Western Art, Oil Painting of a Native American Woman, Miha Cante, by Bill Lundquist, Ca 1987, C #1737 SOLD

Western Art, Oil Painting of a Native American Woman, Miha Cante, by Bill Lundquist, Ca 1987, C #1737 ,

Dimension: 20'' x 16''.

Condition: Excellent condition.

Bill notes that “Miha Cante was my favorite model when I was living in Pinetop, Arizona. She was a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and was married to the Assistant Chief Counsel for the tribe. As you can see from the attached images, I used her a lot. The painting would have been finished in approximately 1987".

"The history of the painting is interesting. It was completed in my Pinetop, Arizona, studio where Miha posed for the portrait. It was originally planned as a three-quarter body composition. Fortunately, I have a picture (attached) of the nearly completed original design. A fire occurred in my studio during one night originating in a trash can at the base of the easel on which the painting was mounted. By the time the fire was extinguished the easel was destroyed along with the bottom half of the painting. There was a lot of smoke damage leaving the painting blackened. Somewhat discouraged, I threw the painting in a trash pile along with other damaged material. It sat in the pile for several days during which time I could see it every time I passed by.

A fire restoration team sent by the insurance company began cleaning all the smoke damage in my studio. I was impressed with what they could do and pulled the painting from the trash and asked them to see if they could clean it. They did a spectacular job and I began to think it could be resurrected. Fortunately, it is painted on a masonite panel. I was able to cut the panel with a saber saw and complete the detail work and save the painting. I have included photos of the painting both framed and unframed and a photo of Miha, the painting and me that appeared in the White Mountain Independent newspaper.

Some background on Bill Lundquist:

Bill Lundquist is a third generation native son of Arizona born in Tucson on March 6, 1938.   His parents and one grandparent were all natives as well.  Both branches of his family tree were early pioneers to the Southwest territory.  His fathers family was made up of railroad people maintaining far-flung pumping stations in southeastern Arizona.  His mothers side were ranchers and law enforcement people.  Bill’s earliest years were spent in and around the Willcox area of southeastern Arizona.  World War II  forced his family to move to  Monterey, California, where his father worked in the production of war vehicles.  During the five years following the war, the family lived in Pacific Grove, California.  It was here that Bill discovered his love of drawing.  He honed his drawing skills by copying each cartoon panel of Red Ryder comic books.  He received encouragement from his parents who enrolled him in a correspondence course offered by the Art Institute of Chicago.   In 1950, the family returned to Arizona.  Bill’s high school years were spent in Globe, Arizona.  As the resident artist for Globe High School, he was generally called upon to provide for the school's artistic needs including the school paper and class annual illustrations.  

Bill graduated from Arizona State University with a BS in Business Management while minoring in fine art. He continued graduate studies at Ohio State University with emphasis on Real Estate Finance and the University of Washington with the equivalent of a Masters degree in Commercial Bank Management.  Bill mentored with well-known Arizona artist, Don Ruffin, for three years and studied with Jay Datus at the Kachina School of Art in Phoenix, Arizona.  Bill has studied individually with internationally well-known artists including Burton Silverman, William Whitaker, Jim Boren, Sherrie McGraw, Mary DeLoyt Arendt, Jim West,  Mau- Kun Yim, Karen Taylor, Lawrence Goldsmith, Mary Beth Mckenzie and Eric Weigart.  As a native of Arizona, Bill has been very interested in southwestern subjects for his art.  During the 70’s and 80’s he completed many portraits using members of the Navajo and Apache native American tribes.

Bill began a banking career in 1956 that lasted for 38 years interrupted only by a stint in the U.S. Army.  The army years proved fruitful in his art skill development.  His military salary was augmented nicely with commissions from officers and enlisted men alike.  The most requested art were portraits of girl friends, wives, mothers and children.  While stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, he was commissioned by the post commander to do a formal portrait of the retiring post Chaplin the presentation of which was publicized in the Army newspaper together with photographs of the presentation.  Returning to civilian life and his banking career he continued to grow his parallel art pursuits producing a continuing stream of portrait and commission work. 

He was commissioned to do a cover for Western Banker Magazine which received wide distribution throughout the western states banking industry.  To commemorate the retirement of the President of First Interstate Bank he was commissioned to do a tri-portrait of the retiring president together with the new president and new Executive Vice President.  The painting was so popular that it was reproduced as a print and made available to all of the bank’s staff.  Upon retirement from banking at age 55, Bill began a full time career as a professional artist.  Within a year he was contacted by the Executive Director of Scottsdale Artists School and was offered a drawing instructor position.  He has been affiliated with the nationally renowned Scottsdale Artists School as an instructor for over 25 years as an instructor in oil and watercolor painting and drawing.  His “Really Useful Drawing Class” has been one of the most recommended drawing classes at Scottsdale Artists School.  During all of that time Bill has contributed works for auction at the Scottsdale Artists School annual Beaux Arts fund-raising event which has become a popular social event for Scottsdale.  Bill has been a popular instructor and lecturer for many years conducting demonstrations of various mediums and techniques for the many art groups in the Phoenix metropolitan area.   He owns and operates the Working Artists Studio (workingartistsstudio.com) where he produces his artwork and conducts a wide variety of classes.  He has been the subject of a feature article on drawing in “The Artists Magazine”.  Bill’s body of work includes over 400 commissioned and sold paintings and drawings.  He was  inducted into the Globe High School Hall of Fame for his artistic achievements and contributions.  Visit billlundquist.blogspot.com for more information and artworks

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