214-616-4655      www.PeterRobbinsArt.com

About His Work
(Excerpts by M.J. Van Deventer’s, On The Trail Of Cowboys)

Peter has always been passionate about capturing the essence of people on film. His love for people, the west, ranch cowboys and his desire for artistic excellence have given his work a unique and enduring quality. His incredible photos are enhanced with pastels and oil paints to produce a colorful breathtaking result.

Today, Peter is a full-time photographer, focusing on ranch cowboys all across the country as they perform the typical chores of ranching, gathering, branding, sorting, doctoring cattle and mending fences. He doesn’t just photograph them. He hires out as a day laborer and works hand-in-glove beside the cowboys.

Peter says, “Being a cowboy is an attitude as well as a way of life. What I love best about being with the cowboys is photographing a moment in time that speaks an eternity. I heard one cowboy poet describe the purpose of life as being present for a lot of small divine moments. So in a way, that is exactly what I do. I stay present and I take photographs.”

The artwork on display at Sky Creek Grill Restaurant in Keller, Texas, many of which were taken during a very special visit that Peter had taken to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse Gather in the Great Divide Basin in Wyoming, NE of Rock Springs. The pieces in the restaurant are Harem Stud, Brahma Bull, 666 Sunrise, Longhorn Family and Mustang Stud and Mare.

About The Artist, Biography by Peter Robbins

My passion for the wilderness, horses and “the way of the cowboy” go back to my earliest memories of our small ranch in Oklahoma. My Dad and Granddad instilled in me a reverence for hard work, the land and the wildlife that sprawled out as far as I could see.

I’ll never forget how proud I was when Granddad bought us April, a one-eyed cutting horse we worked cattle with. She was the embodiment of everything mythical and magical about a horse. So between the ranch and a steady diet of the Lone Ranger, the Rifleman and Bonanza I was destined to pursue the romance of the West.

My photographic career began in 1978 after I graduated from the University of Oklahoma. I moved to Dallas to begin my photographic career and to pursue my high school sweetheart, Kim, who was already residing in Texas. We were married in 1981 and decided to move to Milan, Italy to further our careers.

At this time I worked as a freelance photojournalist for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Times Herald and Ft. Worth Star Telegram, and several European and American magazines. I worked on assignments for these newspapers in Central America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 1983 Kim and I moved back to Dallas to continue our careers and start a family. Our two incredible sons are 18 and 16 now and demonstrate every day that they are wild at heart.

In the 1990’s, I reconnected with these longings when I had the opportunity to photograph Tom Moorhouse on his ranch in West Texas. Tom doesn’t mind having his picture taken as long as you are willing to throw in with the other day workers and make a hand. It was a humbling revelation.

I thought I knew something about riding and working cattle until I met Tom and his crew. Since, I have had the opportunity to work along side and to photograph many great cowboys in Texas, New Mexico and Wyoming. Without exception, every man I’ve ridden with is someone I would trust my life with.

Spending days and then weeks working and living together in all kinds of weather and conditions not only creates an environment for incredibly humorous stories but also the inspiration to tell the cowboy story in a new way to a greater audience. I hope you enjoy the art inspired by these men and their trusted horses.