A Lifetime of Art

BOYD SAUNDERS

In a pale blue house just off a gravel road, painter, singer, printmaker, and professor Boyd Saunders has resided in Chapin with his wife Stephanie for over 50 years. Upon entering his art studio, one is greeted by the smell of aged paper and a mammoth hunk of metal—the printmaking press—one that easily takes up a fifth of the room. With an array of model airplanes and old memorabilia hanging throughout the space, Boyd Saunders looks right at home with his worn, blue baseball cap and bright smile. A tour through his studio reveals his latest work—a copper plate upon which he has been etching a scene for over a year. 

    “There is a lot of work that goes into what I have been doing. A lot of commitment, a lot of dedication and I’m serious about it. I’ve always been serious about it” Boyd said. 

    Boyd was born in west Tennessee in 1937. A country boy at heart, his whole childhood took place around livestock and horses; horses that would later become the subject of many of his greatest pieces. Also during this time, Boyd first began to enter the world of art. 

    “Instead of working on arithmetic in our notebooks like we were supposed to be doing, my friend Phillip and I would make great, elaborate drawings, adventures that we made up and acted out. I would draw in it for a while and secretly pass it over to him. Some kids pass notes but we passed drawings back and forth” Boyd said. 

Most would agree that it is no easy task remaining motivated for five decades. However, through every trend of abstract and minimalist art, Boyd has remained constant in his realistic style. The fire that lights in his eyes when he talks about his work is enough to convince anyone; this isn’t just a trivial hobby. 

“I have sort of created a world of my own making. Later on I come back [to a piece] and I do it with great pleasure, as if it was a place that I had lived at some point. I am absolutely involved with what I do and honestly, I’m proud of it. That’s payback too, to be able to do it and step back and say, ‘Damn that’s good’” Boyd said. 

Despite the many awards his work has won, recognition is not Boyd’s primary motivation. This is seen in Boyd’s excitement when he talks about the prints he made to go along with two famous works; The Spotted Horses and The Sound and the Fury. Both were stories written by William Faulkner, a renowned author and an old friend of Boyd’s. 

Set in a large, leather-bound book, the colorful and bold strokes of the mustangs in The Spotted Horses seem to truly jump off the page. While the short, quick strokes that compose the story’s characters give off an air of wisdom and longevity, as if they have been with the story since it was first written in 1931.

“The people at the University of South Carolina submitted the book to the PICA awards and it won prizes all over the place. First prize for this, first prize for that. As it turns out it has been one of the most popular things I’ve ever done. People say ‘Oh, you, you’re Boyd Saunders, you did The Spotted Horses’” Boyd said. 

A View from the South: The Narrative Art of Boyd Saunders, published in February of 2019.

After a lifetime of teaching and creating, Thomas Dewey II, a long-time colleague of Boyd’s, put together a biography that features over 120 images of the artist’s work. This book, A View from the South: The Narrative Art of Boyd Saunders, was published in February of 2019, and is a stunning and comprehensive look at Boyd’s life and art, and chronicles not only his work as a printmaker, but also as a painter, sculptor, illustrator, author, educator, amateur musician, and sometimes horseman.

“It took place page by page. It took 10 or 12 years but I was very honored by it. It was like a trip down memory lane, putting it all together. What we were doing was looking at 50 or 60 years of life” Boyd said. 

A View From the South has been quite a hit since its release with many of the buyers being old fans of Boyd; students that were lucky enough to have been taught by him at the University of South Carolina. 

“A lot of them have bought the book and they call me up and say ‘I’ve read it two times cover to finish and it’s like having a conversation with you.’ They say that again and again, and I am so touched” Boyd said. 

Boyd Saunders has a show on display September 5 - October 26 at the Hampton III Gallery titled “A Circular Journey” that will feature pieces dating back 50 years into his career. 

Cover photo by Todd Hoppock.