Archives for Uncategorized

‘Brain Power, Creativity, and a Healthy Appetite for Problem Solving’

‘Brain Power, Creativity, and a Healthy Appetite for Problem Solving’

January 29, 2024 | by

Wildlife artist Mark McKenna woke up before dawn one day with his mind racing. An idea for a card game had come to him and he couldn’t wait to try it with his family. Within a few weeks, he had worked up a prototype to see what his wife and kids thought. After enjoying the initial concept and a few years of play testing, rule tweaking, and family fun, McKenna and his family released Royal Turmoil under the company name McKenna Games. Royal Turmoil is a turn-based, head-to-head card game where the goal is to claim, steal, settle, and unite
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Cowboys, Yodeling, and Watercolor

Cowboys, Yodeling, and Watercolor

January 24, 2024 | by

Art comes in many different forms. While at Art of the West we primarily focus on visual fine arts, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering encompasses many of the different art forms central to Western life. Founded in 1985, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering is a week-long coming-together of people rooted in the poetry, music, and arts of cowboy country. Historically, the Gathering has focused on the performing and written arts. With dozens of  musicians, poets, and special guests, as well as workshops in rawhide braiding, yodeling, and traditional Cowboy cooking, Elko transforms into a haven for the history and culture of
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Simplicity and Complexity

Simplicity and Complexity

December 11, 2023 | by

Rick Kennington grew up in environments much like those he paints: seemingly endless spaces, mountain backdrops, blue skies, and the steady resolve of cowboys and others whose lives are quietly, solidly entwined with the West. A lifelong resident of Utah, living near the Wasatch Mountains, Kennington’s parents were both from Star Valley, Wyoming, and he spent much of his childhood visiting his grandfather in that area. That’s when the painting began. From his first painting, when he was 18, of his grandfather on a horse, it’s been an ongoing pull toward portraying that life and lifestyle that has kept Kennington
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Exquisite Designs

Exquisite Designs

October 12, 2023 | by

What happens when you pair aesthetics with mathematics? In the case of Texas artists Marilyn Endres and Eucled Moore, the results are complex, segmented, wood-turned vessels that combine classic shapes with contemporary, modern designs. The two artists take turns driving from their homes in Texas—his in San Miguel and hers outside Austin—to work together in creating stunningly beautiful beaded, wood vessels. Thirty years ago, Endres discovered Moore’s work when one of her friends suggested she check it out. Endres was creating high-end kaleidoscopes that were featured at galleries and shows. Moore was a wood turner who crafted intricate vessels with
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Great Inspiration

Great Inspiration

October 12, 2023 | by

When you see a William Haskell painting, you will never forget it. The shapes, the colors, the movement within it are, simply put, stunning. And that’s just as he wants it. “You can be a great technician,” Haskell says, “but, if you can’t compose a painting with a great flow, it won’t work. I want to create something that keeps you in that world, that has all that movement, that you enjoy exploring and finding new things in.” Read the full article in the November/December 2023 issue. Night Ride Acrylic 9″ by 12″ Trust in the Storm Acrylic 16″ by
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Visual Diaries

Visual Diaries

August 10, 2023 | by

“I spent my childhood on the East Coast, but I think I grew up here,” says Western oil painter Scott Yeager. Here refers to Woodland Park, Colorado, where Yeager and his wife Marie have made their home in the shadow of Pikes Peak for the past 15 years, but he could easily be referring to the West as both specific geography and more abstract concept. He’s come of age as an artist in the sagebrush, beside the rivers, on the flanks of the mountains. He’s camped and hiked, he’s hunted and fished, and all of his experiences in nature have
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‘I Paint What Excites Me’

‘I Paint What Excites Me’

November 3, 2022 | by

Getting to the Prix de West International Art Exhibition last June wasn’t easy for Ron Kingswood. His home near Sparta, Ontario, is almost 1,150 miles from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma—and travel between Canada and the United States had become more challenging since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. But it was worth the trip for Kingswood and his wife Linda. His painting, A Morning Walk, earned the Major General and Mrs. Don D. Pittman Wildlife Award for exceptional artistic merit for a wildlife painting or sculpture at the show. “I was
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Painting Nature’s Majesty

Painting Nature’s Majesty

January 1, 2022 | by

Like her landscape paintings, Jan DeLipsey is a breath of fresh air. She’s wonderfully witty, laughs freely, and is an open book when talking about her life and struggles. It’s not quite what you would expect of a psychologist. A what? Yes, you read that correctly; DeLipsey is not only an award-winning artist; she’s a psychologist. “I’m 68,” she says. “I retired when I was 60 and started painting for fun. One thing led to another, and here I am. It’s the most interesting, fun thing I’ve ever done.” Read the full article in the January/February 2022 issue. The Homestead
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Genuine Moments

Genuine Moments

September 1, 2020 | by

Deborah Copenhaver Fellows had two major projects underway late last spring: a monumental sculpture of the 19 firefighters from Prescott, Arizona, who died battling a wildfire in 2013 and a statue of rancher John Palmer Parker for the town of Waimea in Hawaii. Both were nearly complete and ready to roll when the coronavirus pandemic hit. “COVID stopped both,” Fellows says. Fellows hasn’t taken many breaks in her 45-year career as an artist. She comes from a long line of workaholics, she explains, and she’s happiest when she’s busy working. Plus, she loves her job—and she knows that she’s lucky
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Portraits of the Past

Portraits of the Past

July 2, 2020 | by

Ranging in scope from mountain men and covered wagons to Native Americans and working cowboys, Steven Lang’s illuminating compositions provide highly personal insights into Western history. Tracing his Pawnee and Cherokee heritage back to his great- grandparents, the California-based artist has a special affinity for creating imagery that portrays the life of Native Americans. However, an oeuvre of work created during the past three decades also includes action-filled scenes of cattle drives, saloons, and Indian war parties. An inveterate storyteller, Lang finds it equally satisfying to depict the more intimate moments of everyday life. Although they might have lived a
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