Growing up in Texas, ranching was a way of life for Mary Ross Buchholz. It was so ingrained in her that when she was old enough to leave for college, she went to Texas A&M and studied animal science. But her mother had always had a creative side, and she recognized the same artistic nature in her daughter.
Full Belly & A Good Nap, charcoal graphite, 21½ x 29½
“After I graduated from college, my mother and I started studying together,” Buchholz says. “We would travel and go to various museums across the nation, and even abroad, and we studied the Old Masters and portraiture.” She started doing commissions locally, and gallery representation and museum shows soon followed.
But she hasn’t left her ranching days behind her. She still lives on a ranch, worked by her husband and three sons, and the bucolic scenes are a frequent source of inspiration for her work.
Ol’ Grey, charcoal graphite on gessoed panel, 10 x 10”
Though Buchholz has produced drawings, paintings and sculptures throughout her career, graphite and charcoal are her most frequent medium. “I think there’s something about the black and white,” she says. “From the very beginning, we draw with a No. 2 pencil and paper, and there’s a timelessness to it. I feel that I can capture the expression or action more clearly without the distraction of color. It’s easier for me to say what I want to say.”
Likin’ His Job, charcoal graphite on gessoed ACM panel, 20 x 16”
Her goal for a finished piece is to create something that’s intriguing both from a distance and up close. Currently, she’s working on a series of drawings featuring colts from the ranch. “We have several horses but we only raise a couple of colts at a time, and we have one right now,” she says. In one in-progress work, the colt is lying down on the grass, looking up after being disturbed from a nap. “I want the anatomy to show, but I also want the viewer to feel what I feel. I want them to notice things like the soft downy coat or the way that the hair tufts out of the ears.”
Corriente Cool, charcoal graphite, 16½ x 18½”. All images courtesy the artist.
While her husband and sons are working the ranch, she always has her camera ready to capture what could be her next piece. “The final piece may include several photos to get the final look that I want,” she says. “When using charcoal and graphite, I enjoy subtly rendering the details, the different textures and individual characteristics of my subjects.”
One piece, titled Likin’ His Job, was recently featured at the Briscoe Museum, and depicts her son at the reins of a horse with a white blaze on its face. “I thought it made a striking image. The horse is doing his work and he’s alert and he’s looking at the viewer,” she says. “Sometimes it takes a while to name a piece, but for this one, it came to me right away. I thought that it sure looked like the horse was liking his job.”
Experienced Hands, charcoal and graphite, 12¼ x 18”
The image also contains small touches, details in the saddle and the way the reins are being held, that may only be noticed by people who are familiar with ranch life. “Sometimes I hear from people after I’ve posted images on social media and it’s so gratifying to know that people are seeing these things. I want to accurately portray the details but I don’t want them to be overdone,” Buchholz says. She strives to strike a balance between getting the little details right and creating the most compelling composition.
Dalton, charcoal and graphite on paper, 17 x 13”
Not all of her works are created from scenes on the ranch—she recently completed a portrait of her son Dalton in his ranching gear. “I did have him come inside and pose for me,” she says. She used a single source of lighting to add dimension to the image and create a feeling of softness. The final result is a portrait that seems plucked out of time—as if it could have been drawn last year or a century ago.
“Much like beautifully composed music, art needs areas of rest or areas that have only subtlety suggested detail,” Buchholz says. “For me as an artist, it is all a balancing act in creating both a successful and intriguing piece of artwork.” —
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