Archives for Wildlife

The Guy Who Loves Horses

The Guy Who Loves Horses

September 1, 2021 | by

Mehl Lawson’s lack of the financial resources necessary to purchase a sculpture proved to be a blessing not only to him but to the Western art world, as well. If he couldn’t buy one, he decided, he’d create one. Lawson turned to a friend who was doing some sculpting, asked what he would need to do a sculpture, and went out and bought the basic tools his friend recommended. “I did a little one, and it started selling immediately,” he says. “Within about a year, I had sold the whole edition.” Read the full article in the September/October 2021 issue.
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Talent Knows No Age

Talent Knows No Age

July 1, 2021 | by

In 2004, after 30 years in the car business, John Marzolf sold his three dealerships and retired. Two years later, however, he was bored and looking for something to do. “I loved art, and I collected art,” he says, “so I decided to buy and sell art.” While visiting the Biltmore Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona, Marzolf purchased a Frank Tenney Johnson painting for $275,000 and met the gallery’s owner, Steve Rose. “I liked Rose,” Marzolf says, adding that three times he asked Rose to sell the gallery to him. “The fourth time I said, ‘Why don’t you sell it to
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‘I’m Super Excited’

‘I’m Super Excited’

July 1, 2021 | by

Arizona oil painter Chauncey Homer entered the arena as a professional artist less than two decades ago, but his work has already garnered a strong collector base. His paintings are eagerly sought after and hang in prestigious galleries alongside compositions by masters of the Western genre such as Howard Terpning, Roy Anderson, Robert Shufelt, and R. S. Riddick. The popularity of Homer’s work is due to a combination of his artistic skill and his broad repertoire of subject matter. “I have tried to limit what I paint to five things that I personally love to look at: kids; beautiful women
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A Double Dose of Magic

A Double Dose of Magic

July 1, 2021 | by

For four and a half years, Bonnie Conrad had to take a break from painting. She was recovering from an illness that sapped her of her strength and then, as she felt better, she and her husband were building a new home in Mendon, Utah. She painted whenever she could and whenever she was preparing for a show. By January 2020, Conrad was feeling more like herself again, so she started painting more often. And that’s when something magical happened. Read the full article in the July/August 2021 issue. Son Kissed Oil 24” by 30” “This work is about the
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A World of Possibilities

A World of Possibilities

May 1, 2021 | by

Australians will tell you that stories about the Outback are more truth than fiction. Hardships come naturally in that part of the country; what you learn about life doesn’t always come from a book. “If you don’t put in the hard yards, you will not get results,” says Kathy Ellem, who grew up in Beechworth, a small town about 175 miles north of Melbourne in the state of North Victoria, where her family owned and operated a 100-acre apple farm. “Sometimes nature or the markets seem to be against us but without that effort in the first place we would
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Firsthand Experiences

Firsthand Experiences

May 1, 2021 | by

Kelly Dangerfield was 13 years old when he asked his grandmother to give him his first oil painting lesson. While some grandmothers’ houses are filled with the scent of cookies and pictures of cats, his grandmother Arlene’s house was filled with artwork. A hobby painter, she always had her easel set up and landscape paintings on display when her grandson visited. Dangerfield was intrigued. “She bought me a little tabletop easel and told me to look through these old magazines for a picture I thought was cool,” Dangerfield says, adding that he chose a photo of a high mountain lake.
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The Studio of Stefan Savides

The Studio of Stefan Savides

May 1, 2021 | by

Stefan Savides—aka The Bird Man—is as close to heaven on earth as he could be. Living in a home and working in a studio situated on 8 ½ acres in Klamath Falls, Oregon, he is in the midst of what he describes as “one of the most remarkable wild fowl staging areas in the United States.” Why is that important? Because the taxidermist-turned-sculptor has been fascinated by birds for as long as he can remember. “My interest in birds was just there from the beginning,” he says. “No profound experience sparked it; I was born that way.” Read the full
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A Dream Realized

A Dream Realized

March 1, 2021 | by

Mikel Donahue has only been painting full time since 2010, but he’s already racked up an impressive list of honors and awards. The highlight of his career as a fine artist, he says, came in 2016, when he was voted into membership in the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America (CAA). It was the second time he had been considered for that honor, the first having been a few years earlier, when Paul Moore, a friend and CAA member, had recommended Donahue for membership. “If a member sees work by someone, and they like it, they put the artist’s name up
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An Open Road

An Open Road

March 1, 2021 | by

Doyle Hostetler rests his hand on the wheel of his rented SUV, radio turned down low, and a stack of paintings in the back of the vehicle as he cruises from Cortez to a gallery in Durango, Colorado. Although he could have shipped those paintings, he enjoys driving and finds these trips a nice break from his artwork and his construction business. Hostetler’s wife Charla and his family are back home near New River, Arizona, and he’s enjoying his time alone. He also knows that he’s now on the right road professionally, one that is leading to a successful career
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Looking For Attitudes

Looking For Attitudes

March 1, 2021 | by

The two weeks that Trish Stevenson spent at her grandparent’s log cabin in western North Dakota each summer as a child were the best part of her year. She and her five siblings loved how different it was from their home outside Denver, Colorado. They even loved the outhouse. “It was like camping for two weeks,” she says. “It was the highlight of the year for us.” But what Stevenson remembers most is her grandfather. She remembers how tall and lanky he was, how he sat with his legs crossed in a certain way, how he rolled cigarettes with Bull
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