Tony Pro holds a BA from California State University, and studied at California Art Instute. Tony recently won Best of Show in the Oil Painters of America Show and was in the TOP 10 at the Portrait Society of America Show. His work has been featured on the cover of Southwest Art.
Tony Pro was born in Northridge, CA in 1973. He grew up in Southern California around artists such as his father, Julio (1929- ), who was an up and coming artist in the southwest art community. Being the youngest of 4 children, Pro was taken all around the country to some of the countries biggest art shows where he met legends like Jim Bama and Frank McCarthy. As a child, he also visited many studios of famous deceased artists such as E. Irving Couse and Nicolai Fechin.

Pro received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from California State University, Northridge and at the same time attended California Art Institute where he studied with famed illustrator, Glen Orbik. There he learned the value of academic figure and head drawing and how to apply strict study principles to his craft and, largely, trained himself to paint.

Pro’s influences are the likes of John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Joaquin Sorolla and Philip Alexius de Laszlo. The French Naturalist artists like Emille Friant, Dagnan Bouveret and Jules-Bastien Lepage also play a large influence in Pro’s style of painting.

In 2005, Pro was awarded the highly coveted Best of Show award at the 14th Annual Oil Painters of America Show, given by juror, Daniel Gerhartz. That year Pro, also, was one of the TOP 10 finalists of the Portrait Society of America Show in Washington D.C.

In September of 2005, Pro’s painting Mothers Love was featured on the cover of Southwest Art Magazine, as well as a feature article.

Scottsdale Artist School- Instructor

Dan Robinson began to travel the road of a painter, a journey he set as he received his education at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena CA. Dan has been an invited artists in such shows as, Plein Air Painters of America; Dixon Country; The American Art in Miniature exhibit at The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK; The Phippen Museum in Prescott, AZ and The Albuquerque Museum in Albuquerque, NM. Dan has been the recipient of numerous awards including The John F. and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship, the Grumbacher Gold Medallion and an Award of Merit from The Oil Painters of America.

Scottsdale Artist School- Instructor

Born and raised in Arizona, as a young boy, Roger would help his brother-in-law break colts and doctor cattle.  He became a member of the Arizona Junior Rodeo Association during high school and competed in bull riding and team roping events.  After graduating from high school, Roger worked full time for various ranches and feedlots.  Looking back, he regrets that he didn’t take his art more seriously, but admits that when you’re 19 years old, it’s a heck of a lot more fun to rope and doctor a steer than it is to sit and draw one.

While Roger is primarily a self-taught artist, he has taken some art classes at Phoenix College and Scottsdale Artists School.  His work has been featured in the Western Horseman, Art of the West, and the Western Cowman magazines.  Roger’s accomplishments include first place awards at the Arizona Branding Iron show.  He is a stickler for detail and authenticity and says, “When a cowboy or rancher gives me that stamp of approval, I know I’ve done my job.”  Roger still enjoys team roping when time allows and occasionally finds time to help friends gather and work cattle

Roger is dedicated to preserving the images of the western way of life, which is still very much alive today and is shared by many hard working ranchers and ranch hands.  His goal is to capture the cowboy and cowgirl at work and a play, and to share his images with those who live the western life, and with those who wish they did.

2012 Western Artist of America  Show and Sale

Location: Pearce Museum Corsicana, TX

2010 Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show

2010 Mountain Oyster Club Wetern Art Show, Tucson AZ

Matt Smith’s early influences included living as a child in France and Switzerland and painting in Germany, Austria, and Italy. But it is Arizona, where he has lived most of his adult life that has given him a deep attachment to and respect for the Sonoran Desert. Smith graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in painting. Somewhat disappointed with the school’s abstract-oriented art program, he spent significant personal time studying the classic traditional styles of such landscape masters as Maynard Dixon, William Herbert Dunton, and Edgar Payne. He also studied and worked with acclaimed contemporary painters such as Michael Lynch, James Reynolds, and Clyde Aspevig. Most of the time, Smith can be found painting plein air from southern Arizona to the Canadian Rockies or from the California coast to the mountains of Colorado. He says, “I like the tradition behind classic landscape painting, and I’m particularly inspired by pristine locations. I like to work in areas where one can travel for miles without seeing the influence of man. When I paint, I believe I’ve hit the mark when I’ve captured a balance between mood, look and feel. You know you’ve succeeded when viewers sense the desert heat, or the chill of a mountain snowfall, or the mist hanging over a lake. No one can improve on nature’s landscapes.” A profile on Smith in Southwest Art noted, “From his studio window, Smith looks out on a patch of desert, a giant saguaro cactus, and huge boulders. But the landscape often draws him out of his studio. ‘What I feel outdoors in important to me’, he says. ‘My paintings are more than just a re-creation of a particular view. I try to imbue them with the feel of the wind, the sounds of wildlife, and the smell of the fresh air,’ The result is painting that depicts not only a scene, but also time and mood, an accomplishment rarely achieved in a studio working from photographs,” Smith says. In return for all the guidance given to him in earlier years by the contemporary landscape masters, Smith devotes several weeks each year to teaching. He conducts seminars in Taos, Jackson Hole, and other locations, and often leads a Scottsdale Artists School to his favorite secluded desert sites to paint. “After learning so much from artists I deeply admire, I feel a responsibility to pass what I’ve learned on to others. I hope in some way this contributes to keeping traditions alive. Also, teaching helps me convey my personal ideas and values about art.”

Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale

“The Allure of Water”

“Collector’s Reserve”

Gabor Svagrik was born in Szeged, Hungary. His family immigrated to the United States and settled in Illinois. Svagrik studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago where he was fortunate to study with nationally recognized watercolorist Irving Shapiro who stressed the importance of composition, design, and drawing.

Svagrik studied life drawing and illustration and joined the Palette & Chisel, where he studied with Scott Burdick. Since moving to Tucson, Arizona he has also taken workshops with Matt Smith, Skip Whitcomb, and Robert Moore. Svagrik devotes several weeks a year to teaching his own workshops at the Tucson Art Academy, which he founded and owns with his wife. He has also taught at the Scottsdale Artists’ School, Lyme Art Association and other schools around the country.

Svagrik’s passion for painting on location has always been an important process for him to capture the balance between mood, color and natural light. He is particularly inspired by pristine locations and the essential truth of nature. He knows he has succeeded when viewers sense the desert heat, the chill in the air, or the mist over an ocean.

Oil Painters of America President’s Award of Excellence 2009
Maui Plein-Air Painting Invitational 2008 “Honorable Mention”
The Artist’s Magazine 22nd Annual Art Completion 2005 “Landscape Finalist”

Southwest Art Magazine feature article Sept 2005
Greenhouse Gallery Saloon 2004  “Award of Merit”
Oil Painters of America Show 2004   “Award of Merit”
Pastel Society of America Show 2003

Ever since I can remember, I have had a passion for creating art. I grew up drawing and painting, but when I first discovered sculpture a deep connection was forged. I could never get enough and took every opportunity to lean and practice.

When I entered college I studied biology and ecology. I have always had a love for animals and the natural world and enjoyed my studies, even continuing on to graduate studies.

Eventually my passion for art became undeniable. With the support of my wife, I began a career as a sculptor. At first I got any sculpting related work that I could find. This mostly consisted of sculpting artistic architectural elements for manufacturing companies. These jobs allowed me the chance to sculpt everyday as well as have the time to develop my art. This also gave me the opportunity to interact with many artists through the bronze casting community and I have taken advantage of the critiques and input of many sculptors. I began to participate in juried art shows and competitions as well as showing in several galleries.

I have been able to make a living and support a family for 10 years now and am excited about a continued future as a sculptor. I have received various national and regional awards and have sculptures in public and private collections throughout the country. Through serious art study and hard work I am always striving to progress and improve my sculpting.

My subject matter is wildlife, which reflects my interest and study of biology. I try to make my sculptures more than just models of the animal subject, but great pieces of art created with strong design, feeling and composition.

I currently live in Monticello, Utah with my wife Erin and our three children Lydia, Alan, and Jesse.

24 June 2011 – Out of the Box Event, National Musuem of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY

1-3 July 2011 – Whitefish Art Festival, Whitefish, MT

8-17 July 2011 – Western Showcase, Calgary Stampede , Calgary, AB

6-7 August 2011 – Beaver Creek Art Festival, Beaver Creek, CO

13-14 August 2011 – Loveland Sculputre Invitational, Loveland, CO

When Dan Young took his fly rod and backpack into the high country while growing up in Colorado, his angling success came from learning to read lakes and streams with a fisherman’s eye, and to cast and retrieve a line so as to present the lure as part of the natural environment. Little did he know then that he would return to Colorado years later, again to read nature and try to replicate it, but this time with easel and oil paints and the eye of an artist. Just as fly fishing is an acquired skill, so is plein air painting. Over the years Young has mastered the techniques of painting on location, in all seasons, and in the process building a following among art collectors and a reputation as one of Colorado’s premier landscape artists. His education as an artist continues to this day. No different from the fishermen who discovers new thrills and joys each day with the discovery of each new fishing hole and effective fly pattern, Young continually delights himself in finding new subject matters in familiar surroundings, and new ways to paint them. While his evolution continues to propel him in new directions artistically, first it brought him full circle geographically, back to the mountains he grew to love as a child. Young was born in Denver, and grew up in western Colorado. He attended Colorado Institute of Art, hoping to find his direction in art. After graduation he moved to Dallas to pursue the commercial art field. Even with a successful illustration career, the landscape was always calling him back. In 1989, he returned to Colorado to begin painting full time. Though he had been a successful commercial artist, Young quickly learned he had a lot to learn as a painter. He spent the first few years working from photos in the studio, unaware of the limitations. He felt his paintings were hard edged and the colors quite frightening. On the advice from artists he respected, he abandoned the studio to work from life. As he soon discovered, it was the perfect adjustment for him. His work improved dramatically, acquiring a more natural feel, and it allowed him back out in nature, the one place he always hoped to be. Young admits he occasionally has those days of conflict between fish or paint.

Scottsdale Artist School-Instructor

2011 Maynard Dixon Country

Ralph Oberg was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, raised in Aurora, Colorado, and currently resides in the Southwest region of Colorado. He attended Colorado State University,and the Seibel School of Drafting in Denver. After a brief stint in commercial illustration, Oberg began to support himself with his paintings. Wildlife dominated his interest for over 10 years. In 1987, Oberg changed his artistic direction and began to study with some of the contemporary plein-air masters of today including Wayne Wolfe, Clyde Aspevig, and Len Chmiel. For the past decade he has focused on plein-air painting as a means of learning the colors and values of the world, and how to capture a sense of the moment and place. Recently, animal subjects have begun to reappear in Oberg’s work, combining his natural drawing ability and accumulated knowledge of animals with a more impressionistic painting technique. Repeated appearances at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson “Birds in Art” show in the early 80s’ and election to the Society of Animal Artists were high points in his young career. Oberg is a Signature Member of the Plein Air Painters of America and the Northwest Rendezvous Groups. Oberg was the recipient of the Weiss Award at the 1988 Buffalo Bill Show in Cody. the painting was included in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center’s permanent collection. Another large landscape hangs permanently in the House Chambers of the Colorado State Capitol building. In addition his works have been exhibited at the Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA: the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum; The National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson,WY; The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, the Loveland Museum, and the International Center for Wildlife Art in Britain. In 2004, Ralph was invited to participate in the prestigious Prix de West.

2011 Maynard Dixon Country

SouthwestArt magazine feature article Jan/Feb 2009

Wildlife Art magazine feature article and cover May/June 2008

Tom Dorr was born in the Midwest.  His family moved to Colorado when he was eleven and that’s when his love affair with the cowboy began.  Tom stalked the wild, wide-open places, gravitating toward the ranching scenes and studying the ranch animals and people.

Art opportunities developed in a parallel line, as he connected with a gifted high school teacher, Jack Frost, of Snowflake, Arizona.  “No kidding, that was his name and that’s where he was from,” Dorr says.  “This guy was amazing, and he was good at painting.  We improvised kilns and cast bronzes.  He was innovative; we had things going on that weren’t going on in other high schools.  He was talented and everything he did was to help kids create.”

Frost’s magic formula worked and upon graduation, Tom was the proud recipient of a full ride scholarship to Colorado State University.  The Fort Collins’ campus was the perfect lab for Dorr to continue to experiment with his art.  The vet school provided animals and the nearby ranches provided the atmosphere.  Although some of the art professors were “far out,” the landscapes were close-up and Tom thrived.

“I worked at many different jobs making an income, but I wasn’t happy,” Dorr says.  My wife, Nancy, really helped me.  She told me just ‘to pursue the art and we’ll see what happens’.  She gave me support, and I needed that”.

It didn’t hurt Tom’s budding career when in the late 90’s, he won first place in oils at the Phippen Memorial show.  At the same time, galleries began to sell his paintings as fast as he could bring them in.  Best of all, Tom was finally painting the cowboys, landscapes, and the buildings he saw in his mind.

Happily making a living with his brushes, Dorr is now free to concentrate on preserving the cowboy life on canvas, considering himself as somewhat of an historian.  He is adamant about those details and it shows in each piece.  Tom has been rewarded often over his career with many prestigious awards and great feature articles.  Art of the West, Southwest Art, Big Sky Journal, and other publications have featured his works and take note of his remarkable talents.  Tom’s paintings are in private collections around the world and in galleries across the Untied States.

2011  Gold Medal Oil/Acrylic Award  and New entrant Award. Bosque Art Competition. Clifton, TX

2010 Artist of the Year, Friends of Western Art, Tucson, AZ

Art of the West magazine feature article Nov/Dec 2008

Greg Kelsey has spent most of his life nurturing two inherent interests: art and ranching.  He grew up in an art family with his mother being a high school art teacher.  He also worked his grandfather’s registered longhorn herd and fostered a love for western traditions and cowboy living.  Now his sculptures reflect his long involvement with ‘cowboy life’ and his love of art.

During the heavy winter of ’95 Greg once again found himself feeding cows in three feet of snow while working as a ranch hand in Southwestern Colorado waiting for the summer rodeo season. It wasn’t too hard for his mother to convince him to head back to college. His artistic calling was brought to the fore while taking the only sculpture class offered. The first day, he knew he had found his medium and knew what he was meant to do with the rest of his life.  After finishing the semester with no other sculpting classes to take, he plunged right into sculpting on his own.  Over the next several years he sought the advice and critique of sculpting masters while cultivating his own art career.

Being mostly self taught, sculpture has been a continual journey of growth for Greg.  For him each sculpture presents a special set of problems.  Finding the perfect solutions is the key to artistic growth and good sculpture.  “That’s the hard and easy part of it,” he explains, “In every action there are simple, artful lines that occur naturally.  An artist should find those lines and put them to use to help him create the overall shape and movement of the piece – put the art in it.  The challenge is to bring the action across, in harmony with those lines, and let the piece live.”

These days Greg keeps his own small herd of longhorns and a few head of horses.  Though he keeps a busy daily work schedule in the studio, he makes time to crawl on the back of a horse to re-gain a little inspiration and peace of mind.  As Greg figures it one feeds the other – any time in the studio or time with his stock is time well spent.  His western themes stem from his own life.  “Whether it’s buckin’ horses, ropin’, pushin’ cows or whatever, that’s where I get my inspiration for art and for everyday decisions.  That’s the current, right there.  You get out of the current and all those ideas and abilities seem to pass you by.  Get back in the saddle; and its all there again.”

Of his art, Kelsey states, “I believe you should paint or sculpt what you know and love.  For me, the story of the western life is worth being told in an authentic way.  When you live it, you can show a perspective that’s not always seen from afar.”  He feels that being able to use his talent every day is a blessing, “There’s a real connection with the Creator when you live the dream.”

2010 Cyrus Dallin Best Sculpture Award, Quest for the West Show, “Tryin’ to Collect a Buck”

2010 Patrons’ Choice Award, Quest for the West Show, “Tryin’ to Collect a Buck”

2010 Commissioned to create sculpture for new Charlie Russell Heritage Award, CM Russell Museum

2010 Commissioned to sculpt Jesse Kruse, 2009 World Champ Saddle Bronc Rider, CM Russell Museum

2009 Elected as a Sculptor Member of the National Sculpture Society

2009 First Place Sculpture Award, Phippen Fine Art Show, “Surly & Set in Their Ways”

2008 John Steven Jones Purchase Award, Bosque Art Competition, “The Signature”

2008 Gold Medal Sculpture Award,  Bosque  ”The Signature”

2008 Sculpture Third Place, Phippen Fine Art Show,  “The Signature”

2007 Award of Excellence, American Plains Artists’ Show, “Ship With Out A Sea”

2007 People’s Choice Award, CM Russell Art Auction, “Easy Does It”

2006 People’s Choice Award, Bosque Art Competition, “Easy Does It”

2006 Gold Medal Sculpture Award, Bosque Art Competition, “Easy Does It”