Wyoming native Joel Ostlind is a self-taught artist who spent much of life herding cattle on horses throughout the American West. He holds degrees in Soil Science and Ranch Management, but always carried a sketchbook conveying his intimacy of the land with exquisite detail and authenticity.

Joel took a job wrangling on the Padlock Ranch in Montana in 1980s. In 1990, he bid farewell to his cowboy days and moved with his wife and family to a home outside Big Horn, Wyoming. He signed up for a printmaking class at Sheridan College and built a home studio.

A self-taught artist, Joel Ostlind has an innate sense of design and pure draftsmanship. Born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, Joel has spent most of his life on a horse cowboying in Texas, Montana, and Wyoming. Although he is out of the cowboy business, he tries to incorporate understanding and respect of "things cowboy" when he is dealing with that subject.

Ostlind remarks that, "I was raised in Wyoming and have chosen, after trying other areas, to live in this region and work at artistically interpreting the things that I value here: the light, the land, and the people who move through it." Known primarily for his drawings and etchings, his paintings convey the same simplicity of design and minimal lines to create maximum effect.

Joel's work has been featured in galleries, museums and exhibitions across the US. His prints were exhibited in a 2005 solo show at Bradford Brinton Memorial and Museum in Big Horn, WY. He was the featured artist at the 2002 Coors Western Art Exhibit as well as the featured artist at the 2002 Denver Stock Show, and the subject of a 2005 article in Southwest Art magazine.

Joel Ostlind

On the River