Archives for Wildlife

Painting the Air

Painting the Air

March 1, 2022 | by

Cheri Christensen is blessed with the ability to capture the uniquely individual personalities of the animals she lovingly portrays, radiating their charm and joie de vivre as she does so. Her love of animals traces back to her childhood in Enumclaw, Washington, a small farming community, where her family had a butcher shop, and her grandfather raised Herefords. “I spent a lot of time at his ranch, and I idolized the lifestyle of being surrounded by animals—sheep, horses, cows, cats, and dogs,” Christensen says. After graduating from high school in 1979, she enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle
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The Studio of Adam Smith

The Studio of Adam Smith

March 1, 2022 | by

Adam Smith has an innate talent for drawing and painting cougars, pumas, and mountain lions. There was a time, however, when the only big cats he wanted to draw came with a 428/335 horsepower Super Cobra Jet engine designed by Ford for its Mustang and Cougar cars. “In high school I was drawing cars,” Smith says. “I thought about car design [as a career], so in 2006 I enrolled full-time at Wyoming Technical Institute in Laramie to become a technician.” Read the full article in the March/April 2022 issue. Thunderhead Acrylic 25” by 35” The Stalker Acrylic 19” by 35”
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Sweet Connections

Sweet Connections

January 1, 2022 | by

It was a compliment of the highest order and one that Julie Nighswonger treasures. While exhibiting her paintings at an art show, she watched as a little girl walked up to a painting of a small horse, which was hanging low in Nighswonger’s booth—and kissed it. Sure, awards are appreciated and are validation of work well done, says the Wyoming artist, but a kiss—wow! Nighswonger has won her share of awards. Her first was the Artists’ Choice Award at the Wyoming State Fair in 2003; her most recent was the People’s Choice Award at Cowgirl Up! last year. A member
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Peaceful Feelings

Peaceful Feelings

January 1, 2022 | by

When Paul Dykman steps outside his rural Montana home, his first instinct is to look up. “I look up, and I see the mountains; I see the amazing sky,” he says. “And I think, ‘Lord, how did you do that? Will you please show me how to do that?’ “It’s so beautiful. I look around and wonder how to get that certain color in the sky or the hue of the mountain. It’s not easy to emulate what God finds so easy to do.” Dykman has spent the past 20-plus years trying to do just that. Read the full article
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The Studio of Doug Monson

The Studio of Doug Monson

January 1, 2022 | by

If you happen to find yourself wandering through the galleries in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, do yourself a favor and venture an hour and change down US 89-S to Afton. Thanks to the hard work and bold, generous vision of wildlife artist and Afton resident Doug Monson, the little town—population 2,000—is finding a place on the map for artists and collectors alike. Monson and his wife Donna have been enamored with Afton since they visited it four years ago while searching for studio space. “It’s in a beautiful valley, a high mountain valley,” Monson says. “It’s just a really good area,
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A Master In His Prime

A Master In His Prime

January 1, 2022 | by

George Carlson has never subscribed to any “ism.” As the only person in history to be honored with the Prix de West Purchase Award—the top prize in Western Art—in two different media, he also has never seen himself as a “Western artist,” at least not in the way it has celebrated iconic landscapes, cowboys, and indigenous people. But Carlson does believe in a way of seeing that is articulated by many, going back to the ancient Greeks. It is embraced by American master realist Andrew Wyeth and by Carlson’s friend, painter Robert Lougheed. Their maxim is this: Nature provides all
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Patience and Precision

Patience and Precision

November 1, 2021 | by

Randal M. Dutra has enjoyed a varied career in art for more than 46 years. He began his studies in 1975, working from life at a Canadian game farm, and in 1977 he enrolled at the Art Students League in New York. During his early art career, he also learned from several respected mentors, including Clarence Tillenius, Robert Lougheed, and George Carlson. In 1981, Dutra became involved in cinematic visual effects. During his 25 years in the movie business, while concurrently producing fine art, he worked with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Disney on several films, two of which earned
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Beautiful Blendings

Beautiful Blendings

November 1, 2021 | by

Acclaimed sculptor James G. Moore—Jim to friends, family, and a growing population of enthusiastic collectors—is leading a very good life, enjoying a mix of work and play that any creative person would envy. “My great joy is to be on the water,” he says. “I kayak; about twice a week I’m on some kind of boat.” On the days Moore isn’t paddling one of two nearby rivers (both the Wenatchee and the Columbia flow an easy drive from his home), he’s apt to be in one of his two studios. “My metal shop is where I make all the racket,”
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Chasing Perfection

Chasing Perfection

November 1, 2021 | by

There are things you have to give up if you’re going to run a ranch, raise a family, and pursue a career as a wildlife artist all at the same time. Chad Poppleton, who took over the operations of his dad’s ranch in northern Utah’s Cache Valley a year ago, is doing all three—and doing them well. Most days, he’s up early to do chores and get work done around the ranch. Once those jobs are done, he heads to his studio and paints for several hours. Then he loops back to the ranch for more chores and to wrap
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The Studio of Edward Aldrich

The Studio of Edward Aldrich

November 1, 2021 | by

After getting married in 2002 wildlife artist Edward (Ned) Aldrich and his wife Kerry set up housekeeping in Golden, Colorado. Within three years, however, they realized they wanted more land, so they moved to a home on a mountainside just west of Denver. The downside of their new home was that its configuration did not allow room for a studio. Aldrich spent the first two years there working in a basement studio, then decided to add additional space to the top of the house. “Working there really spurred me on to get the addition finished,” he says of his basement
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