Just like a light shining down from the heavens, Don Bell of Weatherford, Texas, is a truly blessed man with so many God given talents. Whether it’s drawing, sculpting, writing music, or showing World Champion Quarter Horses, Bell has achieved great success. His gifts as a horseman have helped transcend his creative interpretation

for Western Art. And he’s surely not ready to stop reinventing himself.

Born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, Don Bell’s father was a highly decorated Walking Horse trainer but when Don was 14, his father walked away from his training business.

“I have always loved the horses. I just couldn’t put it away,” he says.

Bell started spending lots of time at Charlie Hutton’s place where he got familiar with Quarter Horses of many disciplines like Reining, Halter and cow events.

A month after his 18th birthday, Bell hit the highway for Texas where he hoped to further pursue his interest in horses.  He attended West Texas A&M University where he graduated in Equine Industry and Business. After school, Bell went to work for Mike McMillian for nearly three years before deciding to start his own business in 2000.

“There have been so many people that have influenced me over the years, but Mike McMillian and Robbie Schroeder really helped me turn in the direction I wanted to go to. John Pipkin was my advisor in college who also helped me a lot,” he says.

Around the same time that he went out on his own, Don met his wife, Joetta at the AQHA World Championship Show. Married in 2003, they just celebrated their 10th anniversary. They have two girls, Trinity, 3 and Jayden, 1. Joetta, in her own right, has earned 14 AQHA World Championships in Amateur and Youth competition and multiple All-Around Amateur titles at the Quarter Horse Congress.

“She is absolutely my best friend. I am very proud of her accomplishments. She is one of the best horsemen I have ever been around. I just love to watch her,” he admits.

During Bell’s career as a Halter showman, he showed multiple Open World Champion Halter horses. In 2005, he showed Golden Gunslinger to a Grand Champion Stallion title at the Quarter Horse Congress as well as a World Championship.

“I think I will always be remembered as the kid with the big yellow horse,” he says.

Bell was also one of the youngest to acquire an AQHA judge’s card at 25 and holds NSBA and NRHA cards as well.

Even with all the success, Bell needed more and decided to step away from the Halter arena.

“I just felt like I got sidetracked for 15 years. I always loved to rope and had an interest in cattle events. With the Halter, I just felt like I had won everything I had set out to win at 32 years old. I needed more of a challenge than just repeating the same thing. Cutting has really been the challenge that I wanted,” he says.

Now, Bell spends half of his days riding colts and cutters at home and dedicates his other time to art and music. His biggest hobbies though are hunting and fishing.

“A lot of people think I have stepped away from AQHA, I am in the barn as much as I was or even more. I split my time between horses and art. I always think there will come a point when I can dedicate my time only to art but I just can’t quit the horses. I can’t stop trying to make myself a better showman. I don’t think horses are ever going completely out of my life,” he says.

In music, Bell loves to write songs. Several of his songs have been recorded in the music industry. He used to perform some as well but now says he mostly finds himself singing at weddings and funerals the most.

“If I was younger, I might try to pursue a career in music, but it’s more of a passion for me. I really enjoy writing songs,” he says.

Although Bell still does not consider himself a full-time artist, he has made a significant impact as a Western Artist both with pencil drawings and sculptures.

Marietta McMillian, who was an extremely accomplished sculpture, was the first to push Don as an artist. Don took some classes with Marietta and his art career progressed from there.

“It’s really funny how things happen. When I was a young man, I never aspired to be an artist. It’s just not something I thought I would be,” he says.

Remarkably, Bell has had no formal training or schooling for drawing. Along the way, he has tried to pick up different techniques from artists he admires.

“When I was young, I would always sketch on the back of my notebooks in school. In high school, I took an art class that I used to develop some of the skills of what I do today,” he says.

Bell admits what he does requires a lot of patience and he must be very methodical to produce pieces.

“I can’t honestly answer how long it actually takes me to produce a piece. Sometimes I work thirty minutes on a piece at a time or six hours at a time. It really depends on what else I am doing that day. Whether sculpting or pencil drawing, it really wears me out mentally. It requires a lot of focus of attention,” he says.

Although Bell has primarily focused on pencil drawings, he would like to get into painting at some point for fun.

“Most of the subjects I work on are alive. So, I get to take pictures and get a composition in my head. I like to have creative control to do what I want to do. Most of my customers give me freedom on pieces which really makes me happy,” he says.

When Bell is trying to come up with new ideas for pieces, he will often go to different horse venues, sit around, and observe situations. He takes hundreds of pictures of different scenes and tries to come up with a unique idea. Although he admits pieces that he likes don’t always sell the best. He prefers the more “ranch” atmosphere and tries to put horses in a more natural setting than just the show horse set up.

“It’s kind of random. It’s like a song title that pops up in my head. I see something unusual and try to find the beauty in it,” he says.

When developing pieces, Bell first takes pictures and tries to find a composition that works. He starts with a Masonite service and preconditions the surface with paint. Then, he ruffs out an outline. Typically, he will sand off really smooth where he knows there will be a lot detail and leaves other parts rough where he wants to use the surface more. He usually starts from the left side and does little bitty pieces at a time rather than overwhelming himself with the whole picture.

Bell does a couple of art shows a year and works mostly for private clients. He still considers himself a little bit of an outsider in the art community. He still thinks others feel he is more a horse guy than an artist.  The majority of the people he works for are from the horse community although occasionally he works on pieces that are non-horse oriented.

He is currently working on a pencil drawing of Senator Brian Birdwell’s golden retriever, recently been laid to rest. During the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Senator was injured in the Pentagon. His dog stayed with him every day in the burn unit and helped him through his tragic experience.

Perhaps, Bell is best known in sculpting for the Quarter Horse Congress trophy bronze. Yet in the next five years, he would like to get into doing life size bronze statues because he feels there is just so much you can do with it.

“Every day is a challenge for me because I always want to get better,” he says. “I look back at my earlier work and can see how much better my technique is today. I hope in the next ten years I can look back at my work now and think the same.”

Don Bell’s website is currently under construction but if you are interested in more information about his art you can visit Don Bell Cowboy Images on Facebook.