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Born August 1st, 1943, Skip attended High School in Atoka,
Oklahoma. His first art competition, however, began at the age of seven
through the encouragement of a second grade teacher, with a mixed media
of crayon and water colors. After graduation, he went on to obtain a degree
in Commercial Art and immediately went to work for a major advertising
firm in Dallas, Texas.
The big city environment soon proved disagreeable to Skip
who had grown up spending most of his time in the woods hunting or fishing.
Always competitive and striving to be at the top in any endeavor, he killed
a typical whitetail buck deer in the 1972 hunting season that held the
Oklahoma State Record for over twenty years plus several other trophy
deer that earned Cy Curtis Awards.
Skip moved from Dallas back to Oklahoma where he went to
work for a saddle maker and easily picked up the trade tooling intricate
designs in leather and opened his own shop in McAlester, Oklahoma, named
The Rodeo Shop. Back in his element, Skip began team roping, competing
in Rodeos and team roping events all over the county including the International
Championship finals in 1981. In addition to a lot of free lance ranch
work, Skip competed in fishing tournaments, and again striving to be the
best in all arenas, won several competitions including two bass boats.
Skip is of Cherokee and Choctaw descent and has always
been an ardent student of his Ancestrial history and customs as well as
all American Indian Tribes. Pulling from this research and his own wide
based personal experience, you will find absolute authenticity and and
extraordinary detail in his work that only comes from firsthand knowledge.
He is a multi-talented artist who works in several mediums
that include oils, pastels, graphics, sculpture, carvings, and scrimshaw.
Skip first drew the attention and acclaim of the art world with his scrimshaw
art which is the ancient technique of etching on ivory. Most recently,
he has expanded to bronzes cast from his one-of-a-kind moose
antler carvings that can be viewed on this web site.
Skip has been a highly successful full-time artist since
1984 and has been receiving awards and recognition for his talent consistently
as indicated by this partial listing of awards from 1984 to 1995:
1984 Best of Show and two 1st Place-Holdenville Fine Arts Competition
1985 2nd Place Sculpture[117 entries] Colorado Indian Art Market
1985 Best of Category-Italian Art Festival
1986 Best of Show-Indian Art Festival, Ft. Worth, Texas
1986 1st Place-Five Civilized Tribes Fine Arts Competition, Muskogee, Oklahoma
1987 1st Place, Arlington, Texas Art Festival
1987 Best of Show-Indian Art Show, Lubbock, Texas
1988 Featured Artist- Tulsa Indian Art Festival
1989 1st Place-Tulsa Indian Art Festival
1990 Grand Award[Best of Show] Five Civilized Tribes Fine Arts Competition, Muskogee, Oklahoma
1990 1st Place-Tulsa Indian Art Festival
1991 1st Place-Tulsa Indian Art Festival
1992 1st Place Tulsa Art Festival[Sculpture & Painting]
1992 1st Place-Five Tribes Fine Arts Competition
1993 1st Place Tulsa Indian Art Festival
1993 1st Place-Five Tribes Fine Arts Competition
1994 1st Place-Five Tribes Fine Arts Competition
1994 Best of Category -Fine Art Competition-Italian Festival
1995 2nd Place Sculpture-Tulsa Indian Art Festival
1995 Two 2nd Place Awards-Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
1995 1st Place-Five Tribes Fine Arts Competition
1996 Honorable Mention in Fine Arts - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
1996 2nd Place Sculpture - Trail of Tears
1997 Southeastern Wildlife Award - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
1997 2 Honorable Mention Awards - Trail of Tears
1997 1st Place Sculpture - Tulsa Indian Arts Festival
1998 1st Place Sculpture, Fine Arts Competition - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
1998 Honorable Mention - Trail of Tears
1999 3rd Place Metals Cabin Crafts - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
1999 Southeastern Wildlife Award - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
1999 One Man Show - Ft. Smith Art Center
2000 Honorable Mention Painting Category, Fine Arts Competition - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
2000 2rd Place Sculpture, Fine Arts Copmetition - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
2001 Best of Show, Cabin Crafts - Five Civilized Tribes Museum
2001 Best of Show - Fine Arts Competition
2002 Master Artist Five Civilized Tribes
2002 Best of Show Bartlesville Indian Summer Festival
2002 Best of Show Creek Nation Indian Art Competition
2003 3rd Place Tulsa Indian Art Festival
2003 1st Place Creek nation Indian Art Competition
2003 Featured Artist Bartlesville Indian Summer Festival
2005 Master Artist Competition Heritage Award 5 Civilized Tribes
2005 Grand Award Creek nation Indian Art Competition
2006 Tulsa Indian Arts Festival Best of Show
2006 Featured Artist Antlers, OK Deer Museum
2007 3rd Place Tulsa Indian Art Festival
2007 1st place Sculpture Italion Art Show
2007 Best of Category - Trail of Tears Competition - Minatures
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