Winter is on its way

Winter is on its way...
100 E. Meadow Drive #10
Vail, CO 81657
www.claggettrey.com
Prix de West 2010 Purchase Award:
Chosen by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for its Permanent Art Collection.
“Sunrise in the Golden Gate; Downeaster Benjamin F. Packard” | Oil On Linen, 24” x 38”
by Christopher Blossom
As we look forward to another wonderful winter season here at
the Claggett/Rey Gallery and our 21st winter here in the Vail
Valley, we know you will be excited to see what our artists and the
season will bring. The Town of Vail has many new and exciting
projects which are finally complete, and which will no doubt effect
us all for the better. First, the Four Seasons Hotel will officially
open in early December, a half block from the gallery. The Sebastian hotel, just behind the gallery will have completed a remodel
and new changes as well. In Lionshead, the Ritz residences have
been completed where we also installed a Dan Ostermiller monumental sculpture “Le Gran-Pere.” Just to the east of the gallery,
the massive Solaris project which replaced the old Crossroads is
complete, with 74 condos and some great retail spaces. Vail has
also been awarded the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships,
which will be a big thrust in the ski areas marketing over the next
4 years; to draw the new and old visitors to our valley.
All of our artists have been very busy with projects, awards and
commissions keeping them alive during these interesting times.
John and Terri Moyers have been traveling and painting in the
Canadian Rockies and have just had their three-person show in
Santa Fe. We look forward to hosting their great works in a major
show next August. Wayne Wolfe has been painting the Colorado
Environs he loves for his one man show with us in March. Sculptor Gail Folwell has completed her monumental baseball pitcher
for a stadium in Texas and she will be heading to France for inspiration and skiing this winter with her family. Painter R.S. Riddick
has released a new suite of etchings which he has worked on in
technique and idea for the past few years. Ron has also been traveling and painting the west and wine country for next years show
in July. William Matthews is completing the finishing touches on
his remodel of a fabulous warehouse, now studio, in Denver; so
he will be full of creative energy this winter too. As you can see,
our artists have been very busy, continually traveling and creating miniature to monumental works for public and private collections and we pride ourselves as being a conduit for them to
achieve greatness in the art world.
IMAGES FROM PHOTO PAGE
1. Gordon Snidow, “A Cowboy’s Best Friend” 27x34 Gouache
2. Quang Ho “Night Shift” (detail) 12x16 Oil
3. Ken Riley “Reflections” 8.75x9.5 Drawing
4. Josh Elliott “Nolan Lake” 10x12 Oil
5. Joyce Lee “Not One More Step” (detail)18x24 Oil
6. Robert Pummill “Desert Sundown” 30x40 Oil
7. William Matthews “Connemara” 16x46 Watercolor
Top: Wayne Wolfe (detail)
Above: R.S.Riddick “Com’on Boy” 9.5x7.75, Etching
Staff News
This has been a busy year for all of us at Claggett/Rey. Bill, Maggie and the
twins are all doing well. Isabella and Owen are getting bigger by the minute!
The twins experienced their first artist reception at our Anniversary Show
and made an appearance at the CA Trail Ride.
We had an amazing 21st Anniversary show in July, attended by many of our
artists and their families, as well as our longtime friends and clients. We were
honored to have legendary artist Kenneth Riley and his wife Maria in attendance at the show. At 91, he traveled from Santa Barbara, California to celebrate with us. Their presence made the show that much more special.
We have added Laura Wolf back into the CR family, as Laura and husband
Ernie have been living in Mexico for the past few years heading up a development project. Laura will be the head of operations here and my right arm
now that our twin babies have entered our lives. Tom Bassett, as I write this,
is backpacking on a circumnavigation of the Maroon Belles with his wife
Sandy and eager for another season (21) at the gallery. Our Patrick O’Donell
is engaged to be married next May, and the rest of the crew, Claire, Holly and
Courtney are working on all sorts of projects and look forward to seeing you
this season. Keep abreast of all the happenings here as we are completely
wired... so check us out and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and also on
www.claggettrey.com.
From Top: William Matthews & Laura Wolf;
Ken Riley & Bill Rey; Natalie Riddick & Ginny
Springall ; Gerald Fritzler & Josh Elliott
This past June, Ray and Sally Duncan, their son and ranch manager Mike
Duncan and his wife Renee, along with Bill and Maggie Rey hosted the Cowboy
Artists of America annual trail ride at the Duncan’s Diamond Tail Ranch in
Northern Colorado. This was the fifth time since 1995 that the ranch has hosted
this great group of artists. The Diamond Tail is a multi-faceted buffalo ranch
situated at 8,000 feet and is a perfect place for the CAA to host another trail
ride. From fly fishing to team roping, shooting and singing, the beautiful June
weather supplied a setting for perfection with its high spring runoff and lush
green grass. With inspiration running rampant, we may just see some beautiful
Colorado high country scenes from the CAA artists this year in the gallery!
Annie & Olive...old and new gallery dogs!
2.
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6.
4.
3.
5.
7.
Interview w. Laura Robb
A: All of the above. I really enjoy traveling
to museum exhibitions.
Q: If your studio was on fire what would
you make sure to save?
A: My studio is in my home, so the dogs
and cats would have to go out the door
first. Of the art stuff I might grab my
painting knives as I’m pretty particular
about those.
“Asian Teapot” 12x12 Oil
conversation and I am more focused on
making a record of that conversation than
I am in depicting a certain subject. Q: You have been a part of many different workshops over the years, are your
students usually new to oil painting or are
they seasoned artists looking to expand
their knowledge?
.
.
Q: At this point in your career, what
source of research are you using to further
the inspiration in your paintings? This can
be books, sketches, other artists, workshops etc.
Top: “Table with Lilies & Pears” 16x14 Oil
Q: What can you tell people about your
theory and/or approach to painting? Your
paintings are so vibrant, where do your
color decisions come from (light, mood)?
A: I would describe my approach as ‘direct
painting’, which is a lot like alla prima but
not necessarily done in one sitting. There
is little or no drawing or underpainting on
my canvas so any preliminary work is done
in my head. This method is appealing to
me because it demands a high level of concentration and can produce a spontaneous
and effortless looking result. Direct painting can be very analytical but there are
enough wild cards in the process to keep it
an entertaining adventure to say the least.
Working in this direct approach and
placing finished paint on a white canvas
allows me to use some of the relatively
new transparent and intense pigments
to their full advantage. My color choices
are generally pretty classic color combinations but the complement (opposites on
a color wheel) or triad dynamic may not
always be obvious because one or more of
the hues are relatively neutral.
When arranging a composition I’m always
striving to have all of the separate elements of shape and color coming together
as one entity that is bigger than the sum
of its parts. The objects in a still life, for
example, may be quite ordinary, but the
way they come together is not. During
the painting process I tend to think of
these shapes and colors as having a visual
A: Almost everyone who attends my workshops are experienced painters although
I have taught beginners too. As long as
the student isn’t afraid of their paint, a
beginner can be like a blank slate and do
well rather quickly. The frustrating thing
is that few have the perspective to know
what they have got so I doubt many stay
with it. The experienced painters are more
receptive to the potential to improve their
work but often have habits established
that make it difficult to absorb a different
way of thinking.
A: The best part is being paid to do something I love and want to be doing anyway.
The worst part is the deadlines. My favorite paintings are more likely to happen
when I approach them with an attitude
of ‘I may not be able to capture this, but
it sure will be fun to try’. That is a difficult mind-set to maintain when you are
supposed to be producing something in a
hurry. I try to not get jammed up like that
but sometimes it’s unavoidable.
R. “Radishes & Onions” 10x12 Oil
Q: If you could only travel to one place for
the rest of your life, where would you go?
A: I remember not wanting to come home
from Spain...
Q: What is it about Taos that made you
gravitate there?
A: Initially, it was a great place to paint
landscape and I found a cheap apartment.
I suppose the main reason I stay is that it’s
not all that important to fit in here.
Q: What’s the best and worst parts of
being a full time, working artist?
Q: Do you find one more receptive to your
teachings than others? What advice would
you give young artists just starting out?
A: My advice to a young student starting
out would be this: Find someone who can
help you learn to see from life, particularly
shapes and values because those are the
most difficult. Once you get the hang of
carefully comparing relationships you can
apply that skill to other disciplines and take
it any direction you want. Then nature, and
the work of artists you admire, past and
present, can become your classroom.
“Orchids & Red Ribbon” 18x12 Oil
“Daisies & Daylilies” 26 x 15 Oil (detail)
Staff Picks
William Matthews:
Working the West
Herb Mignery has recently completed a new
sculpture portraying a circuit rider preaching from the highest pulpit he can find…the
back of his horse. Sermon On The Mount is
a beautifully crafted narrative piece that is
very typical of the artist’s style. The sculpture
honors the thousands of frontier preachers who
carried nothing more than the clothes on their
backs and what would fit in their saddlebags.
The early Methodist preacher Francis Ashbury traveled more than 270,000 miles and
delivered 16,000 sermons during his life as a
“saddlebag preacher” as the circuit riders were
known. –Tom Bassett
Recommended
Reading: By Bill Rey
essay by Annie Prouix
“The Life of Maynard Dixon”
By: Donald J. Hagerty
This painting by Walt Gonske, “St. Mark’s
Church at Night” is one of my favorites for a few
reasons. First, the pallett; these vibrant colors
and loose brush strokes makes this night painting feel warm and give off an almost imaginary
quality. I also love it because it reminds me of
my own travels to Italy and the many beautiful
chruches we saw along the way. –Courtney Shaw
My favorite paintings by Jim Reynolds are those that share a moody atmospheric quality created
here in “Lake Louise” by the low clouds, snow fields and silver water. By Jim’s own account, the
ultimate compliment was “That painting looks just like you’re looking out of a window.” I wonder
what he would think of me saying that whenever it’s a misty grey day with dramatic light poking
through a cloud I say, “It looks just like a Jim Reynolds painting right now?” –Laura Wolf
Natural, delicate and elegant are three words that
describe this piece for me. Jane’s use of graceful,
forward body movement, the gentle turning of
the neck and head and the curvature of her lower
back and waist, create a desirable sense of calm
and serenity that’s nurturing, soothing and timeless. I would love to see this piece in a colorful, lush
summer garden of flowers. –Holly Bishop
Robert Lougheed’s circus series are great for
any collection. These little gems are the freshest
and truest visual interpretation of the actual
environment the artist was surrounded by and
tried to capture. Fresh and brilliant in color
these studies for readers digest have worked
their way into our hearts. – Maggie DeDecker and Isabella & Owen
“Zorn Materpieces”
The Art of Anders Zorn
Watercolorist William Matthews has long been hailed as the preeminent painter
of the American West. In this collection of 180 staggering paintings, the “new
Remington of American painting” captures the full range of western experience:
endless skies, high plains, the last working cowboys, the Navajo—the mystique of
the Living Desert. Matthews meditatively guides us through an ancient world that
amazingly still exists, populated by the horseback cowboys of Nevada’s Great Basin
and the upholders of traditional Native American culture in Arizona’s Canyon de
Chelly. His masterful portraits of “people who learned what they did by experience,” as he says, reveal and revere the hidden vulnerability of the region and its
endangered way of life. Steeped in introspection and connected to land, tradition,
and identity, Matthews’ work evokes a place that is authentic, anachronistic, and
dynamic. The painter’s own textual vignettes suggest how he merges imagination
with experience to create a landscape in touch with myth, nature, and the passage
of time. Hardcover: 204 pages
“Paul Henry”
By: S. B. Kennedy
Monumental Sculpture News
Dan Ostermiller’s monumental sculpture “Le Gran-Pere” was installed this
September for the new Ritz Carlton Residences in Vail, a Vail Resorts Development Co. project. “Le Gran-Pere” will compliment his “Indigo’s Dream;” the
napping grizzly placed for VRDC near the Vail Village ticket office at the new
Mountain Plaza earlier this year.
Gail Folwell’s “The Pitch” will be placed in Frisco, Texas, at the Dr Pepper/7Up Ballpark. Shortly after receiving the Vail Resorts commission for “Winter”, Folwell was
chosen as a finalist and subsequently selected to create a sculpture of a 12-foot baseball player that will serve as the focal point for the gateway to the baseball stadium.
A dedication ceremony is slated for fall 2010. Dave McGary’s monument “Grey Hawks Legacy” will reside at a private residence in
Canada. This sculpture captures the moment at which the legendary Sioux Warrior
realizes that he has escaped with his stolen bounty, including a dozen Crow war
horses. With only two pieces cast of the monument it makes it very unique. The
completed sculpture measures 13 feet high by 23 feet long and will be installed in
July 2012.
Sam, Dan, Pat & Bill after the install of the new Le Gran-Pere
price was thirty-five cents. It took Bob two weeks to arrive at a drawing he was satisfied with. The man at the feed store was enthusiastic in his praise of the finished work,
but not to the extent that he acceded to Bob’s request for a revised fee of fifty cents, due
to the time it had taken to execute the commission. It was a valuable lesson.
This was just the beginning for this country boy. He was able to explore his talents and
hone his drawing skills as the Star Weekly newspaper deadlines came in at an alarming
rate. He embraced these challenges with alacrity. Bob’s bucolic upbringing—sketching
animals on the farm—worked to his benefit as he became the primary illustrator of
western allegories for the Star.
A Look into the life of a prolific Illustrator
The 1920’s ushered into the art world a shift in its paradigm as the
modernists were fast turning heads away from those trained in the classical curriculum. This new stage left little for those who believed in the
classics but a foot in the door by means of the commercial art and illustration jobs. Despite these challenges mounted on top of being a fresh
face illustration job scene, the Toronto Star offered Bob his first foot in
the door of the art world. Words will never be adequate to express the
feelings of this young country boy as he left the farm to go the city and
take a real job as an artist.
“I never was the type to dance and sing for joy, but the
inner feeling of what was to come built up and swelled
in the very insides of my whole being. It was a start, and
oh, how important a start it was to a young fellow with
dreams for the future.”
– Robert E. Lougheed
Bob could never recall when he began to draw. It just seemed that he
always had. But he did remember what his subjects were. They were
familiar figures from the barnyard – pigs, chickens, cows, and horses.
Lots and lots of horses.
He receieved his first commission before he was
in his teens. The owner of a feed store in Grand
Valley asked him to do a drawing of a rooster for
display in the story window. The agreed upon
Toronto was a cosmopolitan city and the publishing hub for most of Canada’s popular
newspapers and magazines. Many of the best and brightest writers and illustrators of
the day worked at one time or another in the sprawling city that lay on the northern
shore of Lake Ontario across the water from Niagara Falls, New York. Bob basked in
the company of his colleagues at the Star and was welcomed warmly into the community of artists and illustrators living in Toronto. This new city life afforded Bob the
luxuries of an artistic community, museums, galleries and late night art classes, laying
further foundations for his future career. Integrating oil paints and color into his drawing talents launched him into the next level of successful illustrators. He would sneak
off on the weekends and squeezed time he could to find to master this new medium.
His aspirations to become a better painter constantly drove Bob to work out these
new talents in oils.
Bob wanted to do magazine work, where illustrations were executed for high-quality
color reproduction. He wanted to expand his proficiency as a painter. Not only were
the leading magazines based in New York, but the City was also home to several institutions that offered educational opportunities for artists. He sent away for a catalog
of courses offered at New York’s venerable Art Students League. By 1935 he had left
Toronto and Grand Valley behind, headed towards the educational and commercial
opportunities of the ‘Big Apple’.
Life in the late 1940’s and 50’s was simple and comfortable. Following the End of
WWII western economies bloomed and consumerism began to spread.
With the expansion of advertising, illustration became a common method of transferring ideas. They offered up a story. The 1950’s were a Golden Era of Illustration.
Upcoming
At this time a contingent of illustrators were living in Connecticut and commuting to
New York City for illustration jobs. Among those who would later become contemporaries and colleagues in creating a vision of the American West were John Clymer,
Tom Lovell, Ken Riley and Robert Lougheed.
• Seasons of Canada will be the featured
exhibit in the Lougheed Gallery for the
2010/2011 winter season.
Once he was married and living in Connecticut in the early 1960’s, Bob would go into
New York to pick up jobs, “we would call them the bread and butter jobs: Reader’s
Digest and National Geographic were among the long list of sources for paying the
bills.” Bob always considered himself a fine artist and illustrations became the enabler
to pursue.
• Available soon, Lougheed Baseball caps.
Special edition ‘Elk’ and ‘Horse’ designs,
from line drawings by Robert Lougheed.
Partial excerpts taken from Robert Lougheed Follow the Sun by Don Hedgpeth