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This is Fred Ball, senior vice president, Zions Bank, speaking on business.
The other morning I got up to the most beautiful sunrise I’d seen in a long time. And I thought, we are fortunate to enjoy on everyday an amazing display of nature here in Utah.
Well, I know of one Utah artist who has made it his business to capture some of those moments and put them on canvas. He’s Robert Duncan. For nearly 25 years, Robert has successfully replicated the mixture of nature’s spectacle and life’s tender moments by applying the right colors to canvas with a few simple brush stokes. He specializes in Western scenes. A look at his collection brings back memories of farm work, wonderful winters and gorgeous sunsets. You can almost smell the fresh air in each piece.
Painting is fun, and those of you who have tried will agree that it can be a great hobby. But I’m talking about perfection when I refer to Robert’s work. I can step back and squint a little and each piece looks like a photograph. In fact the way he has presented light in his art makes each painting almost glow. But it’s when I walk up to the art and see the brush strokes—that’s when I’m really amazed.
Robert’s success has required much more than an ability to paint. His work describes moments that only a Western native would know. Robert was born in Utah and began painting at age 11. He spent summers as a boy on his grandparents’ ranch in Wyoming where his grandmother gave him his first set of oil paints. It was there that he grew to love the country, the open spaces and the rural lifestyle. He later studied art at the University of Utah and worked as a commercial artist before dedicating himself completely to the fine art of the American West.
Not too long after, he was elected into the Cowboy Artists of America and won two silver medals in the annual exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum.
Now Robert Duncan has made it possible to enjoy his work on posters, calendars, 5 x 7 cards and through limited edition prints. He operates two galleries—Robert Duncan Studios in Midway and The Grey Goose Studio in Salt Lake’s Trolley Square. Robert’s work has done well worldwide, selling to galleries and frame shops in Canada, Europe and New Zealand.
For Zions Bank, I’m Fred Ball. I’m speaking on business.
