By Chris McLarry, Principal, McLarry Fine Art

Located in the renowned complex at 225 Canyon Road, McLarry Fine Art shows a diverse group of nationally known artists.

The gallery features Western and Southwestern paintings by Xiang Zhang and Chuck Sabatino, also works honoring the cowgirl spirit by Donna Howell-Sickles and watercolors paying tribute to the working cowboy by Mark Kohler.

Regional landscape by Peter Hagen, Donna Clair and David Ballew are exceptional. The vibrant works of Cheri Christensen are sure to catch anyone’s attention. Elegant still life and figurative painting by Johanna Harmon and Lael Weyenberg can also be found.
Wildlife sculpture and monumental bronze by Tim Cherry complements our sculpture garden and the award winning Native American bronze by John Coleman proudly completes our collection.   The gallery is open daily and welcomes all who visit our beautiful city. McLarry Fine Art, 225 Canyon Rd., 505-988-1161

Xiang Zhang
“Land Rush”
H 42” x W 82”     Oil on canvas

Born in the year of the Horse, Xiang Zhang (pronounced Shong Zang) grew up in China. After graduating from The Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, where he was strongly influenced by the 19th century Russian masters, he received his Masters Degree in Fine Art from Tulane University in New Orleans. While at Tulane, he developed his special style of portraiture work and increasingly cowboy art. Combining impressionistic, as well as realistic techniques, awards in regional and national shows marked him as an artist to watch. The excellent, consistent quality of Zhang’s work has made him one of the most collectible artists in the world. In 2002, he moved to a ranch in Sherman, Texas. Immersed in the local ranching lifestyle, his work reflects the symbiotic relationship between the cowboy and his horse. Using scintillating colors and bravura brushwork to capture the drama of ranching life, his definitive style has catapulted him to new heights in the art world. Xiang Zhang’s paintings hang in private and corporate collections in the United States, Canada, Europe, and China.

John Coleman
“The Game of Arrows”
H 60.5” x W 26” x D 16”     Bronze edition of 12

In this sculpture, John depicts a Mandan archer engaged in “the game of arrow,” an event witnessed by George Catlin in about 1833. He reported that the most distinguished archers by the other archers for entrance fees. It was written that the winner of this particular gathering achieved eight arrows gathered on the prairie, each one having paid an entrance fee such as a shield, robe, or pipe. In turn, they shot their arrows into the air to see who could get the greatest number flying at one time, the winner taking as his prize everything that was brought in flight before the first one struck the ground. John Coleman is one of the leading sculptors today who portrays the historical nature and mythology of western subjects. John Coleman’s award-winning bronze sculptures are among some of the most detailed and most accurate depictions of American Western legend and history that are being produced today.

Donna Howell-Sickles
“Campfire Girls”
H 50” x W 70”    Acrylic on canvas

In the Western art genre, Donna Howell-Sickles has taken the image and idea of the cowgirl beyond charcoal lines and into reality. Howell-Sickles has been exploring the layers beneath the cowgirl’s engaging exterior for more than 30 years. A vintage postcard from the 1930’s featuring a cowgirl with ruby red lips sitting atop her horse instilled in Howell-Sickles a lasting fascination with the cowgirl spirit. The cowgirl in the postcard was at once both familiar and unreal. This dichotomy in the imagery has fueled Howell-Sickles’ artwork, and inspired her to create images of women that are both real and myth. Howell-Sickles’ artwork captures the quintessence and timelessness of the cowgirl spirit.

Donna Howell-Sickles was recently inducted to the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame in recognition of her work with imagery celebrating the cowgirl.