Anaconda sculptor Fred Boyer has landed his bronzes of wildlife and sporting scenes in some prestigious collections over the years.
Former President George W. Bush purchased one of his brass works, "Flight Fisherman," which captures a bald eagle in ascent shortly after grasping a fish in its talons.
The late Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf purchased several, including a life-sized bronze of a mule deer for his home in Colorado.
Other fans include former vice presidents Dan Quayle, who bought a little grizzly bear, and Dick Cheney, who picked up a small sculpture of a duck hunter.
Another accolade came from a group that knows its wildlife well. Boyer was also the first-ever sculptor to be recognized as Artist of the Year by Safari Club International in 2013.
The group's annual conferences are where he met those clients in person and sold his work.
While "Flight Fisherman" was sized so a human or president could walk away with it, Boyer has also gone big, producing limited-edition sculptures of life-sized wild creatures such as Schwarzkopf's mule deer, and also moose, elk and mountain lions.
In Anaconda, a whole family of his of life-sized mule deer is on display in town. In Casper, Wyoming, a 9.5-foot tall fly fisherman was commissioned for the North Platte River, where he stands mid-cast some 230 feet out into the water. Boyer says it's technically 23 feet tall if you count the fly rod.
Several of his life-sized moose are on display at Rock Creek Cattle Co. outside Deer Lodge, and several were purchased for Georgetown Lake.
Some 30 to 35 of Boyer's works will fill the Iron Horse Bar and Grill on Sunday through Thursday, when he and two other Montana artists put on a special, short-run art show.
For this particular exhibition, Boyer's works will range in size from as small as a belt buckle to a pack string of mules that's some 7 feet long and retails for $36,000.
Boyer's studio is near Fairmont Hot Springs, and his casting is done in Joseph, Oregon, and at Northwest Art Casting in Bozeman.
For more information on Boyer's work, visit fredboyer.com.
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Also sharing work at the Iron Horse is Loren Kovich, an award-winning watercolor artist.
Kovich has been recognized as a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and Transparent Watercolor Society of America, and a member of the Montana Watercolor Society. He's collected numerous awards on the state, regional and national levels over his 30-year career.
Rounding out the trio is Allen Snell of Helena, a photorealistic painter who favors historical sites as diverse as the Gates of the Mountains and the Main Hall on the University of Montana campus.
He's been commissioned to do work for companies and organizations such as the U.S. Olympic Committee, McGraw Hill Publishing, Mountain West Bank, Intermountain Children's Home, Texaco Oil and numerous others in addition to private collectors.
Snell also is owner of Bear's Den Custom Framing in Helena.
The hosted reception will be held at the Iron Horse, 501 N. Higgins Ave, from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday.
In addition, the artists will be on hand from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday, 1 to 7 p.m. Monday and 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The bar and restaurant will maintain its normal hours of 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. all three days.
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