Arkansas' cowboy artist

Imagine character actor Wilford Brimley's distinctive face combined with the familiar baritone voice of radio personality Tom Bodett (Motel 6 lights on for ya) and you'll come close to envisioning Arkansas' famed Western artist Michael Andrews.

With his easy laugh and denim shirt with leather suspenders, Michael at 71 still cuts the figure of what he's been through over a lifetime and three careers. He worked in the family's mortuary business that took him through Boone County, sometimes beyond. He also spent years as a horseback-ridin' cowpuncher on large Western ranches before earning national recognition by using his experience and talent to capture that rugged lifestyle in vivid colors.

Today in their home and his adjoining studio that doubles as a fascinating museum on the outskirts of Harrison, Michael and his wife Kay enjoy a far more settled and comfortable life than the earlier cowpoking years living out of a travel trailer across Texas and the West.

"Folks think the cowboy is romantic, " he said with a smile. "But I'm here to tell you it's hard work starting from before daylight to after dark every day. And there's not a thing in the least romantic about that."

Michael, who's self-taught except for a brief stint at the Kansas City Art Institute, works in almost every medium from oils on canvas and masonite to crafting unique furnishings. He's most comfortable with colored pens in hand, sketching realistic scenes from the hundreds of photographs he took on ranches where he worked.

"I suppose I can credit my mother with my love for drawing and art," he said. "When I was little she put some Crayolas and brown paper sacks in front of me and I discovered a new way to entertain myself."

It took a lot of years from those childhood drawings to wind up participating in his first art show in Abilene, Texas, to finished pieces in other juried shows in the West, landing in galleries such as Adobe Western Art in the Stockyards in Fort Worth. That upscale commercial landmark is where Michael's work has sold best for 27 years. Seems wealthy Texans recognize talent when they see it and are willing to pay for the finished product.

As the years passed, his artwork largely depicting working ranch hands and life amid the herds became so highly regarded that in 1996 the Academy of Western Artists honored Michael as its "Will Rogers Cowboy Artist of the Year."

As his artistic fame increased, he and Kay, now married almost 53 years, realized it would have been easier to have moved closer to a big city that had become markets for his artwork. "But I didn't want to leave my hometown," he said. "It's the place where growing I could go to town without a dime, get what I needed and tell the merchants I'll be back in a while to pay you."

During those traveling years to art shows in various cities, Michael pulled a horse trailer that understandably drew lots of attention. He still has the white round-top sitting outside his studio. On each side, he'd painted a whimsical scene of a horse, cow and two dogs all staring from behind a fence. Above them is written: "Fine Art: Wild Cattle, Mean Horses and Sorry Dogs."

"I can't tell you how many times people at shows wanted to take pictures standing beside the trailer," he said, "especially parents with children."

Michael said he often pulled a travel trailer, sometimes resorting to mom-and-pop motels when that become too wearisome. "During that period, Kay would stay back here at home."

The spacious gallery and adjoining studio he built in 2005 are as nice as any I've seen. The gallery has an intimate seating area for four. It's brightly illuminated by about 30 track lights that shine down on custom Western saddles and Michael's collection of paintings, prints and handcrafted furniture pieces. He still spends days working in his studio, although he takes life a little easier since a heart attack five years ago.

He's especially endeared to the commissioned circular chandelier he and Kay spent three months creating together for a lake house. "The theme is a lake and fish," he said. "Kay did the stained glass. I fashioned the layers of wood and the fish from stainless steel. When finished, it was huge, a downward-facing funnel standing five feet wide at the top and 10 feet high."

His gallery walls are covered in framed drawings and paintings, including several customized scenes he created for years for the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association, which awarded them annually to the outstanding county sheriff.

Among my favorites are Norman Rockwellian drawings that include the rear view of a small girl who'd obviously jumped up from the potty and her dog looking out a window side-by-side titled Someone's Coming! and an aged cowboy with pale blue eyes titled Running Out of Sunsets.

I wondered what's brought the gregarious artist his biggest fulfillment.

"I'd say doing the research behind my subjects and getting to know so many interesting people over the years. My biggest reward and compliment is when someone takes their hard-earned money and pays for something that comes so natural and easy to me."

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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.

Editorial on 05/21/2016

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