by Carol Mowdy Bond | Photos courtesy of Tyler Crow
In 2016, Tyler Crow became the youngest artist ever to be inducted into the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America. He was only 27 years old.
Crow grew up near Apache, Oklahoma, surrounded by foothills and farmland. By age three, he was riding the family horse, Dolly.
“Horses were always part of my life,” Crow says. “I always had a little horse around.”
Crow’s grandfather and uncle bred and sold horses in the Geronimo and Chattanooga area. His other grandfather ran cattle and farmed in the Apache area. By about age 10, Crow began working cattle with him, and he plowed for his grandfather.
“I helped him work his cattle,” Crow says. “When he was branding or dehorning or got a new load in, I helped him and sometimes rode horses for that work.”
At a young age, Crow was also drawing pictures. He says, “I’ve always enjoyed drawing, and I always enjoyed drawing horses. But I just never realized that you could do that for a living when you grew up. I was fortunate to be around a lot of horses and cowboys growing up. I just love that way of life.”
Crow’s mom was a schoolteacher. His dad was a welder who built cattle pens and different equipment, and he was involved with agriculture. But his dad also made bits and spurs.
“Dad has been making bits and spurs since I was young,” says Crow. “I delivered his bits and spurs with him, and we delivered to many ranches like the Waggoner Ranch near Vernon, Texas, and the Four Sixes Ranch near Guthrie, Texas. We would turn up Red Steagall on the radio or put on his CD of cowboy songs and listen all the way down and all the way back. We would listen to him or George Strait.”
Crow also rode along when his dad did spur work for award-winning Boots O’Neal of the Four Sixes. As Crow made contacts, he developed relationships with men in the ranching industry. The ranchers and cowboys connected him to other men in the industry with whom he formed new bonds.
“All these men were very helpful,” he says. “They allowed me to go down and take pictures with them for my art.”
Influences and Connections
During his senior year in high school, Crow’s future started to gel. He apprenticed and painted under well-known cowboy artist Bruce Greene in Texas, and then he went back and forth to the Greene home for several years.
“He’s awesome,” says Crow of Greene. “I lived with him and his wife, Janie. I stayed at their place all summer and helped with things he needed done. But mostly I apprenticed under him. He has been a great influence on me.”
Crow also participated in a workshop taught by Texas cowboy artist Martin Grelle at the Prix de West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
In addition, Crow says, “Gary Dunshee owns Big Bend Saddlery in Alpine, Texas. My dad and I have known him since I was little. Dunshee has been a big help, helping me connect with different ranches in the Alpine area. Then I travel to those ranches. There have been a lot of others who helped me along the way.”
In 2007, Crow graduated from high school in Apache and headed to Cameron University in Lawton for an agricultural degree. “I was there for a year,” Crow says. “Then I quit Cameron and really started working on art.”
After that, he moved to Hico (pronounced “High-Coe”), Texas, where he met his future wife, Katie, through an established connection. She is related to Bruce Greene through marriage. Katie is from Blanket, Texas, about an hour from Hico and not far from Greene’s home.
Inspiration and Recognition
These days, Crow and his wife are raising their family on a large spread near Hico where Crow is a full-time artist. They have a few horses that their children ride, and Crow is inspired by the beautiful countryside and all the hills around them.
“In high school, I had always drawn with pencil,” Crow says. “Then right out of high school, I started painting with oils and doing watercolor. That’s when Bruce Greene was helping me. Now I mostly do oils, but I still really enjoy doing charcoal drawing.”
He leans heavily into western art, and his subjects are today’s cowboys. He knows most of the people he paints.
With camera in hand, Crow travels to ranches where he photographs images for inspiration at his Hico easel. His destinations usually include locations in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
Now an award-winning artist, Crow is enjoying the ride. Red Steagall interviewed him for his “In the Bunkhouse” column in the January 2025 issue of Cowboys & Indians magazine. And more opportunities just keep rolling in.
“The more I started painting, the more my understanding grew,” Crow says. “You’re recording history of whoever you are painting, the time period, the gear, the cowboy, and his horses. You’re putting it on canvas. The reason I went this direction is because I have so much respect for this way of life, and I have a love for it.”
Reach out to Crow through his Facebook page, Tyler Crow Art.
