Wayne Baize, CA
(b. 1943)
Wayne Baize depicts the contemporary cowboy and gives honor to the cowboy way of life. He received the Western Artist of the Year Award from the Academy of Western Artists in 2000 and in 2004, he won the American Cowboy Culture Award for Western Art. He was awarded the CA Silver Medal for Drawing in 1997.
In the 2013 CA show, Wayne won the TCAA Award for his piece Managing Men, Land and Cattle.
Being a member of the Cowboy Artists of America has been the highest honor of his professional career. He was elected to membership in 1995 and served as vice president and director prior to becoming president of the organization in 2006–2007.
His work is shown at Midland Gallery in Midland, Texas, and Trailside Galleries in Jackson, Wyoming, and Scottsdale, Arizona.
Source: Cowboy Artists of America
Sand and Dust on Salt Flat
Artist: Wayne Baize, CA (b. 1943)
Description: Oil | Image Size: 18”h x 24”w; Framed Size: 26 3/8”h x 32 3/8”w
This very well executed painting of a cow horse tethered near a canvas shaded wagon is an excellent example of Wayne Baize’s ability to realistically depict horses, the environments in which they work, and the gear that is needed by present day cowhands. The horse is shown decked out with a saddle, blanket, lariat, and a rolled up yellow slicker. The nearby wagon, canvas shade and feed buckets have an equal air of authenticity as does the surrounding parched flat terrain. We have a sense that at any moment the horse’s rider will return to continue his day’s work.
As shared by the National Park Service Website: “Upon approaching the Guadalupe Mountains from the west, visitors traveling from the El Paso area will pass through a landscape of barren beauty. The Salt Flats are a remnant of an ancient, shallow lake that once occupied this area during the Pleistocene Epoch, approximately 1.8 million years ago. Salt collected here as streams drained mineral-laden water into this basin. The basin, called a graben, formed about 26 million years ago as faulting lifted the Guadalupe Mountains and depressed the adjacent block of the Earth’s crust. At the end of the last ice age, approximately 10,000 years ago, the lake dried up as the climate became more arid. The salt deposits left behind would later become a precious resource to the people of the El Paso area.”
Highland Roundup
Artist: Wayne Baize, CA (b. 1943)
Description: Oil | Image Size: 24”h x 40”w; Framed Size: 33 3/8”h x 49 3/8”w
Wayne Baize is well known for paintings that show the everyday work on a modern ranch. Some of that work has remained constant from historic periods to today—cattle must still be rounded up for branding, or moved to seasonal pastures. Baize, who lives with his family on a ranch in far West Texas in the Davis Mountains, knows this life well. His work in the saddle informs his work in the studio.
Here a cowboy on a striking white horse is engaged in moving cattle across a large expanse of pasture. Other cowboys are shown in the background moving another portion of the herd. The work is done under a brilliant Texas sky dotted with white clouds that offer a bit of shade to both the men and the animals. The scene is set in the early afternoon, and Baize has effectively used the sunlight to highlight the white horse. The action of the painting moves from right to left with the viewer’s eye focused on the figure of the cowboy in the right foreground.
Slow Pull
Artist: Wayne Baize, CA (b. 1943)
Description: Oil (2009) | Image Size: 24”h x 30”w; Framed Size: 35”h x 41”w
A Dry, Thirsty Land
Artist: Wayne Baize, CA (b. 1943)
Description: Oil (1995) | Image Size: 12”h x 24”w; Framed Size: 23 ¼”h x 35 ¼”w
Lookin’ for His Mount
Artist: Wayne Baize, CA (b. 1943)
Description: Oil on Linen | 24” x 36”
Good to be Alive
Artist: Wayne Baize, CA (b. 1943)
Description: Mixed Media | 9” x 12”
Once again Wayne Baize managed to imbue both energy and a sense of place in a small image. Surrounded by pristine landscape, cowboys and horses lope toward the viewer. The scene is set in the Davis Mountains in far West Texas, home to the Baize family ranch. The joy of living and working in this beautiful environment is clearly communicated in this piece.