JOPLIN, MISSOURI, SITS SQUARELY IN THE MIDDLE of the Main Street of America, otherwise known as historic U.S. Route 66. It’s famous for being a backdrop for the shenanigans of a notorious criminal duo, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who robbed their way through Joplin...
ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ARTISTIC BREAKTHROUGHS in Quang Ho’s long career took place one day in West Virginia, when he carried his paints into an autumn forest, gazed around at the spectacular beauty — and didn’t paint. Instead, he found himself compelled to simply...
IF EVER THERE WERE AN EXAMPLE OF PLACE-BASED INSPIRATION — a setting that in and of itself ignites a creative spark — then Salt Lake City, Utah-based artists John Bell and Janell James have found it. The place happens to be their home that’s located...
LANDSCAPE ARTISTS GENERALLY TAKE THE LONG VIEW — a panorama, a horizon at sunrise or sunset, a scene comprising nature’s elements affected by light and shadow. Instead, watercolorist Gregory Strachov shows us the world from the ground up, highlighting the solid beauty of boulders, glimpses...
We live in a challenging world. Our lives are often fraught with difficulties and angst. Each day, any one of us may struggle with our health, finances, family, work, or any manner of stress. During a recent panel discussion, I commented on the importance of beauty...
Custom furniture maker Scott E. Armstrong may live and work in the town of Powell, Wyoming, but don’t necessarily expect him to craft you an item that shouts “Western.” Sure, his creations may bear regional touches, like subtle inlays inspired by barbed wire or the...
Debra Box enjoys a reputation as a museum-quality artist in beadwork and parfleche — painted rawhide containers, so named by French traders because the material was tough enough to parry (parer) an arrow (flèche). So it may come as a surprise to learn that, although...
Woodcuts and linocuts by Tom Killion miraculously bridge the 5,000 miles and two centuries separating present-day California and late-Edo-period Japan. Inspired and influenced by the works of master woodblock print artists Hokusai [1760–1849] and Hiroshige [1797–1858], yet undeniably American in their expansive energy, Killion’s handmade...
Jared Brady doesn’t have to travel far from home to find subjects for his plein-air and studio landscapes. “Usually,” he says, “I’m out painting on our property.” His family’s 30 or so acres, complete with an aspen grove and pine trees, is in Woodland Park,...
American aristocracy stayed at Castle Hot Springs first: the Vanderbilts, Pews, Rockefellers, and then the Wrigleys. Former President Teddy Roosevelt stayed here before dedicating the nearby reclamation dam that was named for him. His cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also visited. A future president, John F....