A Realist/Impressionist painter of Southwestern Indians, Mike Desatnick was born in Hammond, Indiana, in 1943 and has been living in Durango, Colorado.

"I have been attracted to the American Indian," he declares. "I find their beauty, character, and simplicity of life which harmonizes with nature to be very special in these sophisticated times. My own heritage is filled with hard times, and I relate that to the Indian's experience."

During high school. Desatnick was offered a scholarship to the American Academy of Art in Chicago but family obligations required that he work in a steel mill. Being drafted for combat in Vietnam made him "decide that if I ever got out of there in one piece, I wanted to do something be...