As the year comes to a close, Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Oregon, will host a three-artist show titled Lasting Impressions, featuring the work of Josh Clare, Michael Malm and Grant Redden.
Some of Clare’s work is inspired by his family’s history in the West. “My ancestors were pioneers who were sent to establish a community in middle-of-nowhere southwestern Utah as part of the San Juan expedition,” he explains. “It was a no man’s land, and they had to make a home there.” His painting Desert Train depicts a wagon train being dwarfed by one of the landscapes his ancestors would have encountered on their journey. 
Grant Redden, Winter Solstice, oil, 24 x 36”
Plainsman is one of Clare’s first figurative paintings, and it, too, draws on a family story. “I have five kids, and my family is everything to me, which is why I think every figure I paint for the rest of my life is going to be a family story,” he explains. In his mind, this figure on horseback is a father heading out to provide for his family.
Redden’s paintings draw from his childhood spent on a sheep and cattle ranch in southwest Wyoming. “Rather than pursue ranching I’ve always had a drive to create and make pictures that celebrate or reflect my experiences or the Western life and pioneer history,” he says.
Josh Clare, Plainsman, oil, 24 x 24”
Michael Malm, At the Pond, oil, 14 x 11”
In Winter Solstice, a rancher is just finishing his chores on a bitterly cold winter day. “It’s the last light of the shortest day of the year, the blue shadows extending across the snow-bound meadow, the draft horses pulling the creaking sled across crunching snow, their harness buckles and tug chains reflecting that last golden light,” Redden describes.
In his lyrical figurative paintings, Malm uses light to inspire an emotional reaction. In Wonder, a young girl admires a bouquet of flowers and is bathed by a golden light that amplifies the beauty of the scene. 
Josh Clare, Desert Train, oil, 24 x 24”Lasting Impressions will open on December 2 with an artists’ reception from 5 to 8 p.m. and remain on view through the end of the month. “Representing the very best in Western, figurative and landscape is a goal for us here at Mockingbird Gallery and these three talented guys certainly set the bar for excellence,” says gallery owner Jim Peterson. “We’ve been looking forward to this show all year and can’t think of a better way to close out 2022.” —
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