JD Challenger's New Book

JD Challenger works closely with Native Americans across the country to inspire his striking paintings. His desire to learn has brought him significant acclaim from collectors of ne art originals, limited edition prints, and bronzes. As one collector explains, “Challenger is capable of painting what can only be described as visual poetry. Whether the viewer related to the subject matter or not, one must be impressed by the power, depth, and dimension of his talent.”

But Challenger feels his greatest achievement is his acceptance by the Native American community. “The color and expression in JD’s paintings bring out the true Native American feeling and pride of the Ghost Dance era,” explains Augie Gray Fox, one of Challenger’s models. “He is like a messenger for the Indian people.”

Author E. Dan Klepper, a native Texan, creates books that combine the paintings and drawings of contemporary American artists with informative views on cultural and natural history. Klepper also writes and publishes stories on the outdoors and adventure sports including mountain biking, backpacking, wildlife, nature travel, and southwestern lifestyles. His article on mountain biking Big Bend Ranch State Park, entitled “Solitario Solamente,” won the Gold Award for travel writing from the International Regional Magazine Association in 2003. He has authored, under the pen name Edwin Daniels, the book Wolf Walking, which won a Texas Outdoor Writers Association Excellence in Craft Award, and Ghostdancing ~ Sacred Medicine and the Art of JD Challenger (Stewart, Tabori & Chang). Klepper writes from his home in Marathon, Texas.

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SPECIAL OFFER!!!!!

To celebrate the publication of Jd's new book, Spirit Walker, you can purchase a signed and numbered book with a signed and numbered giclee of the cover image, Sun Watcher, on water color paper. The print is 22x23 inches and the image is 18x18 inches. The book and the print will have matching numbers and are available for $250 for signed and numbered copies and $350 for the artists proofs. Call the gallery today at 800 511-6773 to reserve your set now.

Featuring more than one hundred full-color paintings, Spirit Walker, JD Challenger and His Art tells the story of the painter and his work and offers extensive insights into its creation. “Scholars of American history are now contemplating the ways in which Indian culture influenced the development of a national character that is uniquely American. JD’s work captures that connection. His uncanny mixture of symbols from two worlds presses the viewer to look for the messages that might be found there. It’s as if he is saying, ‘I don’t necessarily want you to think what I think. I just want you to think.’ “JD understands as well the phenomenon of the Ghost Dance experience and the environment in which it developed. There was so much despair for Indian people, and they were looking for hope. There was so much anger, and they were looking for love. Perhaps JD’s work serves as a bridge that links the past with the present, and Indian America with non-Indian. Perhaps its value simply lies in the artist’s extraordinary talent. I do not know. What I do know is that JD is, and always will be, my brother.”

Flint Carney Tui-Bi-Tsi (Handsome Heart) - Comanche Nation of Oklahoma