Wayne Baize

Wayne Baize Biography:

Born in Stamford, Texas, Wayne Baize is a well-known western artist who focuses primarily on the realities of contemporary ranch life.   In October, 1995, he was elected to the Cowboy Artists of America, and has received special recognition at their annual exhibitions including an award for Drawing and Media, Silver, 1997.

In 2000, he was voted Artist of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists.

He inherited his love of cattle and ranching from his father, who was a cotton and maize farmer, and “who enjoyed his work more when mules pulled the plow than when tractors performed the chore.”(Art of the West)

Baize began art classes in high school from Sarah McDonald, who had studied with Frank Tenney Johnson.  Western artist Tom Ryan, whom Baize met in 1968 at the 6666 ranch in Guthrie, Texas also became a mentor.

As a young man, Baize earned money by working in feed stores, lumber yards, and clothing stores, but continued drawing as much as possible.

Early in his career, he was an illustrator whose work, often in pencil, included magazine covers and illustrations for National Quarter Horse Journal, the Cuttin-Hoss Charter, Cattleman’s Magazine, and Western Horseman.  Before doing oil paintings, he preferred working with black and white and colored pencils, finding them relaxing.  However, impatient with the color limitations, he began highlighting with acrylic and oil paints and then switched primarily to acrylics and oils.

In 1977, at age 39, he married Ellen Largent, whom he met while buying ranch land from her family.  The couple have three children, whom Baize has sometimes used as models in his paintings.

He and his family live on a small ranch near Fort Davis, a restored military post in West Texas.  His home is scenic, and gives him plenty of opportunity to sketch favorite subjects such as horses and Hereford cattle.

Of his life in the West, Baize said:  If I weren’t committed to being a Western artist, my next choice would be to live the life of a cowboy.  Horses and cattle have played a big part in my life and the men who handle them correctly have my admiration. . .The more I can capture in my work that special feeling and atmosphere that surrounds the true cowboys, the more value it will have in preserving America’s heritage.  The challenge is not to draw a man on a horse, but to draw a cowboy on a cow horse getting the job done.” (Western Art Digest)  However, he does not try to glamorize ranch life as he often focuses on the every day details of doing chores or bringing in the cattle without “glitter.

Available painting:

Click on images to enlarge.

“Soaking Up A Way Of Life”
Wayne Baize
oil  8″ x 12″
$1,500

See additional information about “Soaking Up A Way Of Life”.