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Pencil Drawings, Oil Paintings,
and Bronze Sculptures are what I spend most of my day doing. I have been drawing, (doodling) since I was a wet-behind-the-ears kid, being raised on ranches in and around the mountains of Globe,
Arizona.
As time went on, I got more and more interested in this thing called “art”, and started dabbling in oils and watercolors.
Raising a family at that time did not afford me the possibility of taking classes, so I started reading books and studying paintings by famous artists and well known teachers in my spare time, in
an effort to teach myself how to create a piece of artwork. After the ump-teenth time of ruining a perfectly good canvas, I eventually wound up with a pencil in my hand producing black and white
art. I just couldn’t find any earthly reason to bother with all of those confusing colors, until January of 2004, 20 years after being a professional pencil artist. (I think being born
colored-blind had something to do with that!) |
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Virgil Stephens
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Growing up right along side, on top of, and sometimes under calves, ponies, mules, pups, kittens, a bucking
barrel, an occasional chicken, and a plethora of other non-descript mammals and unidentifiable insects, has given me a hands-on approach to anatomy.
There were many times when we would saddle up to gather cattle and I would stuff my camera in my saddle bags
along with a can of Vienna sausages and a roll of T.P. and would attempt to capture a Kodak moment whenever the chance afforded itself. Because of those times I now have an extensive photographic library
of cows, horses, wildlife, women and children (having two daughters and two sons), rodeo cowboys of questionable character and other unique situations etc. categorized in order of subject matter to draw
upon when creating a piece of artwork.
Being a pencil artist my whole life, I have learned how to draw and compose, and as of January 2004, I
“morphed” into the world of music. From western to contemporary jazz and blues paintings, the oil paintings are done on textured “wrap-around” Canvas and Masonite panels. Em and I both make the
panels from start to finish so that the customer is assured of quality craftsmanship all the way to the actual painting itself. The panels are built in a way that excludes them from having to be framed. I
also have done numerous life-size paintings which are hanging in galleries and homes throughout the United States. A list of my accomplishments, awards and invitational art shows are also available for
you to view here.
My wife Emily and I now reside high in the mountains of southern New Mexico, in the Loma Grande mountain
range, surrounded by wildlife, clean air and most importantly my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We call our little piece of Heaven, the “Notevena Ranch and Art Gallery”. Lincoln County New Mexico is
home to the world’s richest quarter horse race at Ruidoso Downs, Smoky Bear, Billy The Kid, and not a whole lot of other people. My kids were involved in 4-H and FFA, bred and showed animals in the
county and state fairs, plodded through miles of manure, and as a result, they are better off for it. |
