Grant Redden

Grant Redden was born and raised in southwest Wyoming. His father was foreman on one of the largest sheep ranches in the state, running 21,000 head of sheep. When Grant was 12, his father purchased his own outfit with 5,000 Columbia ewes and 300 mother cows. The work, always a family affair, became even more intense. Horses were an integral part of his family’s operation including camp horses, pack strings in the summer and work horses to pull camps and feed the livestock in heavy winters. Naturally, they are a major part of his art. Grant believes these animals have their own personalities and characteristics which should come out in each painting.

Grant always had the desire to paint, so he naturally looked at the landscape, the animals, and the people as subjects for his creative impulse. His parents were from pioneering stock — his mother was born in a log cabin on the Henry’s Fork of the Green River in southwest Wyoming to a homesteading family and attended a one-room schoolhouse until high school. Her family was fiercely independent and self-reliant. His father’s family was among the first pioneers to settle this area. With this background, Grant developed a strong attachment to the land and the life and an interest in the history. He feels blessed to have the chance to build his home and raise his family on 120 acres of their summer pasture land and dedicate himself to painting what he knows.

Primarily self-taught, he has had the opportunity to be mentored by many generous living masters and has studied the work of deceased masters such as Sorolla, Sargent, Zorn, Von Zugel and many others.

Becoming a member of the Cowboy Artists of America is a great honor. The CAA has a rich tradition of creating art that celebrates the Western life authentically, at a quality level that requires dedication and commitment. Grant hopes he can measure up to the higher atmosphere that these artists work in. It is going to make him stretch and step up to a higher level, both as an artist and as a man. The culture in this group of artists is both demanding and nurturing. He is excited for the challenge. Already he is living up to the demands, winning two medals in 2013: the Gold Medal in Oil Painting for Loading the Sled and the Silver Medal for Water Solubles for his piece High Country, and the Gold Medal in Oil Painting and Stetson Award in 2019.