This year’s Stars of Texas Juried Art Exhibit’s People’s Choice and Students’ Choice Awards had a rare occurrence this week, as Anthony Conner’s oil painting, Thatch & Spur, was named the winner of both awards.

Selected by many of the nearly 950 visitors to the exhibit, this vibrant painting depicts a gun-toting cowboy mouse, pulling his saddled roadrunner across the New Mexico Desert.

The painting is part of a larger story and world that Conner has been developing over time, an idea originally came from my childhood.

Conner explained that one of his favorite movies growing up was Fievel Goes West, and that he “was always drawn to the small mouse surviving in a big, dangerous frontier.” He grew up in New Mexico, where the roadrunner is the state bird, and the roadrunner is often considered a powerful symbol of the desert landscape and identity.

These two influences felt like a natural combination to Conner, who explained, “The mouse represents perseverance and quiet resilience, while the roadrunner represents instinct, speed, and survival. Together, they reflect the harsh beauty and mythic feeling of the Southwest, and the idea that even something small can endure in a vast and unforgiving world.”

Conner picked up a paint brush at the young age of five, and began painting alongside his mother who was his first art teacher. “My mom first taught me when I was very young, and it became something I connected with immediately,” said Conner. “As I got older, I continued teaching myself through art books, and later through videos online. Most of my development has come from years of practice, observation, and experimentation. It’s always been a very personal process for me.”

This is Conner’s third year entering paintings in the Stars of Texas Juried Art Exhibit, and he also won last year’s Students’ Choice Award with a whimsy painting of scuba diving cats riding and swimming with a killer whale. He considers being a part of the exhibit “truly an honor.”

Although he lives in Brownwood now, the New Mexico landscape he grew up with continues to influence his work heavily.

The public is invited to visit the exhibit, at the Depot Civic and Cultural Center in Brownwood, through Saturday, February 21. For more information about the exhibit and gallery hours, please visit StarsOfTexasJuriedArtExhibit.com.