BRUCE ECKHARDT
Arizona was the perfect place for a self-proclaimed passionate rock collector to grow up. Bruce’s love of beautiful rocks and nature followed him to Arizona’s Prescott College. While attending this liberal arts school, Bruce apprenticed under the Navajo painter David Paladin.
“Through him I came to understand the special nature of color in artistic and spiritual applications. At that point, my work was focused on painting and graphics. In my final year of school, David Paladin arranged an exchange with the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. That was my introduction to Santa Fe and my reintroduction to stone.” During his stay at IAIA, Bruce worked with Apache sculptor Alan Houser. “Stone was the main medium in the studio. The feel of stone. The soul in each stone. The love of color.” All these came together in a transmutation that continues to evolve in his works today.
“If one can paint in stone, that’s what I aspire to. My palette is the very best that Mother Nature has to offer, and I hope I do her honor in my work.”
