Chaparral Fine Art - Featured Artists

Beth Loftin

Beth Loftin was born and raised in the Osage Hills of Oklahoma and developed a keen interest in painting in early childhood. The human figure has always been her subject; for years she supported herself by doing commissioned portraits of Oklahomans. She relocated her studio to Bozeman in 1993 and has been a top seller at Chaparral since that time. The artist's oeuvre is as much about color and composition as it is about storytelling. "As a painter, I focus on people's relationships within the cultural and historical contexts," she explains. "The people are from a time that still lives in many of us. They have a simple but profound story to tell, and I want to help them tell it."

Ms. Loftin's work often features distinctive portraits of turn-of-the-century pioneer folk, ranch hands, and Native Americans. While nostalgic themes and bold use of color remain hallmarks of the artist's captivating style, many of Ms. Loftin's new paintings celebrate private moments at the end of the work day: tired ranch hands asleep in the shade of a juniper, brothers cutting each other's hair in the late day sun. The artist also continues her compelling exploration of the uneasy merging of settler and native cultures.

Ms. Loftin has been written about in a feature article in Southwest Art magazine and has participated in Butterfield's Western Art Auction for several years. In 1998 she was chosen as the poster artist for the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival. She has had seven successful one-woman shows at Chaparral.

Badlands Pony
oil, 12 x 12 $ 1,250