Featured Artists

Each issue of Southwest Art magazine features in-depth profiles of top artists in the West and beyond. Browse this section to read interesting and compelling stories about artists’ lives and their techniques, artistic styles, and sources of inspiration. Each article is accompanied by plenty of images to show examples of the artists’ works—including sculpture and paintings in oil, pastel, watercolor, and acrylic, and featuring subjects from western landscapes to cityscapes, figures, wildlife and animal art, still lifes, and more.

James Crandall | Unguarded Moments

James Crandall, Swing Carousel, oil, 20 x 30.

California artist James Crandall captures the human form in the midst of everyday distraction

Desmond O’Hagan | A Sense of Place

Desmond O’Hagan, North Beach, San Francisco, pastel, 18 x 24.

Painter Desmond O’Hagan aims to immerse viewers into a scene

Wanda Choate | Magical Beauty

Wanda Choate, Willow Kisses, oil, 24 x 36.

Wanda Choate captures the 
fleeting spirit of timelessness in her art

William Hook | A World Apart

William Hook, Hacienda Gate, acrylic, 18 x 36.

William Hook captures the Southwest in landscapes imbued with a genuine sense of wonder

Artistic Excellence 2012 | Santiago Michalek

Santiago Michalek, It’s Time, oil, 48 x 48.

2nd Place: Santiago Michalek, Utah

Xiao Song Jiang | Touching People’s Hearts

Xiao Song Jiang, Tide, oil, 30 x 40.

China-born painter Xiao Song Jiang 
reflects on his artistic journey and goals

Z.S. Liang | Visual Literature

Z.S. Liang, Transferring the Bear Knife, oil, 44 x 70.

Chinese-born painter Z.S. Liang creates historical scenes of American Indian life

Dianne Massey-Dunbar | Random Acts of Artistry

Dianne Massey-Dunbar, Jeep, oil, 5 x 7.

Artist Dianne Massey-Dunbar lets spontaneity be her muse

Marc Hanson | Passport to Nature

Marc Hanson, Wellfleet, oil, 14 x 18.

For landscape painter Marc Hanson, art is everywhere his travels take him

Brent Cotton | A River Runs Through Them

Brent Cotton, Symphony of the River, oil painting

Brent Cotton finds inspiration in the 
waterways and back roads of western Montana