Meet Dick Mueller of Coyote Crossing Studio in Cave Creek

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dick Mueller.

Dick, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My artistic talent was inherited from my mother, whose training came from books (which I still have) that were sent to her by the old Federal Artists Schools in Minneapolis. Although she didn’t put her talent for drawing to use, seeing her drawings made a big impression on me. The first thing I remember drawing was fire trucks in first grade.

I had no art classes until I attended college at the Minneapolis College of Arts and Design, majoring in Industrial Design and minoring in sculpture. After leaving school, we moved to St. Louis and I spent five years with McDonnell Douglas as a technical illustrator while they were bidding on the space shuttle program. When that came to an end, I settled into a life in sales of electrical products. Although I abandoned serious art for nearly 20 years, I did a lot of graphics work for the companies I worked for and organizations I belonged to.

I started painting in the 90s. I belonged to three art organizations in the St. Louis area, entered many juried competitions and won numerous awards for my paintings. One of my patrons bought a very detailed painting. After realizing she could read the page of an open book in the painting, she suggested that maybe I should work in pencil and do even more detailed work.

We moved to Cave Creek in 1996, and I joined the Sonoran Arts League. At that time, I was exclusively doing graphite drawings. One of my patrons said she really wished I would do some colored drawings, so I started colored pencil drawings too. I have no preference as to graphite or colored pencil. That decision may depend on the reference photos, the time period being depicted, or my personal whim.

Has it been a smooth road?
When I joined the Sonoran Arts League, it had about 50 members. I was not known in the Phoenix metro area, having just moved here, so I struggled to sell anything. The League started producing the Hidden in the Hills Artist Studio Tour and Sale. My studio became one of the open studios the second year, and it has been part of the tour every year since, drawing approximately 1600 people to my studio each year. This has given me name recognition in addition to sales. I was even recognized in the Minneapolis airport once!

Professional Affiliations:
I am a juried member of the Sonoran Arts League and the International Guild of Realism, and a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and the American Plains Artists.

Shows:
Exhibited in the Phippen Western Art Show in Prescott, AZ from 2002-2018 receiving five awards (1st through 3rd place) in the drawing category.
Juried into several American Plains Artists, Mountain Oyster Club, and Bosque Art Classic shows.
Exhibitor in the Arizona Fine Art Expo since 2012.

I am currently one of 3 rotating Artists in Residence at the Gallery at El Pedregal, Scottsdale, AZ.

What else should we know about you and your work?
My specialty is pencil drawings, either graphite or colored pencil. Art has always been my passion – art with details that I feel are only possible with a pencil – details that create work that sometimes looks photographic. These details help me capture the feelings and emotions of the subjects, whether the subject is human or animal.

Each piece must show motion and/or give the viewer an emotional connection. The inspiration for my work comes from photos that I use for reference, sometimes as many as 20 for a single work. I take the majority of my own photos.

My work leans heavily to western subjects either present day or historical because even though I will never have the opportunity to be one, “My heroes have always been OLD cowboys.”

Is our city a good place to do what you do? Any advice for those just starting out in Phoenix?
Somebody just starting out might consider participating in Phoenix First Fridays.

Contact Info:

• Address: Coyote Crossing Studio
  38611 N Grapevine RdCave Creek, AZ 85331
• Website: www.coyotecrossingstudio.com
• Phone: 480-595-1106
• Email: dick @coyotecrossingstudio.com
• Instagram: dick.mueller
• Facebook: Dick Mueller’s Coyote Crossing Studio

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