Edward Walker Squaw Dance signed Original native american

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"Squaw Dance"

Original Painting by Edward Walker

EDWARD D. WALKER

"I am inspired by a compulsion to paint, to express the visual world in the somewhat optimistic way in which I see it," declares Edward D. "Rusty" Walker. "Rather than romantic, fanciful, or cynically realistic, I see the world as full of the character and potential beauty that is ignored enough to justify painting it for humanity."

Although, in the past, Walker has been best known for his watercolors and book, Transparent Watercolor, today he spends an equal amount of time painting with oils. He describes his style as "painterly realism," a style that bridges the gap between realism and design. "My painting is rather direct," he states. "I rely more on the image sustained in my mind's eye than on any specific reference that I have sketched or photographed on location.

Western subjects - everything from sheep herders, to Indian rituals, to landscapes - are Walker's favorites, but he does not consider himself strictly a Western artist. In fact, many of his scenes could be depictions of places and people in almost any part of the country. He paints whatever scenes captivate him at the time, whether it is a bullrider or his one-eyed cat Windy. He is, he describes, merely attempting "to convey the impression of timeless truths, whether it be a pure landscape or a figurative work."

Walker admires those artists who stay true to their convictions because, he says, "there exist no ultimate criteria for masterful works of art for the lifelong artist, for each must develop according to unwritten, uncharted destinies that in the end prove to be true, sincere, and sometimes, unique visions of the artist."

Walker does some of his work on location, but paints his more involved pieces in his studio--usually to the music of Bach, Mozart, Hadyn, or Vivaldi. He often does pastel sketches or watercolor preliminaries of his ideas before transferring them to oils. Walker will work intensely for a two-day period, painting between 12-16 hours per day, and then finish the work at a slower pace that can take several weeks. The final touches are not completed until Walker has observed the piece at length to determine what should be added or deleted.

"My approach to oils," he explains, "is influenced by many years of working on location. This adds an element of spontaneity to my paintings, despite the added detail that I now include in my work as being essential to my artistic statement."

Walker earned his art degree from the University of Queensland's Institute of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. For the next four years, he served as an artist at the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command Headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, and when he was discharged, turned to art as a career.

Walker's work is widely recognized and has earned him several national awards, such as the Emily Lowe Award at the 110th American Watercolor Society Annual. He is included in Who's Who in American Art and is also a member of both the National Watercolor Society and the West Coast Watercolor Society. Walker's creations are in many public collections: the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Stanford University Collection among them, and in several private collections, including that of former President Gerald Ford.