master boot maker with clients throughout the world seeking out her customized cowboy boots. They are drawn to her exquisite, intricate designs and to the quality of her work—and they are willing to ante up a starting price of $10,000 to own a pair of her magnificent boots.     Sorrell’s clients are also willing to fly to her shop in downtown Guthrie, Oklahoma, or to fly her to their locations to have their feet measured and to select a design for the customized footwear she creates. Other shoe makers also turn to her for guidance;
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  Every evening, when 8 p.m. rolls around, Tobias Sauer puts his eldest boy—Cash, who is 6—to bed and follows a routine as he does so. He lies down with him, makes shadow puppets for him, and reads him a book. That routine is followed by another one that Sauer put into practice a few years ago—spending two to three hours each night making accoutrements for Western models to wear during artist photo shoots.     Sauer, who lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with his wife Andrea Hunter and his children, has been painting full-time for about seven years now.
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  Maynard Dixon would be proud. The master artist, who was considered one of the premier landscape painters of the American West during the early 20th century, died in 1946, but his legacy is alive and well, thanks to Paul and Susan Bingham, founders of the Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts. Dixon’s home and studio in Mt. Carmel, Utah, had fallen into disrepair over the years, but a telephone call changed everything. In 1997, Milford Zornes called Paul Bingham and asked him a question: Would he be interested in buying it? Paul’s response was an immediate and enthusiastic, “Yes!” Zornes, who
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Rob Pitzer, who passed away in the spring, was an art collector and founder of several galleries, including Pitzer’s Fine Arts in Wimberley, Texas—located between Austin and San Antonio. He also assembled an impressive collection of art from the artists he worked with during his almost 50 years in business. One of his most interesting ventures was what his son, Tyson, describes as a sub-collection that he refers to as the Artists’ Palette Collection.   Painted Palette, Mikki Senkarik, oil on panel   That collection is the product of an art lover who also thought outside the box—or the frame,
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“It just seems like [Louis L’Amour] was part of a lot of people’s households,” says Allyson Sheumaker, executive director of the A. R. Mitchell Museum in Trinidad, Colorado. So, when the folks at the museum had the opportunity to display and sell some original cover art and sketches from dozens of Louis L’Amour books, they didn’t hesitate to put together a show.  Gregory Manchess is an award-winning illustrator and artist and has been working on illustrations for advertisements, magazines, and book covers for almost 50 years. One of the authors whose covers he worked on was Louis L’Amour, and he
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Are you a big Fan of “Yellowstone”? If so, keep a lookout for a David Frederick Riley piece in the background of some of the scenes in season five. And this might not be the last time you see a piece of his on the acclaimed TV show or its spin-offs.   The entire process started about six months ago, when Riley got a call from Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman, Montana, one of the galleries that carries his work. “The [Yellowstone crew members] were shooting around Bozeman,” Riley says. “They went to Montana Trails Gallery, and that’s where they saw
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