High Spirits in Arizona

A marvelous collection featuring cowboys and landscapes inspires big ideas from its Arizona owners.

Our collectors bought a condo in Arizona in 2010. She says, “I’ve ridden horses all my life. We fell in love with the West and with Western art. I’m an artist and our daughter is as well. It’s the landscape, the clouds, the whole western feel— the horses, the cowboys.” He husband says, “It was just one of those things. We really love the art and the role the Southwest has played in the art world, especially with Native American Art. It intrigued us.”

Their condo was not far from Medicine Man Gallery where they met its impresario Mark Sublette who has been instrumental in helping form many collections.

The couple later decided to purchase a 22-year-old house. “We loved the architecture but it needed a lot of work. We began a threeyear remodel,” he explains. “We got hold of the original builder before we bought it and began talking about what could be done. We didn’t intend to do as much as we did but one thing led to another. The house is basically new. When we were remodeling we were definitely thinking of art and where to put things. At that time we had two Howard Post paintings and a G. Russell Case in the condo.”

The downstairs casita in their new home, which had been basically a storage room, now has a kiva fireplace and banco and is a comfortable guest quarters. Like the rest of their home, it has a relaxing Southwest feel that is the perfect setting for a growing collection of the art of the west. Mark Sublette visited their new home and, as he does, recorded the spaces in his visual memory. When the couple was looking at David Meikle’s 60-by-108-inch oil, Bright Angel Point Panorama, they couldn’t imagine where it could go in their home.

Mark said “I know the perfect spot for it!” They replied, “OK. Bring it up.” It now graces the wall next to the kiva in the casita.

“I’m a big fan of historical paintings,” the husband explains, “especially when they’re correct. My wife and I recently attended a program at Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum where there was a special exhibition of paintings by H. David Wright who is wellknown for his accuracy.

“I’m a little edgier than she is,” he continues. His wife adds, “We do want to vary our collection and look at other things. We’re open to different types of art. It’s been an interesting process. Until we moved out West the art in our home in Ohio was my watercolors and the work of friends. It’s fun to talk about what to buy in the future. It’s really neat to become aware of artists we hadn’t been aware of before. Our daughter is involved and our son enjoys the art as well. If one of us loves something, the other will go along with it. We have different artists we’ve looked at and would love to have a piece. I think we’re trying to figure out where we want to go. Do we want to keep it simple or do we want to fill our walls?”

“I was a graphic designer,” she continues, “and I’m attracted to artists who were graphic designers as well. It could be the color that attracts me, the line, the feeling or the mood.”

The couple do research online, frequent galleries and events, read Western Art Collector and have begun to look into auctions. “We met and talked with a lot of artists who were in Mark’s Maynard Dixon exhibition earlier this year,” she notes.

“Mark invited us to an event where we met Howard Post,” he recalls. “He also lives in Tucson. We love his horses and his colors. We’re in love with his style. It’s indicative of the West. You look at his paintings and immediately relax. We spent an afternoon with him and came back to the house and had lunch.”

Sometimes art comes to the collection in pairs. “We were looking at Michael Swearngin’s

Empire Ranch Hand at Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale and they offered to bring it down to Tucson,” she relates. “They also brought his

Empire Ranch Hand II for us to consider. We discovered they both look good together in the casita opposite the Meikle.”

The collectors are intrigued by the glass scene in Toledo, Ohio, and brought a flower vase by Shawn Messenger from there to their Tucson home. Its dramatic colors fit right in.

“Living with the art raises your spirit,” he observes. “It challenges your senses. Every time you look at a piece you get a new inspiration or a new idea.”

She comments, “I don’t know what it would be like to live in a home without art. It’s beautiful. Without the artwork there’s a spirit and life that’s missing.”

At the end of the hallway is Howard Post’s oil Catalina Vantage. On the right, in the great room, is Logan Maxwell Hagege’s oil Following. Above it to the right is Ed Mell’s oil Twin Buttes. In the far room on the right, through the cut-out in the wall, is Mell’s oil Changing Shadows.

The collectors' Arizona home.

Two acrylic paintings by Michael Swearngin hang in the casita. They are, left to right, Empire Ranch Hand and Empire Ranch Hand II.

In the great room are, left to right, Ray Roberts’ oil Painted Sky II, Howard Post’s oil Moving Herd, Logan Maxwell Hagege’s oil Following and Ed Mell’s oil Twin Buttes. In the far room is Mark Maggiori’s oil The Pathfinder. The sculpture is Intertribal Greeting, a bronze by Doug Hyde (Nez Perce).

On the left in the office is Mark Maggiori’s oil, Nantan Lupan Can Wait!. The watercolor on the right is Barry Sapp’s Riding the Rough String. The bronze sculpture is Twister by Richard Loffler. There is a Nambé bowl on the desk.

On the left are, top to bottom, Josh Elliott’s oil Canyon Glow and G. Russell Case’s oil Day’s End. In the cupboard is Michael Malloy’s oil Palm Desert.

Day’s End, an oil by G. Russell Case, hangs above the nightstand in the bedroom.

In the foreground is Ray Roberts’ oil High Desert Colors. At the end of the hall, Glenn Dean’s oil Canyon del Muerto hangs above a wing chair with Navajo textile inlay designed by Mark Sublette of Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson. On the right is a Two Gray Hills rug. The vessel to the left of the Roberts is by Mata Ortiz potters Mauro Quezada and Martha Martinez.

Billy Schenck’s oil August hangs above the sideboard in the dining room. The glass flower vase is by Shawn Messenger.