PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
NOVEMBER 2016
I wanted to do something different, and I’ve
pretty much been developing my style for about
14 years now.” He said his styling, which is a
mix of the bold and the simple in acrylics, seem
to appeal to the younger crowd and women in
particular.
The painter appears to be fearless when it
comes to use of color. Color does his bidding.
It casts his shadows and defines his highlights,
making visible the topography of his West. A
purple-faced barrel racer cast against black
leans into a red, white and blue barrel being
navigated by a live-wire blue horse with red
tack and a white with green and yellow blaze
down its forehead. Vibrant green mane curls
about the smooth contours of an alert blue horse
whose red forehead and nose bridge “yip!” in
sharp contrast. A longhorn is both arresting and
lovely in lavender and yellow.
Gaither’s use of startling color affords the
viewer a different portal through which to ponder western themes, themes no less western for
the explosion of color used to express them. The
“electrified” images retain the rustic or nostalgic
element of Western art.
Gaither works by commission but also shows
his work for sale. Dec. 1-10 he does his “Cowboy Christmas” show at the National Finals
Rodeo in Las Vegas. In March he spends three
weeks at the Houston Rodeo.
Closer to home, for the past dozen or so
years the artist has been involved with the Careity Foundation, donating a painting to be auctioned off each year at the Celebrity Cutting and
supplying the artwork for the charity’s programs,
magazine and promotional materials. This year’s
event is set for Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, at Will
Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth.
His junior year, Gaither moved with his family to Dallas where he graduated high school.
He earned an art degree at North Texas State
University (now University of North Texas)
in Denton. Then, during the Vietnam era, he
joined the military.
“I had an art degree, and I figured somebody
in the army was doing some kind of art, so I
signed up,” said Gaither. “So for three years I
did artwork for the Army Recruiting Command
in Alexandria, VA. I moved back to Dallas after
my tour was up.”
Back in Big “D” he took a job with an
advertising agency and created advertising and
worked in museum exhibit design. After several
years in advertising he worked with an amusement park design firm in Dallas. He designed
amusement park signage for venues like Six
Flags and other amusement parks around the
world.
Gaither still lives and works in Dallas. He
designs products for various western giftware
companies and continues to evolve his “bootstompin’” style of cowboy art.
Visit Gaither at www.lgaither.com.
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