Who's Who!
Equine artist Orren Mixer dies at 87
By
May 19, 2008, 11:19

Orren MixerRenowned equine artist Orren Marion Mixer died April 29. He was 87. A long-time friend of APHA, Mixer’s art graces the walls of the Fort Worth headquarters, as well as numerous covers of the Paint Horse Journal.

His well-known painting of APHA’s first All-Around Champion, Yellow Mount, has long been recognized as an icon of the American Paint Horse breed. Not only did it too, grace the cover of the Journal, it has also been seen at a variety of APHA events and in an assortment of books, magazines and publications.

Mixer was born in Oklahoma City in 1920 to Florence Motter and Orren Marion Mixer Sr. After attending public schools, he graduated from Central High School and through the efforts of his high school art teacher, Grace Chadwick, he obtained a scholarship to attend the Kansas City Art Institute from 1938–40.

Mixer worked in graphic arts in New York, Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas, before moving to San Diego to work in an aircraft manufacturing plant. He returned to Fort Worth in 1943 and joined the US Navy. Stationed in Chicago, he was a visual aids graphic artist.

In his personal time, Mixer painted Western scenes, and his first sales came through a Chicago sporting goods store. Discharged from the service in 1946, he brought his wife, Evelyn Leonard, whom he’d married in 1941, back to Oklahoma, where he built a house and studio near Arcadia/Edmond.

Mixer became a well-known local Western artist during the 1950s and 1960s. Livestock, particularly horses, became his specialty. Briefly retired during the 1980s, Mixer resumed his artistic productions in the mid-1990s, still working from a studio near Arcadia.

The SireOver the years, Mixer and former APHA Executive Secretary Ed Roberts, developed a deep and lasting friendship, so Mixer was commissioned to paint a portrait celebrating the association's 40th birthday in 2002.

The new painting, titled “The Sire,” depicts an over stallion standing in majestic watch over his spotted herd, while his tovero mate and overo colt wait nearby. The finished canvas, permanently displayed in the Executive Committee boardroom at APHA headquarters is encased in a custom Mixer-built wood and leather frame.

Mixer's amazing volume of work will continue to celebrate the beautiful form and substance of the Western horse.

The funeral was held Monday, May 5 at the First Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to First Baptist Church of Edmond, 1300 Southeast 33rd Street, Edmond, OK, 73013, Attention Boys Ranch/Orren Mixer.

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