Ed Morgan

(1943 - 2014)
Using a combination of engraving and embossing, Ed Morgan became a master engraver depicting a variety of subjects, including Native American, animals, birds and flowers. Morgan grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, with a father who made all of his toys by hand, many of them with Southwestern motifs. After his father's death, Morgan lived with grandparents on a farm in northeast Missouri. 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 acquired a reputation for his execution of fine detail. Morgan then worked for nearly twelve years as an illustrator- engraver for Hallmark Cards and later for American Greeting Cards.
A trip to Taos, New Mexico, to pick up frozen buffalo hides changed Ed Morgan's life. He moved to Taos and to engraving added jewelry-making. In this regard, Morgan described himself as a sculptor who carves in metal and then embellishes his work with silk, which he fused onto the paper. Engravings were hand-colored with watercolor. In Taos, an exhibition of Morgan's work was held at the Taos Art Museum's Fechin House in May-June, 1987. Morgan was the first living artist to have an exhibition in the Fechin home itself, as opposed to in the studio, because Fechin's family believed Fechin would have admired Morgan's innovations.
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