About The Artist

Self-taught Comanche artist Rance Hood is a master of color, movement, and rhythm. The flow of his artwork integrates the magnitude of life through symbolism and form. Hood’s work stimulates the senses moving one towards a deeper involvement through illustrations of angles, intense color, and mid-air action.

As an artist, it takes hard work, timing, heart, soul, vision, and copious risks to become a legacy that influences others and provides insight into life. Indeed Hood achieves this as he paints for his ancestors and strives to keep the old ways alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rance gained recognition in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s winning awards for his traditional style paintings. He continues to bring the spiritual nature of the old ways to his images, which are common elements of his compositions. His paintings are inspired by his memories, the collective unconscious of his people, the symbols of the Native American Church, the recollections of his elders, and the stunning Oklahoma landscape. Hood’s art is significant in the Comanche traditions including that of the warrior on horseback and the symbolism in the peyote religion.

Artist’s Personal Statement

I’m a Comanche Indian from Lawton, Oklahoma. My grandmother and grandfather were full-blooded Comanche. I grew up speaking Comanche before I learned English. The son of a white father and a Comanche mother, I learned Comanche traditions from my maternal grandparents. My grandfather taught me the peyote religion and told me stories about great Comanche warriors of the past. When my grandfather passed away he handed me down the medicine. I sleep in a room full of it and I pray a lot. Every morning and every evening, in the medicine ways. A lot of times I get visions when I’m sleeping. When I work around medicine I’ll get a vision or a title and I’ll see the scene and paint it.

Rance at one year old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was little, I saw the Fort Sill army trucks so I tried to draw them in the dirt and my grandmother said, “Draw this,” and she drew a triangle. She said, “That’s a teepee. That’s Indian. Draw about us and who we are.” So then I started drawing Indian things, like teepees and horses.

We had Appaloosas in the Comanche tribe; the Comanche went up to Oregon and stole them from the Nez Perce. They’re the ones who originated the Appaloosa horses. Sometimes the dots on an Appie are blue, sometimes they’re gray, and so I started doing that, without marking them first. I just knew where the spots were going to be. I’m a horse person. I am Comanche.

Rance Hood’s Biography

Rance has exhibited in hundreds of gallery exhibits, outdoor exhibits, group exhibits, and one-man shows. Various museums throughout the United States own Rance Hood’s original paintings and his art has appeared on countless covers including Appaloosa Journal and Southwest Art. Furthermore, his works of art have appeared in a myriad of magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books. Hood has earned a slew of awards and has a dedicated following comprised of collectors including Joseph Coors, Joe Walsh, Stevie Nicks, and Reba McEntire – just to name a few.

For more detailed information about Rance Hood’s Biographical History, please click on the link below.

RANCE HOOD’S BIOGRAPHY