“Apache Land”
oil on linen
32 x 48 in.
2016
About the Artist:
“In the last few years I have been painting a larger percentage of Native American works, and Apache Land is a recent example. It was created for a live auction in Great Falls, Montana, at the C. M. Russell Museum that takes place in mid-March.
I wanted to highlight a couple of things about the Apache way of life that had existed for centuries before it disappeared in the late 19th century. They had become a serious horse culture by this time, and they were the masters of the mountainous and rugged country of the southwest. The dramatic beauty of this incredible landscape frames in the painting, and I added a flock of sand cranes to give a further sense of space and action. As the central figure leads a horse through the brush on a rocky hillside, his US Cavalry jacket gives us a clue about the challenges Apaches faced in the rapidly changing 1800’s.
We see here a visual device that I never tire of using, that being a strong light source that creates cool shadows and warm golden highlights…I also have posed the horses and figures in a design that creates tension and a feeling of action as they move down the rocky slope. All of these elements come together that for me describe the character and the land of the Apache.”
To contact the artist:
phone 208.635.5875
email [email protected]
website www.cmdudash.com
