| It is accepted out west that the Buffalo (American Bison) is the only animal tough enough to stand facing a Wyoming blizzard. It is also accepted in Wyoming art circles that the artist most likely to have his easel tied to a log so he can paint that buffalo is Mel Fillerup. His zest for plein aire painting is legendary.
Fillerup has been a farm boy, soldier, missionary, father, church leader and lawyer. But through all of that is a common thread. He has always been an artist.
Fillerup has been featured in Southwest Art, Art of the West and Grumbacher's Studio and Palette Talk and American West. His awards include two gold medals at the American Indian and Cowboy Artists (AICA) Show in San Dimas, Calif.
He won the Peter Hassrick Merit Award in 1992 in Helena, Mont., and the Best of Show award at the Audubon Wildlife show in Dubois, Wyo. He captured the Nick Eggenhoffer Award in 1994 and was a silver medalist at the Buffalo Bill Art Show in Cody, Wyo. He has shown more than 15 times there at the C.M Russell Show in Great Falls, Mont., and has participated many times there and at the Buffalo Bill Show as a "quick draw" artist. He is listed in Who's Who in Art and Who's Who in the West.
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