Virgil C. Stephens Notevena Ranch Gallery

Virgil C. Stephens
Notevena Ranch Gallery

Ranging in scope from dramatic black and white pencil drawings to delicately hued Western paintings and whimsical music paintings, Virgil Stephens' artwork represents a visual diary whose pages reflect the artist's own life experiences.

Pencil drawings, conte drawings, oils, and bronzes are what I spend most of my time doing. I have been drawing, (doodling) since I was a wet-behind-the-ears kid, being raised on ranches in and around the mountains of Globe, Arizona. As time went on, I got more and more interested in this thing called "art", and started dabbling in oils and watercolors. Raising a family at that time did not afford me the possibility of taking classes, so I started reading books and studying paintings by famous artist and well known teachers in my spare time , in an effort to teach myself how to create a piece of artwork. After the umpteenth time of ruining a perfectly good canvas, I eventually wound up with a pencil in my hand. I just couldn't find any earthly reason to bother with all of those confusing colors. (I think being born colored-blind had something to do with that)

Seems I looked at things more closely than my friends did, and growing up around, on top of and under horses, calves, ponies, chickens, pups and kittens, and a plethora of other non-descript mammals & unidentifiable insects, allowed me to store up details about anatomy that were more accurate than any information I could obtain from a book. We process our own meat and poultry, and I was weaned on cows milk straight from the utter and strained through a part of the screen left over from the back porch door. Deer and elk were plentiful and there was never a shortage of venison in the freezer. There were many times when we would saddle up to gather cattle and I would stuff my camera in my saddle bags along with a can of Vienna sausages and a roll of T.P. and would attempt to capture a Kodak moment whenever the chance afforded itself.

In 1992 he started sculpting in clay and has now added a line of limited edition bronze sculptures, ranging in concept from ultra-realism to stylize.

In January of 2004 he moved into the world of conte drawings & oils. "Being a pencil artist for over two decades, I feel I have mastered drawing, and have now taken on a new form of artwork which involves working with conte pencil and oils.

In January 2005, I "morphed" into the world of music. Being a musician all my life, playing piano in my local church, to playing gigs at parties and such, I found myself wanting to unwind with the detailed drawings and decided one day to try my hand at whimsical music scenes.
In January 2010 I again changed lanes and started teaching drawing. I now do workshops in Ruidoso, New Mexico and in Pentwater, Michigan and when ask to come, I do workshops in many other places across the U.S. I will be adding drawing workshops in Traverse City, MI and Sedona, AZ in 2011.

From western to contemporary jazz & blues paintings, the oil paintings are done on textured "wrap-around" Canvas & Masonite panels. Em & I both make the panels from start to finish so that the customer is assured of quality craftsmanship all the way to the actual painting itself. The panels are built in a way that excludes them from having to be framed. I also have done numerous life-size paintings which are hanging in galleries and homes throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. A list of my accomplishments, awards and invitational art shows are also available for you to view on my websites.
My wife Emily and I now reside high in the mountains of southern New Mexico, in the Loma Grande mountain range, surrounded by wildlife, clean air and most importantly my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We call our little piece of Heaven, the "Notevena Ranch and Art Gallery". Lincoln County New Mexico is home to the world's richest quarter horse race at Ruidoso Downs, Smoky Bear, Billy The Kid, and not a whole lot of other people. My kids were involved in 4-H and FFA, bred and showed animals in the county and state fairs, plodded through miles of manure, and as a result, they are better off for it.
If you have enjoyed this verbal voyage of my ramblings and want to mount up and ride through my websites. All of my art resides on my main site, at www.notevena.com. I have a music site www.musicalpainter.com and a pencil site at www.pencildrawing.net as well.
If you are interested in something personal, which I call commissioned artwork, please do so at the following phone number (575)354-3352 or email me with your questions. To find out what's currently going on with Virgil and his family, please visit the news page on the website.