Morgan Cameron, Backcountry Cowhand, oil, 12 x 12.
There’s no mistaking the pulsating western vibes in Morgan Cameron’s winning entry, and that’s by the artist’s design. Growing up in northeastern Maine, Cameron often dreamed about the cowboy way of life. Despite being far removed from that culture in a geographical sense, she had both western films and a beloved role model to turn to for inspiration. “My grandfather was an old cowboy at heart,” she says, “and if he had lived out West, there’s no doubt that working cattle on horseback is what he would’ve done.”
Cameron’s grandfather owned acres of land, and she recalls traversing that landscape “almost daily” on her pony and horses, “dreaming I was a cowgirl,” she says. Naturally, western scenes like BACKCOUNTRY COWHAND are her go-to subjects today. “It keeps that part of my life alive,” she says, “as does my memory and feelings about my grandfather and our dreams of being out West together in another life.”
The artist describes her fluid, energetic style as “disrupted realism,” an approach she first discovered as a student at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, CT. “I especially find it fitting when painting animals,” she says. “The disrupted marks make them feel more alive to me, as if they just moved and your eye is catching that quick moment.”
And speaking of animals, Cameron portrays a wide variety of them: birds, foxes, and wolves, to name a few, as well as pet portraits on commission. Still, equines are at the top of her list. “Horses are my main subject,” notes the artist, who now resides near Portland, ME. “I have a personal connection with them that I believe allows me to portray them better than anything else I paint.” Find Cameron’s work at Abend Gallery, Denver, CO, and Equis Art Gallery, Red Hook, NY.
This story appeared in the December 2020/January 2021 issue of Southwest Art magazine.