Tim Cox

Endless nights of painting until dawn are finally paying off for Tim Cox. He is one of the best known western artists, having been voted into the U. S. Art Magazine¹s Print Hall of Fame - 2000. Dozens of his Limited Edition Prints have sold out through the years - some as quickly as 3 weeks.

Sales of his popular calendar line which started in 1986 have exceeded four million to date. One of the best compliments paid to his calendars is that you often see his tear off style calendars complete, late in the year. People will lift off the pages to find the date rather than tear them off!

Tim's paintings have appeared on over 110 magazine covers through the years, and he has been featured in articles in at least 16 different publications, including Southwest Art, Western Horseman, Art of the West, American Cowboy and Beef.

Tim Cox was born in 1957 in Safford, Arizona and grew up in the small farming and ranching community of Duncan, near the New Mexico state line. When only 5 years old, Tim vowed he "was going to be a cowboy artist" when he grew up. He currently lives in northern New Mexico and is considered one of the great western artists of our time. U.S. Art's "Gallery owners survey" named Tim one of the top two most popular Western print artists in 1999. U. S. Art Magazine selected Tim to have their honored distinction as a member of the Print Hall of Fame - 2000.

While most of his time is consumed by painting, Tim continues to raise cattle and train his horses. He also finds the time to coach young riders who compete in cutting competitions and other competitive horse events. Tim combines the basic ingredients of color, value, perspective and pleasing design with his desire to be a perfectionist in portraying the real working cowboy. This attention to exactness is appreciated by most ranchers and cowboys as well as the recreation horse owners around the world.

He was awarded the Will Rogers Western Artist of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists and Friends of Western Art’s Artist of the Year for 2001. His paintings are eagerly sought at art shows like the Prix de West Art Show at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City and has been a three time winner of the Olaf Weighorst Best of Show Award at the Mountain Oyster Club Show in Tucson.

In 2003, Tim Cox was honored with one of the most prestigious awards in the world of western art at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, when the National Academy of Western Art chose his painting for the coveted Prix de West Purchase Award which includes a $5,000 cash award plus a gold medal. Cox's "On to Better Pastures" was the judge's favorite of the over 300 works of art at the 2003 Prix de West Show which featured the works of ninety two highly acclaimed artists. His painting “Along Eagle Creek” was selected as the 2004 winner of the Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Award.

~Taken from http://www.timcox.com/

Well into his eighties, John Hampton, one of the founders of the Cowboy Artists of America, was still painting, drawing, and sculpting the many stories of the American West. Hampton was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1918, but made his way west at an early age. As a boy, he had shown an early aptitude for art and won a drawing contest sponsored by the New York World Telegram. Years later, while he was working as a cowboy in New Mexico, one of his cow bosses told him that he had the makings of a good cowboy, but an even better artist. Hampton combined those two pursuits for the rest of his life. One of his early jobs was working as an illustrator for newspaper comic strips, including Fred Harman’s Red Ryder and Little Beaver.

Hampton felt close to the Western life that he portrayed in his paintings and sculptures. In addition to working many years as a cowhand, he continued to keep his cowboy skills well-honed even after he turned to art full time. Hampton felt a deep affinity with the historic West. He once said, “I was born a lot closer to the last center than the next one.” Hampton’s artwork is now in many museums, including the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; the National Center for American Western Art in Kerrville, Texas; and the Montana Historical Society in Helena.

In 1965, Hampton got together with Joe Beeler, Charlie Dye, and George Phippen in Sedona, Arizona, to talk about the need to preserve and promote the art of the American West. As Hampton later recalled, “We didn’t feel the necessity to wait around and let the Eastern critics tell us what was worth painting in the West.” For thirty years, Hampton was an integral part of the development of the CAA. He remained one of the organization’s spiritual leaders from its inception until his death in 2000. During those years, the organization grew to become the leading light in the genre; a light that Hampton helped ignite with the help of three like-minded friends.

~From Cowboy Artists of America