Biography
EXPERIENCE THE WEST through Tim Cox’s eyes. Tim paints what he knows: vibrant cutting horses intent on holding that cow, cowponies covered in sweat after working a hard day, ranch horses sharing a well-earned drink at a glistening water trough. His cattle have authentic expressions—calves perhaps a little bewildered at a branding, bemused heifers waiting to be fed, a longhorn steer intent on leaving the country, or a herd just shuffling along as it is being driven to better pastures are frequent subjects.
Ranchers, cutters, team ropers, or cowhands, all of them touch his heart. Add a striking landscape with dramatic skies—clear blue or filled with wispy pink clouds or spectacular thunderheads—and you have a Tim Cox painting. His favorite times are being out on the ranches, absorbing every detail of what he and others are doing so that he can go back to the studio and document the modern cowboy, as he has done for 49 years.
Tim is especially proud of his 2003 Prix de West Award and his two Express Ranches Great American Cowboy Awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. In a 1975 high school English class essay, he wrote that one of his fondest wishes was to be a member of the Cowboy Artists of America. His wish was granted in 2007 when he was invited to join the prestigious group. After serving on the board of directors and being a member for only a few years, he served as president for 2011, 2012, and 2017. He is now an emeritus member of the organization.
His most recent awards are the Max Evans “Rounders Award” from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. He was also voted by the readers as the 2024 “Best of the West” in the Artist division for Western Horseman Magazine.
Tim’s work hangs in the permanent collections of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, The Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, and in the Old West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
While most of his time is consumed by painting, Tim regularly rides and works on various ranches throughout the West. He combines the basic ingredients of color, value, perspective, and pleasing design with his desire to be a perfectionist in portraying the real working cowboy. This perfectionism earned Tim the Ayudando Siempre Alli Award from the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association for his contributions to agriculture. Alisa Ogden, president of the association, said, “Along with lifting our spirits, Tim Cox’s special images keep the magic of the cowboy alive for literally tens of thousands of city folks across the nation and around the world.”
Tim is a fourth-generation Arizonan born in 1957 and was raised in the farming and ranching community of Duncan, Arizona, near the New Mexico state line. He now resides outside of Bloomfield, New Mexico, where he continues to raise a few cattle and train horses with his wife, Suzie.
