Long years as a working cowboy and bull rider on the Navajo reservation informs the “authentic surrealism” of Powers’ Western art. Entirely self-taught, he has created a large body of work in watercolor, oils, and sculptures in stone, wood, and saguaro. The unique, magical quality conveyed in his treatment of a largely traditional subject matter was born in 1984, when Powers was invited to create a mural of the gold fields for the Yreka, California, historic district. He went on to a career in commercial art, meanwhile creating art that has hung in galleries in Santa Fe, Sedona, Durango, and Scottsdale and is also displayed in Baltimore’s Maritime Museum and at the Ronald Reagan Ranch. Powers is known for finely detailed portraits of Indian leaders Tecumseh, Geronimo, and Tomichechee.