By Bonnie Gangelhoff For Michelle Torrez there is nothing more interesting as subject matter than a living, breathing, thinking human being. “Some artists who paint landscapes have so much to say about them,” Torrez says. “I just don’t have as much to say about a bush as I do about a human. Every single human [...]

By Bonnie Gangelhoff New Mexico-based painter Linda St. Clair treasures living in the West. Among other things, one of her attractions to the region is the access to a wide variety of animal species, ranging from grizzly bears to gray wolves. For her painting HORSES OF A DIFFERENT COLOR, St. Clair was inspired by a [...]

By Bonnie Gangelhoff Sculptor and printmaker Maura Allen was born and raised in the West, and today the Colorado-based artist is known for her fresh, contemporary take on both the region and its people. “What’s not to love about the wide-open spaces and blue skies? It feels like freedom here,” Allen says. “When I see [...]

By Bonnie Gangelhoff Unlike most plein-air painters, Carol Swinney wields a knife instead of a brush. “I am a 100-percent-palette-knife painter,” Swinney says. Hence, it comes as no surprise that she is known for her uniquely textured takes on western terrain, whether she is capturing Wyoming’s Grand Tetons or the Colorado Rockies. Swinney says a [...]

By Bonnie Gangelhoff The multitalented Martha Pettigrew is showcasing both her painting and sculpting abilities in this year’s Cowgirl Up show. Although known for her bronze sculptures, most often depicting women, Pettigrew says that about five years ago she began to return to her two-dimensional roots. She majored in printmaking and oil painting at the [...]

By Bonnie Gangelhoff For decades Elizabeth Black has been traveling to the Grand Canyon to paint one of the great natural wonders of the world. Ten years ago she first saw the Tanner Delta region of the canyon, the subject matter of her painting ANCIENT CROSSROADS, ON THE GRAND, which is featured in the Cowgirl [...]

I was photographing from my car on a cold blustery day in Yellowstone National Park when a raven flew in front of me. I pulled into a parking area and it flew over to a telephone pole. It was very accommodating as it posed for more than 20 minutes, giving me a 360-degree view before [...]