Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/401545
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 3 4 animal than a documentarian." Descended from Mormon pioneers who came west in 1850, Poppleton subscribes to an observation made by French writer Andre Gide: "Art is a conversation between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better." Indeed, Poppleton believes that in his art he is simply channeling the grandeur of earthly creation. A lifelong hunter and fisherman, Poppleton was raised on farms and ranches near Logan, Utah, where he worked cattle via horseback. Following in the footsteps of his artist father, he aspired to become a professional painter while just a teenager. At Utah State University he took painting and drawing classes and studied the works of great sporting artists that often decorated the pages of hook-and- bullet magazines. During his 20s he started seeing his work juried into prestigious shows. "I'm obviously a student of classical big-game painting but I've always loved the fishing and adventure scenes of artists such as Ogden Pleisner and Chet Reneson because they put you, the viewer, into the center of the action." Living in the Cache Valley SUMMER PASTURE SUNDOWN ON ANTELOPE FLATS