Ray Swanson was born in 1937 (he
died in 2002), one of four children of Swedish descent, growing up on
a farm in South Dakota. Each member of the family had to work hard in
order to coax a living from the land. Today a member of the
prestigious Cowboy Artists of America and the American Watercolor
Society, he still embodies the hardworking way of life that he so
admires in the people he paints. One day, Swanson picked up a box of
oil paints and brushes that belonged to his grandfather, and his life
was changed forever. Swanson had taught himself the exacting
technique of dry-brush watercolor, in which he layers colors with
deep values and richness as if they were oils. The radiant faces of
the Native American children in Swanson's paintings are as sunny as
their surroundings, glowing with the happiness universally associated
with childhood. In celebrating the diversity of mankind, Ray Swanson
reveals our common humanity.