Jimmy Devine
All and More
Artist Reception and Gallery Talk:
Saturday, April 11, 2015, 2-5 pm
Please Join Us For This Exciting Featured Artist Exhibition.
Showing Through May 2, 2015
As 21st-century progress consumes more and more of our pioneering past, the emotional connection with
history that lovers of the Old West long for is getting harder and harder to come by. Thankfully, the fast-fading
world of spurs and sagebrush, cowpokes and pinto ponies will be on full and faithful display beginning Apr. 11 as
Evergreen Fine Art Gallery presents “All and More”, a much-anticipated Wild West show featuring the hauntingly
perfect works of longtime Laramie artist Jimmy Devine.
“’All and More’ because I’m trying to show a little bit of everything I do as an artist in this exhibit,”
explains Devine, whose distinctive brand of Western imagery has lassoed the imaginations of collectors across
the country. “There’ll be paintings, oils, watercolors, pencil, ball-point pen, and some spin-offs of my black and
white work, like ink washes.”
If that sounds like a pretty scattered herd of media for one artist to corral, understand that Devine
mastered each long before penning his first palomino. A native of New York, he parlayed a degree from Rocky
Mountain College in Billings, Mont., into successive and successful commercial careers in fashion art, television
art direction and sports illustration. Guests to “All and More” will immediately appreciate Devine’s captivating
brand of historical fidelity.
“When I used to paint old-time baseball players, I enjoyed doing the research to get the uniforms right,”
he says. “It was a kind of treasure hunt to find the correct historical look and bring the old-time players back to
life. When I decided to paint cowboys, it was an easy decision to focus on Cowboys of the Old West.”
Bringing old times back to life in vivid oils is what Devine does best, although it should be noted that his
rare talent is nowhere more apparent than in those occasional feats he performs using nothing but the humble and
ubiquitous ball-point.
“When I was younger I did a lot of pen and ink work. I found that ball-point pen allows me to shade in
softer ways.”
Though small in stature, those miniature marvels can easily stand toe-to-toe with anything on the wall in
the National Gallery. And the same can be said of everything that emerges from Devine’s studio, a rodeo parade
of exquisitely painted Polaroids capturing the character, and the characters, of a vanished age, each one the next
best thing to being there.
“I suppose striving for perfect realism comes from who I am in my art,” says Devine. “I’ve always
preferred photorealism in others’ artwork. James Bama and Richard Estes come to mind. I find their abilities
incredible.
“Someone once told me to paint a painting, not a picture. But I find it exhilarating to paint a picture
photo-realistically.”
Whether they’re looking for top-tier art, or a stroll into Western history, guests to Evergreen Fine Art this
April will find all they could ever hope for, and plenty more, besides.