Tom Browning, Temporary Hold, oil, 32 x 48 in.

Dan Corazzi, who previously worked on the prestigious Prix de West show at National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma, is one of the organizers of Western Horizons. He says the high-quality nature of the show, and its elevation to something akin to Prix de West, is intentional. “I smile when I look at the artists in our show, because I know they are the best working today,” says Corazzi, who worked closely with Legacy Gallery owner Brad Richardson on the artist list. “Between traditional and contemporary art, we are aiming for the best quality. It’s going to be a special show.”

John Coleman, Way of the Wild, clay for bronze, 31 in.

The show will include 39 artists and at least 107 new works. Artists include Tony Abeyta, William Acheff, Bill Anton, Carrie Ballantyne, Thomas Blackshear II, G. Russell Case, Sean Michael Chavez, John Coleman, Brent Cotton, C. Michael Dudash, Phil Epp, Martin Grelle, William Haskell, Jerry Jordan, Z.S. Liang, Jeremy Lipking, John Moyers, Terri Kelly Moyers, Robert Peters, Kyle Polzin, Jason Rich, Billy Schenck, Matt Smith, Jeremy Winborg, Morgan Weistling and others. New artists in this year’s show are Rachel Brownlee, Ralph Oberg, Greg Overton, Paul Rhymer and Ricky Terry.

Billy Schenck, Canyon Bonito, oil, 30 x 30 in.

Following these programs, the museum will present a unique demonstration from sculptor John Coleman and painter Jeremy Lipking. Both artists will be creating their own works, but they will use the same live model. “This sort of thing has been suggested to me before, but I never thought it would work so I never did it, but this one sounded too good to pass up. I’m a big fan of Jeremy’s work—I can’t wait to see what he comes up with,” Coleman says. “We work in very different ways, and often in different mediums, but we’re interested in a similar visual language. It will be entertaining, including for me.”

Rachel Brownlee, Sparrows, charcoal on panel, 24 x 48 in.

One of the artists in the show is Tom Browning, who will be showing his newest oil painting, Temporary Hold, featuring a cowboy waiting with several horses in brilliant light. “This idea came from going through some old photos of a round-up that took place a number of years ago. The main herd had been scattered for awhile, and these five horses were soon cornered. The wrangler held them there until the rest of the herd was pushed in his direction, hence the title, Temporary Hold,” Browning says of the piece. “With that idea in mind, I began thinking of a composition I liked before coming up with a setting and background. The light source was already established on the rider and horses so I contrived a landscape and sky that would fit that time of day. Throwing most of the background into shadow gave the contrast between the strong light on the horses, and the darker and cooler shapes behind them. All of this helped make the whole idea more interesting. In finishing, I had fun putting in little flicks of light here and there, being careful not to make them too busy and distracting from the main elements.”

Robert Peters, Picacho Gold, oil, 24 x 20 in.

Another artist showing cowboy subject matter is Rachel Brownlee, who will be offering her charcoal work Sparrows, a large 48-inch-wide piece. “Sparrows shows a herd of young horses being led by a cowboy and an older horse over a hill. Ranching is the only industry in my area of the Nebraska Sandhills and that consists of horses and cows. For generations that has been our sole focus. The result of that focus is generations of developed cattle and horse bloodlines,” Brownlee says. “This young herd of horses shows a year’s effort in one image, as this carefully bred crop of cowhorses crests one of our native grass hills with all their potential and hope for their coming abilities. The title draws from the image of the free horses and sparrows flying around them, as well as the Bible verse that says God cares even for the grass and the sparrows, and he cares much more for people.”

Kim Wiggins, Santo Domingo Dusk, oil, 24 x 36 in.

Arizona-based painter Robert Peters will be showing numerous landscape pieces, all of them depicting the desert’s beauty. In Picacho Gold, he paints a piece of Southern Arizona. “Springtime in the Sonoran Desert is nothing less than magical. It is a landscape painter’s dream,” Peters says. “Seemingly everywhere there is a scene worthy of paint to linen. While the majority of my lifetime has been spent in Arizona, I can hardly recall a spring where I didn’t spend a significant amount of time in the field studying the delicate beauty of the desert. In Picacho Gold, I sought to capture the dynamic beauty of the desert spring flora with a notable Arizona landmark—Picacho Peak.”

Rick Terry, Checking Stock Water, bronze, 22½ in.

New Mexico painter Kim Wiggins will also focus on landscapes, but all of them done from his uniquely modernist perspective with bright colors and fascinating forms. One of these paintings is Santo Domingo Dusk. “Autumn is a mysterious time of year filled with incredible beauty often harkening back to the creation. The setting sun can appear to set the world on fire as it filters through trees whose leaves have turned to shades of gold, amber and red,” Wiggins says. “There’s a lovely spot in Northern New Mexico on the Santo Domingo Pueblo that I’ve yearned to capture on canvas for years. Recently I was left breathless as I finally caught inspiration on the perfect day. The sky was ablaze with color as dusk silhouetted a grove of trees against a dark timeless mesa. The clouds seem to resonate with a flow that reverberates throughout the entire design. As a modernist, it’s the signature type of design I’m constantly looking for.”

Don Oelze, Where Voices Are Lost, oil, 40 x 46 in.

Don Oelze, who responded to inquiries about his work during an epic winter storm that left him without power, will be showing Where Voices are Lost, showing Native America riders by a waterfall. “The idea for this painting goes back to a day I spent fishing with friends below a dam on the Missouri River in Montana. The sound of the water was so loud, and the air was moving so hard, that voices didn’t travel the way they normally do. I could hear my friends talking—I knew exactly whose voices they were—but the words themselves weren’t clear. They were broken up and carried away by the roar of the water,” Oelze says. “That experience stayed with me. In this scene, the figures have paused beneath a waterfall where conversation becomes secondary. The waterfall itself is a bit of a conjure job—loosely based on two different, well-known falls in northwest Montana—developed more by memory and feeling than by any single place. The falls take over the space, and human voices are reduced to fragments. It’s a reminder that there are places where nature speaks louder than we ever can, and understanding comes more from presence and shared awareness than from words alone.”