Your questions answered: About my painting technique
I use multiple methods for multiple effects Some of the most common questions I am asked revolve around my technique: Do I consider myself a realist? An impressionist? Something else? The answer is that I am all of these, depending on the effect I want to attain. I try not to approach my work with [...]
Wahktageli, Gallant Warrior
This is the final work from my recent solo show at Legacy Gallery, Portraits of Honor Yankton Dakota Painted by Karl Bodmer 1833 Karl Bodmer painted the original portrait of Wahktageli, or “Gallant Warrior”. He was called “Big Soldier” by the Missouri traders, and was painted at the Sioux agency at Fort Lookout below Fort [...]
Mato-Tope, Four Bears
My version of this famous Mandan chief from my recent one-man show, Portraits of Honor, at Legacy Gallery Mandan Chief (~1795-1837 ) Painted at Fort Clarke by George Catlin in 1832 and by Karl Bodmer in 1834. Mato-Tope (Circa 1795-1837) was a Mandan chief. He was also called “Four Bears”, after a battle where a [...]
Ladookea, “Buffalo Bull”
One of the more unusual warriors featured in Portraits of Honor, my August 5, 2010 one-man show at Legacy Gallery Grand Pawnee Warrior, originally documented by Catlin in the 1830s Described by George Catlin “as a warrior of great distinction,” Buffalo Bull appears with bow and arrow in his hands and with his totem (the [...]
Addih-Hiddisch “Maker of Roads”
One of the key pieces from Portraits of Honor, my August 5, 2010 one-man show at Legacy Gallery Hidatsa Chief, originally painted by Karl Bodmer Karl Bodmer recounts Addih-Hiddisch This reference portrait I used for this painting of Hidatsa chief Addih-Hiddisch (known as “Maker of Roads”) was originally painted at Fort Clack, in March of [...]
Red Cloud, Oglala Lakota Chief
Another of the pieces from Portraits of Honor, my August 5, 2010 one-man show at Legacy Gallery Oglala Lakota (~1819-1909) “I was born a Lakota and I shall die a Lakota. Before the white man came to our country, the Lakotas were a free people. They made their own laws and governed themselves as it [...]
Sitting Bull: Tatanka-Iyotanka
One of the pieces from my recent Legacy Gallery show, Portraits of Honor Hunkpapa Lakota Chief (1831 – 1890) “What white man has ever seen me drunk? Who has ever come to me hungry and left me unfed? Who has seen me beat my wives or abuse my children? What law have I broken?” Is [...]
Cliff Swallows in Native American Imagery
One of my favorite images is that of the North American Cliff Swallow. In Legends and Lore Omnipresent in Native American lore, the Cliff Swallow motif is used by almost all of the Plains cultures. The Lakota, Crow, and Blackfoot peoples all use various twists on the graphic – a different, but similar motif decorates [...]
