The West Is Best for Artist Ed Anderson

COURTESY ED ANDERSON

BY APRIL NEALE

The Boise arts community reflects the vigorous growth and infusion of people from far and wide. One local artist, Minnesota-native Ed Anderson, has called the Gem State home for more than 20 years, and his works are a pure reflection of his true West home and experiences. As a result, his art is full of motion–masculine, large, and bold–with imagery of the Idaho outdoors taken from ideas he has noted in journals and sketchbooks. These visual snapshots are magnified with black ink-meets classic portraiture, a truly unique spin on what Western art can represent in the 21st century.

Each of Andersons’s acrylic and ink works is rooted in a personal story and his style has a distinct, modern-Western style, filling homes and galleries across the state. His arresting visual paintings are honed from guiding in the wilds of Idaho. “It’s all based around my sketchbooks and journals,” says Anderson. “I tend to think of most of my pieces as storytelling. The animals that I paint are things that I’ve had experience with or know somebody who’s told me stories about them.“

Courtesy Ed Anderson

Of all of Anderson’s imagery, his fish come alive with nuances of colorations in motion. Anderson attributes this to a plethora of stories about fishing, his own and those of other enthusiasts. “When I was getting into this style, I was also working for Jackson Kayak on the fishing team and going around to trade shows, talking to fishermen all the time,” Anderson recalls.

Commercial trade shows also led to Anderson’s big break in the art world. “Because I was going to all the shows, talking to fishermen, I was put in touch with Gray’s Sporting Journal. Some of the first fish I painted ended up on the cover of their magazine. I didn’t realize it at the time, but for an outdoor artist, that’s the pinnacle. I got three covers in a year, one of which was the 40th anniversary cover. Suddenly, I had collectors calling, wanting to spend all the money in the world on paintings.”

Courtesy Ed Anderson

The standard-bearers of Western art are Russell and Remington, and even though Anderson resides and paints in and of the West, he doesn’t classify himself as a Western artist. “But,” he adds, ”I would like to look back at a long career and say that I was an Americana artist. I happen to live in the West. I used to do Western Art Week every year, before COVID, and a handful of years ago, I came to a conclusion. I’m out there with the best artists in the world, the most technically advanced painters, but they’re painting cowboys and Native Americans from the 1850s, which is not at all their experience.”

Anderson continues, “They’re painting beautiful pictures for beautiful homes. And I appreciate that, but the whole Western Art Week exists as a celebration of Charlie Russell and Russell was Russell because he sat in the bars with the cowpunchers and drew pictures of them.”

Courtesy Ed Anderson

He adds, “He went to tribal villages and talked to those people. He was on buffalo hunts, and drew from his experience. I know I can make stunning pieces for beautiful homes, but without the pedigree of telling people a story [from your experience], I think you might as well be doing fantasy art, like dragons and fairies. Everything I do is based on my experiences and the people I meet.”

Everything I do is based on my experiences and the people I meet.

When asked what piece of art he would risk his life to save in a fire, Anderson doesn’t hesitate. “I would save my sketchbooks,” he says. “My journals are my life.”

Clearly, Anderson’s journals are also the heartbeat of his art.