His grandfather and great-grandfather were master Apache Violin makers. From one generation to the next, talent, love and respect for the beauty of a culture were passed down.

Terrill Goseyun, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, has used this inheritance as well. The slow, meticulous, detail-rich style that Goseyun uses to render his large-scale portraits of family and friends produces an exquisite and highly realistic piece of art.

Terrill’s outstanding work in pencil has won him top awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market in the past years, including the prestigious Fellowship Award sponsored by the Southwest Association of Indian Arts. He has won five Best of Shows from various native art shows in the Southwest; a remarkable feat for a lefthander working in pencil, a unique photo-realistic style. His accolades also include Best of Division and Judges Choice Award at the Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market, and an Arizona Folk Arts Master Artists Apprenticeship Award from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts. He was also a member of the Western Artists of America, a selected group of professional Western artists. He currently conducts presentations to various groups on Apache History and Culture and his art.

Goseyun’s large-scale originals are sought after by private, public and corporate collectors throughout the US. He also has originals at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His limited edition prints are also collected in European countries.

“In pencil, I try to capture the dignity, elegance and beauty of my Apache culture - a culture that one has to live and breathe to be accurately interpreted in a two-dimensional form,” said Goseyun.

For more information on the art of Terrill Goseyun, visit his Instagram at terrillgoseyunpencilart.