User:E. Sean StandingBear

I started my formal training making Osage Indian men and women's traditional dress at the age of 7.

I was exposed to a variety of artistic Influences, as my grandfather was a commercial artist and draftsman, and my father was a painter and photographer. I learned about contemporary art hanging out with my father in his home studio. My father was an artist protege of Alexandre Hogue, the realist painter and member of the famous Dallas Nine.

What really set me off to drawing was my father bringing home a roll of white butcher paper and telling me to "go to work." My first major drawing was the epic battle of Waterloo. I loved to draw more than anything. I soon discovered ink and I still love the permanence and the challenge of the medium.

At summer art programs at Philbrook Art Museum in Tulsa, I excelled in life drawing and wood cut printing. During the fourth grade, I began to practice the art of wood carving.

My passion turned toward the study of color in all aspects and mediums. My first sculptures were made from mud and concrete. I made my first attempt at stone sculptures using sandstone and concrete debris when I was 12. During my teens I began lost wax bronze work and dry point etchings.

I owe much of my art education to early exposure to an extensive art library in my home. I attended Catholic and public schools in Tulsa. At the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I made friends with and became a guitar buddy to T. C. Cannon. T.C. introduced me to Japanese calligraphy. He also helped me understand the significance of light and shadow.

In 2004 I had the honor to participate in the Art of the Osage exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum. I assisted with selection and procurement of most of the items and wrote the descriptions for photos and illustrations. John Nunley and I contributed an essay entitled, "Osage Aesthetics -A Curatorial View" to Art of the Osage by Garrick Bailey and Daniel C. Swan (University of Washington Press, 2004).

I have given presentations on traditional and contemporary Osage art and culture at Oberin University and Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, and Ecole d'Art at the University in Toulouse, France. I am honored to be a Lifetime member of L'Occitania (a.k.a "Occitane")Society in Montauban, France. Throughout my career I have focused on form and composition and color in everything I've created --paintings, jewelry, murals, sculpture, Osage ribbonwork and fingerweaving, and doll-making.

The influence of my father's mentor, Alexandre Hogue, cannot be underestimated. Alexandre encouraged me to embrace a career in the arts. I strive to create works of art that can fill the artistic void in people's lives. I also believe it is essential to continue the traditions that my relatives, and my ancestors taught me.

I am a proud husband, tribally enrolled member of the Osage Nation, father, and grandfather. My home is in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, the gateway to the Tallgrass Prairie, where Native bison still roam, and the vast expanse of earth and sky is truly inspirational.