Shawn Cameron Show Preview, Western Art Collector, August 2016

INSIDE State of the Art: Montana • Charles M. Russell Watercolors • Glacier National Park AUGUST 2016

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UPCOMING SHOW

S HOW LO C AT ION JAC K S ON, W Y

Up to 10 works August 1-31, 2016 Trailside Galleries 130 E. Broadway Jackson, WY 83001 (307) 733-3186

SHAWN CAMERON

Ranching moments

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The Day Begins, oil on canvas, 22 x 36"

A Sign of Spring, oil on canvas, 14 x 11"

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hawn Cameron’s realistic Western paintings are a cross section of memories that the artist hopes to preserve and share. Descending from pioneer families who traveled in covered wagons and began ranching in Arizona, Cameron is surrounded by an endless supply of subject matter, oftentimes including family members.

In her latest body of work Cameron has explored telling different stories, in some cases on larger canvases. Shawn Cameron: A Ranching Tradition runs throughout August at Trailside Galleries in Jackson, Wyoming.

“I’ve been doing the same subject matter my whole life,” says Cameron, who is based near Prescott, Arizona. “I think any artist has an emotional reaction to what is around them, and that’s true with me. Maybe they’re things I can’t express verbally, so I have to put them on canvas.”

One of her larger paintings in the show, Red Rocks & Sage, depicts her husband, Dean, trailing a calf down a hill in the high desert, which Cameron witnessed in person.

The 30-by-36-inch work is “something I’ve seen many times,” Cameron adds.

“I have watched the patience of good cowboys as they move cattle,” she continues.

“Frustration always takes a back seat, and more of them work cattle quietly. In this painting, I was able to express a little bit more of a story.

To me, the story this is telling here is really how patience is so important.”

Several cowboys are headed toward the open range to begin roundup in The Day Begins.

The scene was “something I wanted to do for a long time,” Cameron notes. “The entire day is ahead, and they don’t know how it’s going to go.”

In Big Sky Country, Cameron’s son rides a trotting horse as he peers into the distant desert. The artist occasionally removes elements from an image or memory to emphasize a central story, figure or theme—in this case, a herd of cattle.

Red Rocks & Sage, oil on canvas, 30 x 36"

“I was looking up when I saw his intensity, the horse’s intensity,” Cameron continues. “There were clouds in the sky.

I rearranged them for the composition. There were cattle scattered around him. As I got into the painting, I realized they weren’t the story in this particular image. He was going around a herd of cattle, but I decided I could tell the story of what’s going on with the rider and the horse.”

Fo r a d i re c t l i n k to t he e x h i b it i n g g a l l e r y g o to w w w. we ste r n a r tc o l l e c to r. c o m

Big Sky Country, oil on canvas, 18 x 24"

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