Campbell County Public Library System - Gillette & Wright Wyoming

Afternoon Showers, Mt. Leidy ~ oil on canvas

Skip Whitcomb ~ b. 1946 Sterling, CO

Versatile artist Skip Whitcomb grew up with a love for nature and the outdoors, and is equally at home portraying his images in oil, watercolor, pastels, pencil or printmaking. An accomplished Plein Aire painter, Whitcomb carefully sketches the subtlest details of a landscape before deciding what emotions he would like his painting to portray. Whitcomb trained at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and has shown nationwide with the American Watercolor Society, Allied Artists in New York, and, at the National Academy of Western Art. His artwork is held in many private collections as well as by the Bank One System of Minneapolis, MN, and the Pioneer Museum in Colorado Springs, CO.

Bird Farm Road ~ oil on canvas

Clyde Aspevig ~ b. 1951 Rudyard, MT

Although Clyde Aspevig often paints on location, he is not afraid to improve on nature's compositions. Aspevig's paintings often concentrate on spatial relationships and subtle harmony, designed to take the viewer on an intriguing journey. A recipient of the Frederic Remington Award (NAWA), Aspevig has won several medals and merit awards for his work. His paintings hang in many collections, including Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT, the Montana Historical Society in Helena, MT, the Rockwell Museum in Corming, NY, and the Pioneer Museum in Colorado Springs, CO. A graduate of Eastern Montana College, Aspevig spends much of his time traveling and giving workshops.

Boss Buck ~ acrylic

Robert Kuhn ~ b. 1920 Buffalo, NY

Robert Kuhn studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY but his skill as an animal artist come from studying animals in the wild. He has traveled to Alaska, Africa and Canada as well as across the United States and worked as an illustrator for wildlife magazines. His biography The Animal Art of Bob Kuhn describes his passion for setting the mood for painting with animals. Posters of this painting are available for sale from The Library Foundation, Inc. Ask your favorite CCPLS librarian for more information.

Bronze Buffalo ~ bronze

Bob Barlow ~ b. 1934 Gillette, WY

Bob Barlow was given oil paints as a child and thus began his passion. He has pursued his subject matter by traveling extensively from his Wyoming home to visit museums and galleries. His landscapes reflect training from his travels, the Art Institute of Chicago and his friendships with other artists. Just as his paintings are filled with detail, so are his bronze pieces. He has shown at the Buffalo Bill Art Show, Charles Russell Art Show, Bradford Brinton Memorial Museum, and numerous other locations. Barlow is credited with the vision of the fine art collection for CCPL.

Canyon Floor ~ watercolor

Morris Rippel ~ b. 1930 Albuquerque, NM

Morris Ripple's realistic portrayals of the Southwest have earned him awards and honors, such as the National Academy of Western Art's Prix de West and several NAWA Gold and Silver medals.'A realist, Ripple begins each painting with a detailed pencil sketch of the subject, utilizing his background as an architect and draftsman to infuse his images with texture and balance. Both the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Western Art in Oklahoma have exhibited Ripple's work, as have the Colorado Heritage Center in Denver, CO, and the Western Heritage Center in Houston, TX.

Canyon Pastoral ~ oil on canvas

Gerard Curtis Delano ~ b. 1890 Marion, MA, d. 1972 Denver, CO

Gerard Curtis Delano studied with George Bridgman at the Art Students League in New York and with Dean Cornwell, Harvey Dunn, and N.C. Wyeth at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City. He was a successful commercial artist in New York before visiting the West in 1919. In 1933, he permanently moved to Colorado. His subject matter was greatly influenced by a trip to the Navajo Reservation and he is best known for images of Arizona. The University of Wyoming Art Museum, the Denver Art Museum, and the Museum of New Mexico are among the institutions that hold pieces of Delano's art.

Chief Washakie ~ bronze

Dave McGary ~ b. 1958 Cody, WY

Dave McGary is considered the Master of Realism depicting Native American Indians and his many awards verify his popularity among collectors and fellow artists. His ability to capture"the human spirit knows no equal, and his attention to detail in form and historic content are exhilarating. The original has been displayed in the rotunda of the US Capitol since 2000. McGary currently lives in New Mexico and his monuments can be found at the Houston Astrodome, the Gene Audrey Museum, the Smithsonian, the Arapaho Complex, and other locations.

The Citadel ~ oil on canvas

Mel Fillerup ~ b. 1924 Lovell, WY

Mel Fillerup is a veteran and a lawyer who simply loves to paint. He trained in watercolor, gouache, and oils, but his best training was a friendship with Conrad Schwiering. The two men shared the passion for outdoor painting in the Tetons and Yellowstone Park. Fillerup moved to Cody, WY, 1952 where he and his wife Ruth raised seven children. He practiced law until 1975 when he turned to painting full time. The Artistry of Mel Fillerup by Carl Bechtold tells the full story of this award winning artist.

The Elk Ivory Dress ~ carbon pencil/charcoal

Hollis Williford ~ b. 1940 Texas

Hollis Williford was awarded Gold Medals in both sculpture and drawing at the 1986 annual exhibition of the National Academy of Western Art. He was the first to win top awards in two categories in the same year. The artist's interest and creativity come from his rural Southern Texas upbringing. He began studying art at the University of Texas at Arlington and finished at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. His paintings and sculptures are in numerous collections including the Thomas Gilcrease Museum, Genesee Country Museum, Cowboy Hall of Fame, Lacross Hall of Fame, Middlebury College, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Denver Art Museum, and the Vail Colorado Public Library.

Fanning the Twisters ~ bronze

Peter M. Fillerup ~ b. 1953 Cody, WY

Peter M. Fillerup was born in Cody, WY, educated at Brigham Young University, and currently resides in Herber City, UT. The artist's sculptures are known for anatomical excellence and admired for their dynamics of movement. Fillerup has won awards from shows such as the American Indian and Cowboy Artist Show, the Buffalo Bill Art Show, and the Old West Museum Exhibit. His sculptures have become public monuments at the Brigham Young Historic Park in Salt Lake City, the University of Kansas, the Biblical Arts Center in Dallas, TX, the Philmont Boy Scout Camp in New Mexico, Soldier Hollow 2002 Winter Olympic Venue, and the Wyoming Governors' Residence. This piece became a monument in 1990 and is located at the University of Wyoming.

Fishing Boats ~ watercolor

Lowell Smith ~ b. 1924 Canton, OH

Lowell Smith served in the Air Force during World War II and then worked as a commercial artist for 12 years before deciding painting was what he wanted to do full time. A watercolorist, Smith is known for his delicate impressionism and strength of design. He is a member of the American Watercolor Society and the National Academy of Western Art, and has won several awards plus the Prix de West from the National Academy of Western Art. Smith's paintings are in the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma, the Frye Museum in Seattle and the Canton and Akron Art Museums in Ohio.

Fred Lujan-Taos Pueblo ~ oil on canvas

Ramon Kelley ~ b. 1939 Cheyenne, WY

Ramon Kelley prefers the spontaneity of alia prima painting, depending on boldness of color to infuse the painting and viewer with excitement. A teacher, portrait artist, and author, Kelley continues to experiment in a variety of media, from painting to printmaking to sculpture. He was elected to the Pastel Society of America's Hall of Fame in 1986 and then to the Colorado Institute of Arts Hall of Fame. Many museums collect his work, including Frye Museum of Fine Art in Seattle, the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Art, the Spokane Museum of Native American Culture, and the Military Academy at West Point. In addition to writing books on painting, the artist is known for the many workshops he gives.

Geese in Yellowstone ~ oil on canvas

Len Chmiel ~ b. 1942 Chicago, IL

Len Chmiel became a full-time fine artist after working as a mechanical draftsman for Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles. He took night courses at the Art Center College of Design and after graduation, painted and freelanced as an illustrator for several years. His fluid style allows his personal experiences and feelings to control his paintings, not technique alone. He works direct from nature, and his palette shares warm and cool colors in intense shades. Living in Colorado, Chmiel has become a world traveler and painter with huge success with one man shows, exhibits, articles, and classes.

House at Cerrillos ~ oil on board

Doug Higgins - b. 1945 NJ

While attending the Art Students League in New York, Doug Higgins worked as a catalog model to support himself. This exposure led to several acting jobs, including a stint on a daytime soap opera. Eventually, Higgins decided to return to painting, and like many other artists, was drawn to the beauty of the Southwest. Higgins' loose style and interpretation of colOr bring out the essence of his subiect matter. A member of the Oil Painters of America and the National Academy of Western Art, Higgins exhibits throughout the Southwest and has exhibited his work at the Artists of America show in Denver, CO.

Indian and His Horse ~ oil on canvas

Sheryl L. Bodily. b. 1936 Boise, ID

Sheryl Bodily remembers from his childhood milking cows daily and a grade schoolteacher who praised his art. But it took nearly 30 years to find success as an artist. Bodily attended Brigham Young University as an art major and took the Famous Artist's School, CN, by correspondence to learn his craft. His western oils and pencil and pen include his favorite subjects: children, old cabins, wagons. At his Montana home studio he uses photographs to capture details for his work. Bodily has been honored with Indian culture awards.

Late Afternoon Market ~ oil on canvas

Kang Cho ~ b. 1953 Seoul, Korea

Kang Cho always wanted to be an artist. After moving to the United States as a child, Cho immediately began to win awards for his art, including a two-year scholarship to the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Cho travels extensively wanting to experience as much as possible about the locale before starting a painting. Cho is a disciplined painter, concentrating on the design elements that will build his images. Equally at home painting a landscape, cityscape, or nude, Cho has been the recipient of a Greenshield Foundation Grant, and a John and Anna Lee Stacy Foundation Grant. Collectors of Cho's work include the Petroleum Club of Denver, CO and USWest.

Light of the Heart ~ oil on canvas

Louis L. Stephenson ~ b. 1947 Gillette, WY

Stephenson grew up on ranches in Wyoming and Montana, and did not start his art training until after a 1969 stint in an Air Force hospital. He works from slides and from life with particular interest in the details of portraiture and body language. His most current work can be found at AbbaArtsAlive.com. The artist studied at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and he travels from his home in Colorado to present art classes.

Powder River Country ~ oil on canvas

Bernard P. Thomas ~ b. 1918 Sheridan, WY, d. 1994 FL

Bernard Thomas did not paint pretty pictures, but history, he said. "1' m the one who believes the artist who has lived 'it' is the one who can put the right feel in his work. Nothing gripes me more than a Western illustration done by an Eastern illustrator who doesn't know straight up about the West." As a child, Thomas lived near his inspiration Bill Gollings and he studied at Woodbury College, Los Angeles, and the Ecole de Beaux Arts, Paris. His landscapes included details of the land, buildings and people where he grew up, visited or lived. His murals in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Florida are his largest works.

Rocky Mountain Village ~ etching

Gene Kloss ~ b. 1903 Oakland, CA, d. 1996 Taos, NM

A sensitive and insightful recorder of New Mexico, Gene Kloss was very accomplished in etching, drypoint and aquatint. Her studio near Taos, NM, had an unmistakable and uninterrupted view of Taos Mountain. A full academician in the graphics category in the National Academy of Design, her works may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum, the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Kloss' work is sought by curators, writers, filmmakers, and documenters of every sort.

Rosie Walking Bear ~ pastel

Winold Reiss ~ b. 1886 Karlsruhe, Germany, d. 1953 New York, NY

Fritz Winold Reiss is best known as a portrait artist, but was also a muralist and an interior architect. He is credited with introducing the" art deco" style of design to the United States. Reiss studied art in Munich, Germany and moved to the US in 1913. His interest in the Plains Indians stemmed from boyhood readings, and he made his first trip to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana in 1919. His work is held in many public and private collections including the Bradford Brinton Memorial, Big Horn, WY; the Burlington Northern Railroad, Fort Worth, TX; the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.

Summer Sweet Summer ~ oil on canvas

Ned Mueller ~ b. 1940 Milwaukee, WI

Raised in the Gallatin Valley of Montana, Ned Mueller has been drawing and painting all of his life. He graduated from the prestigious Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles where he also taught drawing while still a student. His love for life and art is reflected in his paintings of a wide range of subjects and executed in several mediums. He has written several articles on painting for The Artist's Magazine and is a signature member of the Plein Air Painters of America.

Wagon Train ~ watercolor

Nick Eggenhofer ~ b. 1897 Gauting, Bavaria, d. 1985 Cody, WY

Attracted to the American West by Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Nick Eggenhofer immigrated to the United States with his family in 1913 and established a studio in New Jersey. As an illustrator he prepared by researching, acquiring a collection, and building models of western equipment. Over the years he illustrated for magazines and more than 50 books. He wrote his own book, Wagons, Mules and Men in 1961. His dry brush illustrations and oils portray the authenticity and honesty of western labor. The Whitney Gallery of Art in Cody, WY, retains a large collection of Eggenhofer pieces.

Wash Day ~ oil on canvas

Clark Hulings ~ b. 1922 Baton Rouge, LA

Clark Hulings' images of the Southwest radiate with luminous quality; his paintings reflect superb technical ability and a deep understanding of light and atmospheric effects. A childhood stay in Spain and frequent trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York when he was a teenager helped influence the direction of the artist's career. After Hulings studied at the Art Students League, NY, his talents diverged and he graduated Haverford College with a degree in physics before returning to his primary interest, painting. The National Academy of Western Art awarded Hulings the Prix de West for a painting of the Grand Canyon and the Cowboy Hall of Fame awarded him a Trustees' Gold Medal in 1976.

Winter in Wyoming ~ watercolor

James Boren ~ b. 1921 Waxahatchie, TX, d. 1990 OK

The son of a minister, James Boren knew from childhood he wanted to be a painter, but art school waited until after the war. He graduated from Kansas City Art Institute in 1951, and taught at a college for two years before traveling and painting in the Southwest and Alaska. In 1965, he became the first art director for the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma, and had a successful first show in 1969. His mastery of watercolors and his understanding of western life led to shows in Paris and Peking.

Barlow, Bob
Six Antelope - Bronze
Wolf - Bronze

Bartlett, Gray
Canyon Mystery - Oil on Canvas

Bennett, Don
Wood River Country - Watercolor

Berninghaus, Charles
In My Sister's Garden - Oil on Canvas

Blagden, Allen
Outcropping Redtail Hawk - Watercolor

Brown, Harley
Black Plume Blackfoot - Watercolor

Bunn, Ken
Two Wolves - Bronze

Carlson, George
Sioux Girl - Bronze

Daily, Mark
Baby Brett - Oil on Canvas

Gonske, Walt
Taos Pueblo Winter - Watercolor

Gorbatov, Constantine
Russian Town - Oil on Canvas

Jacob, Ned
Arapahoe Study - Watercolor

Jensen, Carl
Campbell County Crossroads - Bronze

Karas, Michael
Colorado Canyon - Oil on Canvas

Kleiber, Hans
Down From The Hill - Etching
Pair of Mountain Chickadees - Etching
Pheasants II - Etching
The Winter Trail - Etching
Waiting At The Gate - Etching
Winter Residents - Etching

Kloss, Gene
Crusita - Etching
January Morning - Etching
Pueblo Firelight Dance - Etching

Lawson, T. Allen
Summer Sage

Lougheed, Robert
Medicine Hat Mustang - Oil on Canvas

Myrah, Newman
Three Horses - Oil on Canvas

Navajo, Weaver
Teec Nos Pas - Woven Rug

Paulley, David
Immense Ranges of High Mountains Still to the West of Us - Oil on Canvas
Sacagawea, the Captains and the Beaver's Head Rock - Oil on Canvas
The Corps of Discovery - Oil on Canvas

Payne, Edgar
Brittany Sails - Oil on Canvas

Perceval, Don
Winter in Navaio Country - Watercolor

Reid, Charles
Lauren - Oil on Canvas

Reiss, Winold Pjark
Four Souls-Cree Boy - Pastel

Ryder, Chauncey F.
Untitled Seascape - Oil on Canvas

Schwiering, Conrad
Afternoon Light - Oil on Canvas

Scriver, Bob
Let' er Buck - Bronze

Smith, Tucker
Wyoming Icon - Oil on Canvas

Stefan, Ross
Under the Patagonia Sky - Oil on Canvas

Waldum, Paul
Late September Moonrise in the Big Horns - Pastel

Williford, Hollis
Hunter's Return - Bronze

Yanzie, Edward
Whirling Log Camel - 2 Sand Paintings

Zhang, Wen Xin
Laminated Seascape - Oil on Board