Working as a fine artist from a studio in Payson, Arizona, Rock Newcomb does highly realistic Native American pottery still lifes and wildlife subjects, a unique combination and even more so because he has won awards in both categories.

In 1999, he was the Region III Award winner of Arts for the Parks competition in Jackson, Wyoming. He has won prizes at "Birds in Art" exhibits at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, and the International Wildlife Art Show in London. He also works in the mediums of scratchboard and graphite

Newcomb taught high school art and English in California and Idaho for 27 years and pursued painting then as a sideline. In the late 1990s, he became a full-time artist, earning recognition very quickly for his talents. His wife, Cody, is his business manager, and they have been in three segments of a Public Broadcasting System series called "The Artist's Workshop."

Source;
Southwest Art magazine

Rock Newcomb grew up on a farm in southern Idaho, where he developed a love for nature and the environment. He began to draw at an early age. Planning to become an architect, he took a required life drawing class in his freshman year of college, and as result, became an art major, earning both his Bachelor's and Master's Degree from California State University at Fullerton.

Newcomb taught for 26 years before becoming an artist full-time, and still conducts private workshops and seminars. He now paints in acrylics, working primarily with semi-opaque colors and very thin washes of acrylics. He uses techniques that he acquired working with oil and watercolor.

He is especially drawn to subjects with interesting forms, textures, colors or patterns, such as wildlife and still lifes that depict ancient Southwestern artifacts, as well as prized fishing lures. Newcomb's interest in Native American artifacts goes back to his youth. "I discovered my first genuine, South-central Idaho artifact, a perfect Shoshone obsidian arrowhead, while following the path of a Ford tractor and single blade plow being driven by my father. I then found the remnants of just about every Indian campground within a two mile radius of our homestead."

Newcomb's art can be found in private collections throughout the United States and abroad. His award-winning art has been included in several public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Stockholm Museum of Natural History, as well as the permanent collection of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum.

The artist and his wife, Cody, live in Arizona.

Reference: artist publication

Growing up in the rural areas of Southern Idaho, Rock Newcomb developed an early love and
respect for nature and the environment. Impressed by the beauty of his surroundings, he began drawing at a very young age. After working on his parent's farm for many years, however, Newcomb was inspired to pursue a formal education. This ultimately led to a Master of Fine Arts degree from California State University in Fullerton. After twenty seven years as an accomplished art instructor Rock resigned from teaching to pursue a full time professional art career.

He currently lives with his wife, Cody, in Payson , Arizona and occasionally conducts private workshops and seminars throughout the country. His works have been frequently honored, both nationally and internationally, with awards and recognitions from numerous juried shows, competitions, exhibitions and publications. These include, among many others: the Smithsonian Institute, the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the Zoological Society of San Diego, National Parks Academy of the Arts 'Arts for the Parks,' where Newcomb was honored as Region III winner in the 1999 competition.

His works have also been auctioned at Christie's of London and Sotheby's of Sussex, England . He was chosen as a feature artist for the PBS series 'The Artist's Workshop,' which began airing nationally in spring 2000 and will soon be featured internationally on BBC.

Among Rock Newcomb's many awards & feature articles are:
* Prix De West invitational Show
* Best of Show, Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards, Festival of Western Arts, San Dimas, CA
* Best of Show, People's Choice Award, Payson Art League Fall Show, Payson, AZ
* Award of Excellence & Most Promising Artist Award, La Quinta Arts Festival, CA
* Featured Artist 'Wildlife Art Festival' San Bernardino County Museum, Nov 2000
* Featured Artist 'International Art Magazine' Aug/Sept 2000
* Region III Winner, Arts for the Parks, Jackson, WY
* Award of Excellence, Nature Works Art Show, Tulsa, OK
* Southwest Art Magazine 'Extreme Contrast' May 2000
* U.S. Art Magazine 'Building a Painting' March 2000
* Southwest Art Magazine 'Reinventing the West' June 1999