NELSON BOREN - LIMITED EDITIONS

In the dusty, sun-baked lands of the West, water is scarce and large bodies of water are even scarcer. The harsh rays of the sun drain the color from the landscape, drying up vegetation and inhabitants alike-but one cowboy will not surrender. He leans casually against a doorframe, showing off the vibrant blue water and leaping yellow fish on his Cowboy Fishin' Boots .

Artist Nelson Boren's portraits of cowboys take their inspiration from the sweeping landscapes of the West and then hones in on the little details that comprise a cowboy's life. His detailed studies of the trappings of the trade impart a romance and a gentle humor to what is commonly depicted as a hard and lonely existence.

Formerly a successful architect, Nelson Boren credits a principle used in architecture with the birth of his artistic style.  "Long ago I found a photograph of a cowboy," he says, "who had his back to the camera and was visible only from his shoulders to his knees.  I wondered where he was going.  To a rodeo?  A Campfire?  The image invited a story, and I thought, 'that's gestalt' - when you have an incomplete image and your mind consciously or unconsciously completes it."  Boren uses the theory of gestalt to show - but not tell - his intriguing tales of the New West.  No other artist we know combines so much detail with such big, bold, graphic images... and that's exactly how we'll reproduce them.  Of Cowboy Romance, the artist says, there's "a rugged cowboy holding delicate flowers in his well-worn gloves, and he's humbled to the point where he's kneeling down.  The direction the story takes - whether the cowgirl will accept his proposal or ride off into the sunset alone - that's up to the viewer."