Rural Missouri - January 2015 - 32

| NEIGHBORS

Artist of

Huckleberry
Ridge

A cabin studio in
the woods inspires
Doug Hall's paintings
by Heather Berry | hberry@ruralmissouri.coop

he artist remembers the sale of his
ﬁrst oil painting like it was yesterday - an image of a majestic
white horse stepping across a blue,
9-by-12-inch canvas.
Above: Oil painter Doug Hall puts ﬁnishing touches on a new painting at his rural Pineville
The sale earned him $2.50.
studio. Left: Doug's oil painting, "Red Coat - Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, 1812" sold for a
"I sold it at an art show in Big Spring State Park," record $29,000 at the Buffalo Bill Art Show in Cody, Wyo., in 2012.
recalls Pineville artist Doug Hall. "I was 10, and the horse looked a
lot like the Michelin Man. But I was happy someone liked it enough to buy it."
touch it needed to come to life.
Today, the artist lives in a cabin he built on top of a hill near the HuckIn 2002, Doug felt it was time to "go big or go home," so he sent his work for
leberry Ridge Conservaton Area in southwest Missouri. Working in his home consideration to a juried art show at the Phippen Museum in Prescott, Ariz.
studio, Doug surrounds himself with pieces from a bygone era. Muzzleloaders,
"I thought 'I've got to get out among them because I've not really shown my
antiques and Western memorabilia make this cozy two-story cabin a perfect work anywhere,'" says Doug. "People knew my work in this neck of the woods,
spot for an artist to turn back time through his canvas creations.
but not in the big art world."
"I've been drawing and painting for as long as I remember," says Doug. "As a
Soon a letter arrived saying his work qualiﬁed him to enter.
kid, I'd paint and go to school sleepy from staying up all night."
"I was terriﬁed!" says the humble man. "I had no idea I'd get in, and now I
The New-Mac Electric Cooperative member comes across as a quiet soul, but was trying to ﬁgure out how to get out of it. I'd really sent samples of my work
as he talks about painting his favorite topic, Doug's eyes light up.
to see how it fared with the well-known artists."
"There's just something about American Indians ..." His voice trails off as
During the show, a museum rep handed Doug a yellow sheet of paper, which
he looks across the valley. For Doug, it's easy to imagine natives
he folded up and put into his pocket. The artist next to him recommended
walking in the woods or riding trails below the bluffs across the
he read it, as it meant he'd won something. The next day, he took his
expanse of land.
40-by-60-inch painting, "The Looking Glass," to a ceremony where the
"I think it all ties in with my frontier mind," says Doug.
museum awarded ﬁrst, second and third in various categories.
While he has painted many tribes, the 55-year-old artist
"But I didn't place. Then they gave Best of Show, and I didn't get
mainly focuses on the Eastern Shawnee Indians. His passion for
that either," says Doug. "I was beginning to feel they were embarthe tribe comes through as he talks about how the Indians were
rassing me because they thought my work wasn't good enough.
pushed westward after the War of 1812.
"Then Darrell Phippen came out and said 'We'd now like to
"I've spent hours researching this tribe, so every detail I paint is
award the George Phippen Museum Award, our highest honPineville
accurate down to the tiniest item," he says.
or, to Doug Hall,'" says Doug. "I about fell over. I'm still in awe
Doug never thought painting as a youth would lead to an art job
of the honor and the fact the painting sold for $10,000."
later in life. After graduating from Neosho High School, he spent 10
These days, Doug's work is widely accepted at museums
years painting duck and goose calls for Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's and
such as Lord Nelson's in Gettysburg, the Gilcrease Museum in
the former Lohman Manufacturing Co. in Neosho. His side interest in muzzleTulsa, Okla., and the Charlie Russell Museum in Great Falls,
loaders and Civil War re-enactments with the 2nd Missouri Cavalry made Doug Mont. Altermann Galleries in Santa Fe represents Doug's work at art auctions
think there might be a market locally for a muzzleloader/archery supply shop. held in large U.S. cities throughout the year. His original oils start around
So in 1987, he built and opened The Log Cabin Store south of Neosho, which $10,000, while prints can be ordered on his website starting at $400.
he ran until it was destroyed by a tornado in 2001.
In September of 2012, Doug's painting, "Red Coat," brought the highest
"I look at it as kind of a blessing now," reﬂects Doug. "I knew if I was ever price at the Buffalo Bill Art Show in Cody, Wyo. The painting, featuring Shawgoing to paint seriously as an artist, that was the cue to start."
nee Chief Tecumseh, sold for $29,000. Soon after, Eastern Shawnee Tribe Chief
While Doug was happy with the results he got when painting, he spent hours Glenna Wallace invited Doug to Oklahoma where they celebrated Chief Tecumgetting the effects he wanted with his brush. Then he found an opportunity to seh and honored Doug's work at a special gala and blanket ceremony.
paint with Bob Tommy, a renowned Western oil artist and sculptor living in
"It showed they accepted me and my work. I'm humbled," Doug says.
Carthage and the man Doug calls his mentor.
"After all these years, I still feel like a newcomer," continues the artist. "If I
"He was teaching in Carthage on Friday nights, and for $5, you could paint never receive more honors, I've had some experiences I'll never forget."
with him," Doug says. "He could do in two hours what would take me a week of
trial and error when it came to mixing paints and technique."
You may contact Doug Hall at 417-223-2040, at www.doughallart.com or
Doug feels what Bob taught him about painting light gave his work the ﬁnal
follow him on Facebook at Doug Hall's Huckleberry Forest Studio.

RURAL MISSOURI | JANUARY 2015

http://www.doughallart.com

Rural Missouri - January 2015

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