Marcus Amerman is a Native American artist renown for his images made of beads. Marcus Amerman was born in Phoenix, Arizona in the year 1959.
The artist earned a B.F.A. from Whitman College located in Walla Walla, Washington. Amerman also attended the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Amerman represents the Choctaw tribe.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
Amerman has also designed apparel.
Amerman is based out of Sante Fe, New Mexico.
The artist sees his work as a blend of Native American culture and Pop Art. He has portrayed celebrities including Janet Jackson. Amerman is the only bead artist to have his work appear in Playboy magazine.
In this clip a brief interview with Marcus Amerman and also First Nations artist Preston Singletary. Both are master level artisans when it comes to working with glass:
The artist has a brother named Roger Amerman, who is also a world renown bead artist.
George Morrison was a Native American landscape painter and printmaker. George Morrison was born on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation near Chippewa City, Minnesota in the year 1919. The artist was of Chippewa decent.
Morrison had a well rounded education having studied at the Art Student’s League of New York City. He then went on to earn a degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. The artist also studied abroad in France on a Fulbright Scholarship.
Morrison also spent time as a collegiate professor. He was part of the faculty at the University of Minnesota and the Rhode Island School of Design.
In addition to painting landscapes the artist also painted in the style of Abstract Expressionism.
In this brief clip a few works of the artist are shown:
George Morrison passed away in the year 2000 at the age of 81 years old.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
What I enjoy most about the artist George Morrison is his diversity in his choice of mediums. The artist was a painter and printmaker, but he also was renown for making intricate wood collages. His landscapes have great emotional content due to his tremendous use of color.
Francis Blackbear Bosin was a Native American artist born in Cyril, Oklahoma in the year 1921. Bosin was a painter, muralist, and sculptor. His most famous sculpture is that of a Native American man giving a blessing to the sky. This sculpture is over 40 feet in height and is titled “Keeper of the Plains.” This image is number three from the top in the picture gallery.
Bosin had both Comanche/Kiowa in his background. The artist was given two scholarships for collegiate art studies, but turned them down due to his family obligations.
The artist was part of the United States Marine Corps and served in World War 2.
Blackbear Bosin is associated with the Surrealist movement.
Below a short clip from a documentary made on Francis Blackbear Bosin:
Jamie Okuma is a Native American artist renown for her work with beads and the fashion world.
Jamie Okuma was born in Glendale, California in the year 1977. Okuma grew up on the La Jolla Reservation in California. The artist attended the School of the Institute of American Indian Art. Her father was of Hawaiian decent. Her mother was of Native American descent( Luiseno and Shoshone- Bannock.
She turned to the fashion world as she had become exhausted with the mediums she was working in. She had been working with beads and dolls for the most part.
She made her first miniature dress whilst in high school.
Below we visit the studio of Jamie Okuma:
One work with a figure takes on average four months to complete. Okuma goes into great detail in parts of her work except the face.
For time periods the artist focuses on clothes and fashion that were popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
She is based out of the La Jolla Reservation in San Diego County.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
Its great to see clothes and similar designs that were popular in the 1800s and 1900s come back en vogue again. Okuma’s dolls have a tremendous amount of detail.
Benjamin Harjo Junior is a wonderful Native American artist who works in Pop Art style. Benjamin Harjo was born in Clovis, New Mexico in the year 1945.
The artist originally wanted to be a cartoonist. He was selling his cartoons locally whilst still in high school. He was excited to attend the Institute of American Indian Art to study animation. After enrolling he found out the institution had cancelled the animation program. Harjo remained there to study.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
Harjo was drafted in the United States Army and served in Vietnam. After his military discharge the artist finished his B.F.A. degree at Oklahoma State University.
In this clip an interview with the artist and his alma mater of Oklahoma State University located in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Below we visit the studio of the artist and more works of Harjo are shown:
Harjo works in many mediums including oils, gouache, acrylics, watercolor, pen and ink. The artist is also an avid printmaker.
Below a link to the website of Benjamin Harjo Jr. :
Virginia Stroud is an Native American artist renown for her paintings of the female figure. Virginia Stroud was born in Madera, California in the year 1951. Stroud is of Cherokee and Creek descent was raised in Oklahoma with a Kiowa background.
Stroud attended Bacone Junior College located in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She went on to attend the University of Oklahoma located in Norman. She studied elementary education and art.
The artist has won numerous awards from Native American Art appreciation organizations.
Stroud works in oils and acrylics and is also an avid printmaker.
Price range information: No pricing available on originals. Prints can be found from $50 to $500.
I enjoy the minimalist aspect of Stroud’s artwork. Though she doesn’t paint facial features, we get a feeling of the emotional pitch of her figures from the depictions of their bodies. Her horses are also very simple and elegant.
Rose Simpson is a Santa Clara Pueblo artist who is renown for her innovative sculpture. Simpson was born in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Her mother was also an ceramics artist named Roxanne Swentzell. Her father was an artist named Patrick Simpson who worked with wood and metal.
Simpson attended the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque for three years before switching colleges to the Institute of the American Indian Arts where she received her B.F.A. Simpson went on to earn a M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design located in Providence, Rhode Island.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
Here we view a clip from the Denver Art Museum where Rose Simpson served as the Artist in Residence:
A great interview with Rose Simpson talking about what inspires her:
The artist works often with Apache Skateboard artist Douglas Miles, already profiled here.
Simpson’s work is amazing to see in person. I was impressed not only by the lively look of her figures, but by their massive size. Rose Simpson is certainly a master sculptor working in a very modern and Pop style.
Make sure and check out this artist if you make it to the Denver Art Museum.
Dat-So-La-Lee who was also known as Louise Keyser, was renown as the Queen of the Washoe basket weavers. Dat-So-La-Lee was born around the year 1829. She represents the Washoe people that lived in the northwest area of Nevada.
The artist was working as a maid and her employers saw her great skill. Her employers saw her baskets and made distinct recordings and produced a provenance for each of her works. Dat-So-La-Lee was able make a great living by selling her baskets at her employers trading store. With such documented provenance, a Dat-So-La-Lee basket is highly sought after by collectors.
The artist worked mainly with willow in producing her baskets.
Dat-So-La-Lee passed away in 1925.
In this clip some more works by Dat-So-La-Lee and a brief bio:
price range information: Sorry none available.
What a wonderful artist! She created wonderful abstract designs on her baskets.
Diego Romero is the brother of the previous post, Mateo Romero, and an outstanding artist in his own right. Diego Romero was born in Berkeley, California in the year 1966. His father and grandmother were both artists. His grandmother was a renown ceramics artist, its obvious that he found some inspiration from her in his wonderful and unique plates.
Like his brother Mateo Romero, Diego briefly attended the Institute of American Indian Art. After a short stint at the institute Diego would go on to earn a BFA from Otis College of Art and Design based out of Los Angeles, California. The artist went on to earn a MFA from U.C.L.A.
In this clip Diego Romero talks about his working process:
With his use of cartoons and comics and earthenware, the artist has created very unique pieces of art on par with his more famous brother Mateo.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
What a great family of artisans who have been working as artists for 3 generations. Its interesting to see the similarities in styles and subject matter between the brothers. The father of the two boys was a traditional painter who enjoyed painting despite losing a hand in the Korean War.
Mateo Romero is a contemporary Native American artist painting in a modernist style. Mateo Romeo was born in Berkeley, California in the year 1966. His father and grandmother were both artists. Romero is a painter and printmaker.
Romero attended the Institute of American Indian Arts and Dartmouth College where he earned a BFA. Romero went on to earn a MFA from the University of New Mexico.
His Indian name is translated to mean “War Shield.”
Whilst trying to achieve his MFA Romero had originally hoped to be a architect. In this clip Romero talks about his experience at Dartmouth College and why he changed his focus to printmaking:
This artist is similar to Douglas Miles for the fact he paints the Native American in modern settings that we usually don’t see in museums. I was able to see some works by Mateo Romero at the Denver Art Museum and his work stands out because of the fact from across the room you can recognize the subject matter.
I enjoy his technique of story telling and relating it to life on the modern Native American reservation. Some themes explored by Romero include gambling.
In this clip a wonderful interview with Mateo Romero explaining his creative process:
The artist also has a brother named Diego Romero, who will be an upcoming post, who is a very successful artist.
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