When Ron Shanor creates his Western-style furniture, which has won admiration for three decades, he welcomes an assist from an unexpected collaborator: Mother Nature. The gracefully curved feet of his armchair legs benefit from trees that have grown on slopes or were bent naturally by...
Susan Folwell may be following in the footsteps of her ancestors as at least the fifth generation in her family to make pottery. But one glance at her creations, which thoughtfully, wittily, and sometimes provocatively comment on subjects ranging from political and social issues to...
Maeve Eichelberger grew up with “a lot of art supplies around,” thanks to her architect and sculptor father and her mother who pursued interior design and fashion. So it long seemed a foregone conclusion that the Colorado native would be an artist herself. “I never...
Natalie Christensen clearly remembers being asked in early childhood what she dreamed of becoming when she grew up. “I said I wanted to be an artist,” she recalls. “But my father was very pragmatic and always urged us to follow more practical pursuits. It was...
Anyone wondering where Susie Gordon finds inspiration for her realistic yet fanciful animal paintings need only look at what she calls “our little bit of heaven.” She’s referring to the 1804 farmhouse on 50 acres in northeastern Ohio where she raised her three children —...
Some years ago, T Barny presented an exhibition of his abstract stone sculptures at LightHouse in San Francisco, an organization that promotes independence for the blind and visually impaired. As visitors ran their fingertips over the polished, sleekly curved geometric edges, smiles appeared on their...
Tracy and Sushe Felix met in art class in high school in 1974 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Now married for 37 years, they could well be known as “Mr. and Mrs. Western Landscape.” The Felixes have devoted their lives to painting, and they are represented...
The mesmerizingly detailed and realistic oil paintings by Karen Woods resonate with anyone who’s marveled at the beauty of the ordinary world when transformed by the blur and refractions of a rain-streaked car windshield. Such altered views have never had greater impact than in her...
Take one look at Ancient Origins, a recent work by Carrie Penley, and it’s clear that the artist resonates with the American West. An accurate yet expressively rendered image of a mighty bull bison displayed from the side in all his shaggy glory, the more...
In the early 80’s, when Greg Overton was a fourth-grader in Salt Lake City, Utah, a professional artist came to speak to his class. “We had a painting contest,” he recalls, “and I made a little watercolor portrait of Dull Knife, the Cheyenne chief.” It...