Author Archives: Southwest Art

Mark Mehaffey, Into the Light, watercolor, 30 x 22.

Mark Mehaffey | No Limits

Mark Mehaffey used to jokingly say he was a schizophrenic painter, using the outmoded term for someone who couldn’t settle on a single personality. In his case, he had no desire to choose one medium or even one style—and still doesn’t. But these days he uses a more politically correct phrase...

Editor’s Letter | A Continuing Story

I’ve got to hand it to the person on Southwest Art’s staff—I don’t know who it was—who decided, early on, that it would be a good idea to put aside one copy of each issue to be protected for posterity in a set of bound volumes. Each of these heavy hard-cover...

Kimberly Wurster, Bumper Crop, pastel, 20 x 16.

Emerging Artists | Kimberly Wurster

In her former life, Kimberly Wurster developed wildlife refuges in Montana. These days she is more likely to paint the winged inhabitants of such places near her home in Oregon. Her impressionistic depictions of various birds and waterfowl often include an abstracted background that brings the subject forward as the focal...

Dave Merrill, In the Pink, oil, 16 x 20.

Emerging Artists | Dave Merrill

In the world of Aesop’s fables, foxes are symbols for slyness, crows represent vanity, and wolves symbolize loneliness. Painter Dave Merrill discusses these literary conceits with ease, noting that such ideas inspire his artworks.
David Caton, Croton Peak, Morning, oil, 36 x 48.

Show Preview | Texas Aesthetic X

From the South Plains to the Piney Woods, the Texas landscape is as diverse as it is grand. So, too, is the group of contemporary regionalists exhibiting in Texas Aesthetic, the 10th annual exhibition of its kind from William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art.
William Robinson Leigh, Indian Rider, oil, 20 x 16.

Auction Preview | American Art Auction

Western art aficionados and auction fans will want to save Saturday, May 7, for Heritage Auctions’ American Art Auction in Dallas. The sale features approximately 150 lots that span a multitude of significant genres and, as Aviva Lehman, Heritage Auctions’ director of American art, notes, “high quality at every price from...

Albin Veselka, Sail, oil, 16 x 12.

Show Preview | Young Masters

Waterhouse Gallery mounts its inaugural Young Masters exhibition this month, highlighting new works by gallery artists who have displayed remarkable talent and quality in the early stages of their careers. The show offers a broad range of themes and styles, from traditionally painted subjects to more contemporary interpretations.
Angus, Peonies and Fruit Pushing Over Blue, acrylic, 21 x 14.

Show Preview | Chromatic Imaginings

Ventana Fine Art brings contemporary landscape and still-life interpretations to the fore this month with a two-person exhibition featuring the vivid, high-intensity paintings of Frank Balaam and Angus. The show, entitled Chromatic Imaginings, opens Friday, May 20, with a reception for the artists from 5 to 7 p.m.
Don Weller, Splint Boots, watercolor, 13 x 17.

Show Preview | Western Art Show

Every Memorial Day weekend for 42 years, the Phippen Museum in Prescott, AZ, has gathered a selection of western artists to showcase their fine art in Prescott’s courthouse plaza. Established artists, such as Bill Nebeker, Bill Cramer, and Hyrum Joe, present their work in booths alongside up-and-coming artists in the western...