Majestic Living Magazine // From murals to bronze, Myers has been a landscape artist all his life

Imagine waking up in the morning and seeing stone castles perched on top of rolling hills, seagulls flying above, and mountain peaks peering through wispy, grapefruit colored clouds. This is the world Lola Brown lives in each day since local artist Steve Myers painted every inch of her “castle” – a process that took ten years to complete.

“Lola’s Castle,” located near the San Juan Country Club in Farmington is a masterpiece in itself and Myers was able to transform Brown’s vision, which has brought joy to her life since her husband, Carl, passed away in 2002. But long before embarking on this ten-year journey, Myers has made a name for himself in the art world and is known for his western artwork that has been showcased in countless galleries throughout the United States.

An artist’s past

Myers, 61, is a native New Mexican. Growing up in Farmington, he was able to entrench himself in the American Indian culture, which has been a major inspiration for his artwork.

When Myers was younger, he painted landscapes of the enchanting New Mexico scenery. “I have been a painter and landscape artist all my life,” he said.

In 1970, Myers graduated from Farmington High School and then studied Western Art at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. “My biggest influence was John Hampton, founder of the Cowboy Artists Association,” Myers explained.

As a way to add variation to his landscape paintings, Myers decided to move back to the Four Corners and paint the oil field scenes. Eventually, he broadened his art skills and learned how to mold clay, which would be transformed into bronze sculptures. Myers’ clay molds were cast at a foundry, a factory that produces metal castings. The complexity of casting hindered Myers’ ability to do it himself.

His sculptures, which mainly represent American Indian culture, were sold in various galleries throughout New Mexico and Arizona.

Myers returned to Farmington permanently ten years ago to be with his significant other, Margaret Walters, and take a break from the galleries. It was during this time, he met the 85- year-old Lola Brown.

Living in the painting

What began as one mural eventually turned into one continuous landscape painting on every wall space in Brown’s home, which is equivalent to 6,000 square feet.

“When I got done with the first mural Lola loved it and she looked at the other wall and said what about that one,” Myers said with a grin.

10 years later, Brown’s home looks as though it is in another time period. Paintings of castles, sparkling oceans, and sun rays reaching through clouds wrap throughout each room. “As the painting grew, my relationship with Lola grew,” Myers explained. “This painting became my life and Lola’s life.”

The murals on each of the walls are massive: 12 feet high by 30 feet long, 9 feet high by 24 feet long. Myers learned to paint these large dimensions when he worked for Albuquerque based billboard company in the late 1980s.”We painted the billboards by hand. I painted for Coors, Chevrolet, Nike, and every whiskey company,” Myers explained. I think I was one of the very last pictorialist in the billboard world, and that gave me the ability to paint on that scale.”

Brown moved into the home in 2003 after her husband passed away. Through the devastation and pain, Brown was able to heal when she and Myers began to brainstorm the different scenes that would be painted on her walls.

“I loved every minute of it and I can’t fathom sitting here without any of this,” Brown said.

“Lola knew nothing about the painting process, but this made her get up in the morning and think about the creative process,” Myers explained. “The creative process is the healthiest state of mind to be in. An unhealthy state of mind is when it is stagnant.”

Myers said this ten-year project is the perfect example of art therapy, where studies have shown it can assist in the healing process. According to the American Art Therapy Association, “Art therapy is a mental health profession in which clients, facilitated by the art therapist, use art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem.”

Brown said the paintings in her home “brings back memories” from traveling around the world three times. “Steve is a wonderful artist; he is number one. He understands what you want when you tell him.”

“I lived up on scaffolding and she wouldn’t mind it. Lola preferred to live in an art mess,” Myers said.

A different art media

Even though Myers grew up as a painter, he eventually taught himself a different art technique. Myers began sculpting after meeting Vic Payne, a Santa Fe sculptor. During his first year creating western bronze sculptures, Myers sold 65 sculptures. After selling his paintings and bronze sculptures in galleries in Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos, Myers decided to move back to Farmington permanently in 2002. Since then, he has created several sculptures that can be seen around the city.

There is a life-size sculpture of two teenagers with their arms stretched out holding birds at the Farmington Public Library. Alexandra Caldwell and Evan Caldwell were Myers inspiration for this statue. In 2002, they died in a tragic car accident but their legacy lives on through the sculpture.

“The birds represented the rising of the spirit,” Myers explained. “Evan was a photographer, so you can see a camera around his neck and Alexandra was a dancer.” The sculpture was completed in 2004 and it graces the library’s grounds.

Recently, another one of Myer’s sculptures was installed at Ricketts Park, just in time for the Connie Mack World Series this summer. The sculpture is a 13-foot-tall baseball catcher. Myers said the sculpture represents a “generic” 17-year-old Connie Mack player.

“I was involved in this project because I was involved in Connie Mack when I was younger. It was a thrill for me to leave my legacy at that field where I played as a kid,” Myers explained.

The sculpture took Myers one year to complete. Other sculptures by Myers that can be seen around Farmington include one at the Boys and Girls Club and a life-size sculpture of Brown’s husband, Carl, which stands outside the pro shop at the country club. Carl had a huge influence on San Juan Country Club’s inception after he donated the land where the golf course and the clubhouse are located today.

Myers also has been working on a series of acrylic paintings that portray orchestra women. “The women represent passion and the instruments represent the music that is shown in the artwork.”

Myers is devoted to his artwork, but if he is not sitting behind an easel or chipping away clay, you can find him swinging a 9 iron on the golf course fairway or fly fishing in the San Juan River.

“As far as the future, I don’t know what the future holds for me,” Myers said with a chuckle.