Page 66 - December 2021

very important to me to be honest about who they are.
“I’ve been able to paint some really important racehorses,” he added. Horses like Corona Cartel, Valiant Hero, One Famous Eagle, Ochoa, Noconi, Mr Jess Perry, and many others, giving him even more exposure. “It’s been a great opportunity for me to paint these horses. The best part is getting to know the people behind the horse. It’s incredible.”
When asked about who has influenced him in his art, Mikel said, “There are three people, all very different, and all ex-CA members. Bill Owens, James Reynolds and Gordon Snidow - their work makes great use of color and light. Bill’s work is traditional, he is a realist, and he likes to paint action. James’ work is kind of loose, almost impressionistic. Gordon is also a realist and he was an illustrator for years. His colors are intense and vibrant, and his use of light grabs you.”
Mikel’s work was featured on the cover of Speedhorse in our October 2020 issue of All American Futurity winner Whistle Stop Cafe, as well as on the cover of our 2017 Stallion Register featuring One Famous Eagle.
Among his many other accolades, Mikel was awarded Best of Show at the Working Ranch Cowboys Association Art Show & Sale in 2006 and 2009, was the featured artist at the America’s Horse Art Show
and Sale at the American Quarter Horse Museum in 2009, won the Artists’ Choice Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show in 2009, was awarded the prestigious Premier Platinum Award and the William E.
Weiss Purchase Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale in 2010, received the Academy of Western Artists’ Will Rogers Award for Artist of the Year in 2011, won the CA’s Gold Medal for Drawing and Mixed Media in 2019, was in the Society of Animal Artists select traveling exhibition Art and the Animal 2019-2020, and has been featured in the American Quarter Horse Racing Journal, Art of the West, American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Western Horseman and
American Cowboy
publications.
Congratulations,
Mikel, on your latest award-winning achievement.
“The Bolter”
64 SPEEDHORSE December 2021