Mobile phone icon
View Articles on Mobile
Strideaway
  • RSS Feed
  • Mail
subscribe

Art, Steve Tait


The Artistry of Steve Tait

Steve TaitSteve Tait grew up in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah. From a young age, he developed a deep love for nature and wildlife, spending his boyhood hours catching lizards and scorpions. He also began to draw the natural world around him. He grew up hunting deer and native upland birds —pheasants, California quail and chukar partridge — though without the aid of a bird dog.

After he graduated from high school, Steve’s interest in art continued to grow. He began taking lessons from local artist Robert Rumel who taught him how to observe his subjects accurately and thereby “draw what he sees.” Robert Rumel’s inspiration gained Steve confidence in his creative skills. He also studied and admired wildlife artists such as Raymond Ching and the sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti.

All throughout, Steve remained an avid hunter, particularly of mule deer. Much of his understanding of anatomy came from the taxidermy work he did to create his own mounts. His ability to accurately alter and sculpt form manikins determined the success of his creations and translated to his interpretation of the two dimensional.

Hunting was not only pursued with a gun. Another of Steve’s foremost interests for most of his life has been Hawking and Falconry. He has had many species of birds and began making and selling hoods while still in junior high school. Eventually his interest in hunting with birds of prey led him to bird dogs. He can still recall the first time he saw a bird dog in action; some 30 years ago while he was hawking Sage Grouse with a friend in Idaho. They met up with a Falconer who owned a beautiful pointer named Chula. Watching her handle Sage Grouse was such a fantastic experience that he was hooked.

Erins Kentucky Gambler
A recent commission: Champion Erin’s Kentucky Gambler

From that time on Steve has owned several pointers and, of course, began using them as subjects for his art. As the quality of his work was recognized, he began to receive commissions to draw personal hunting dogs and field trial dogs alike. Steve also enjoys oil painting and sculpture and hopes to pursue those more in the future.

Recently, Steve has begun competing his dogs in field trials. We wish him luck in his new pursuit! The sport is lucky to have such a talented sporting dog artist in our ranks.

Kate
“Kate”

For more of Steve’s work, see Art Galleries.  Steve can be contacted through his website: Steve Tait Art

share

Archive

Running Dog

ABOUT STRIDEAWAY

Strideaway is an online publication founded in 2008. We are dedicated to promoting the great sport of American pointing dog field trials, in particular American Field sanctioned trials for pointers and setters. Our objective is to present the voices and ideas of experienced trainers, handlers, breeders and other knowledgeable participants and enthusiasts from the past to the present — amateurs and professionals alike. Whether All-Age or Shooting Dog, Horseback or Walking Trials, we place particular emphasis on wild bird field trials and the dogs that compete in them. We present richly illustrated articles and stories, podcast interviews and other types of media on a regular basis with the hope of providing an ever expanding, searchable archive of information relevant to pointing dog field trials.Read article

This website is dedicated to our ever faithful friend, Bill Allen who passed away peacefully and surrounded by his loving family on January 25, 2022 at the age of 96. We will miss him but he left us the greatest of gifts, his wonderful writings in a book we published for the 3rd time in 2021: The Unforgettables and Other True Fables.

Shop Strideaway!

Books, caps, note cards, decals...and more unique items...many only available in the Strideaway store!Shop Strideaway
Profits help promote field trials!