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Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale features WhitcombOne of the West's best art exhibits is set during the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver during January. Whether you're a fan of oil, pastel, watercolor, pencil and conte drawing, photography or bronze, the Coors Western Art Exhibit is for you. A significant contributor to the National Western Scholarship Trust, the exhibit strives to give viewers a diverse offering of images showcasing the many dimensions of western life. Located on the third floor of the Expo Hall, this year's exhibit features more than 60 artists displaying a broad range of styles from traditional to contemporary. The 2009 Featured Artist is M.W. Skip Whitcomb. "The most obvious way to paint nature is standing in the middle of it," Skip Whitcomb said. Born in 1946, painter M.W. Skip Whitcomb has been interested in art since his childhood on a ranch near Sterling, Colo., however, Whitcomb decided to pursue art professionally only after a university drawing professor provided the encouragement he needed. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles in 1971, Whitcomb moved back to Colorado and became acquainted with the loosely-affiliated but highly energetic Denver group of traditional painters, draftsmen, and sculptors that were instrumental in helping him become established as an artist. For Whitcomb, painting is but one facet of the creative process. Each of Whitcomb's paintings goes through a unique evolutionary process from sketch to field study to finished image. Whether working with oils or pastels, he is conscious of every stroke. Each element of his painting is relevant and deliberate. Whitcomb has participated in gallery shows and invitational museum exhibitions throughout the country, including the National Academy in New York; the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Okla., and the Bradford Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyo. Whitcomb, who is listed in Who's Who in American Art, is a past winner of the Grand Prize in Pastel Journal's International Juried Competition. He and his paintings have been featured in numerous magazines, including Southwest Art, American Artist, and Plein Air and his works reside in numerous public and private collections, such as those of Merrill Lynch in New York City and Senators Alan K. Simpson and John Warner. Whitcomb is also a signature member of Plein Air Painters of America and a respected painting teacher conducting several workshops each year. He is represented by Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., and Simpson Gallagher Gallery in Cody, Wyo. 1/5/09 Date: 12/31/08
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