Morgan, Ed
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Using a combination of engraving and embossing, Ed Morgan became a master engraver depicting a variety of subjects including Native Americans, animals, birds and flowers.
He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, with a father who made all of his toys by hand, many of them with Southwest motifs. After his father's death, he lived with grandparents on a farm in northeast Missouri, and he had to travel 30 miles to school. In grade school, he began winning art competitions.
He moved to Kansas City, became a professional musician, and enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute where he got a reputation for his execution of fine detail. He then worked for nearly twelve years as an illustrator- engraver for Hallmark Cards and later with American Greeting Cards.
A trip to Taos, New Mexico to pick up frozen buffalo hides changed his life, and he subsequently moved there and to engraving added jewelry making. In this regard, he describes himself as a sculptor who carves in metal and then embellishes his work with silk, which he fuses onto the paper. He hand colors his engravings with watercolor.
In Taos, an exhibition of his work was held at the Fechin Institute in May-June, 1987. He was the first living artist to have an exhibition at the Fechin Home, as opposed to the studio because Fechin's family believed Fechin would have admired Morgan's innovations.
