There are many defining moments that make up the history of a nation, and many

artists will paint those earthshaking events: the turning point of a battle,

the signing of a declaration, the death of a patriot. But more often, the fate

of a nation is decided by thousands of little decisions made daily by its

people; a daughter helping a mother with her chores, a kindness extended by a

neighbor, a man tilling the earth. These, and more, are the subject matter for

Loren Entz.

"My roots are in the heartland of America," he says, and as the son of

immigrant farmers from Germany and Russia who settled in Kansas, he proved it

with his own decisions. The first hint that art would be his life’s work came

with his attending Frederic Remington High School, situated on the ranch that

famous artist once owned. There Entz was known as "the school artist." But it

was a visit to the Nelson Art Center in Kansas City which he marks as "the

shaper of my destiny." He was so impressed with the art he saw there he

enrolled in the Famous Artists correspondence school.

Although he worked as a ranch hand in Montana after attending Heston College in

Kansas and Longview College in Missouri, Entz also studied different art

mediums, including pencil, charcoal, oil and watercolor. His versatility and

dedication led to his being chosen to join the Cowboy Artists of America in

1992—the first to be named to the ranks in four years. His images of the little

decisions that make up a good life have been awarded Gold and Silver honors

from the Cowboy Artists of America as well as a Jurors Award from the Northwest

Rendezvous Show.