Wildlife art is big business in Wyoming.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art's 38th Annual Western Visions Art Show and Sale recently closed in Jackson with over $600,000 in sales, a 65% sell-through rate, and 111 pieces finding new homes.
More than 300 attendees and 171 participating artists made it one of the premier showcases for contemporary wildlife art in the country.
"The success of this year's event is a testament to the incredible talent on display and the continued relevance of wildlife art," said Madison Webb Stanko, the show's director.
The Western Visions Show closed on Sept. 28, right around the time Toby Wayne Larson moved to Casper from Oregon. He wasn’t yet sculpting wildlife figures, but that was about to change.
The former dental technician was settling into a new life. He had followed his fifth-generation Wyoming wife home to her roots, joined a clay group at ART 321 — a workshop and gallery space in downtown Casper — and started experimenting with sawdust-fired sculpture.
Now, Larson spends a significant amount of time playing with fire in his backyard.
"I do sawdust firings every single day because I can only fit maybe four or five pieces in at a time," said the sculptor.
The routine is real work — sculpting day and night, drying pieces for days, firing the kiln, then finishing each work in flames.
"God's blessed me with speed in my hands," he said. "I can stay focused and I just create the pieces."
Toby Wayne Larson used to find sculpting inspiration in humand and otherwordly faces. Then he discovered a love for sculpting the animals of Wyoming, like hares, owls and horses. (Courtesy Toby Wayne Larson) 
Toby Wayne Larson used to find sculpting inspiration in comic book heroes, like this X-Men Beast or Batman. Then he discovered a love for sculpting the animals of Wyoming, like hares, owls and horses. (Courtesy Toby Wayne Larson) 
A recent transplant from Oregon to Casper, sculptor Toby Wayne Larson uses textured clay to shape his works, then finishes them in the open flames of a backyard fire. (Courtesy Toby Wayne Larson)
The Fire Effect
The technique found him three years ago during a creative crisis, he said.
A potter friend handed over a chunk of ceramic clay and suggested a new direction.
"I kind of had this really deep creative wreck," he recalled. "I just didn't have that drive. I didn’t have that passion anymore."
The clay felt foreign — nothing like the smooth oil-based materials from his past.
"This stuff is like sculpting with 80-grit peanut butter," he said.
After completing his first ceramic piece, his friend proposed an unusual finish.
"He's like, 'We should do a sawdust firing.' And I was like, 'Well, what's that?' He said, 'It's where you take your ceramic sculpture and you put it in a fire and you burn it.' And I was like, ‘Wait, wait, I get to sculpt and play with fire? This is incredible,” recalled Larson.
Backyard Alchemy
The process starts with the kiln, which transforms clay into stone. Then comes the fire pit — a simple Solo Stove layered with sawdust, copper sulfate, sugar and rock salt.
"This is really one part art and one part science," he said. "I have control of what I put into the fire. But with that said, I have zero control of what the fire is going to give me."
No glaze. No paint. Just fire and chemistry scarring the surface.
"I might have six pieces in the fire and they're all getting the exact same treatment, and all six will come out different," he said. "It's kind of like Christmas Day for me. Some days I pull something out of the fire and it's a PlayStation Five. And then sometimes it's a pair of socks."
Rock salt blocks smoke absorption, leaving white specks. Steel wool wrappings produce rust-browns and reds. Even the Wyoming elevation has shifted his palette — bright mints from Oregon have become deep emeralds here.
A recent transplant from Oregon to Casper, sculptor Toby Wayne Larson uses textured clay to shape his works, then finishes them in the open flames of a backyard fire. Now he's inspired by Wyoming's wildlife. (Courtesy Toby Wayne Larson) 
A recent transplant from Oregon to Casper, sculptor Toby Wayne Larson uses textured clay to shape his works, then finishes them in the open flames of a backyard fire. (Courtesy Toby Wayne Larson) 
Toby Wayne Larson used to find sculpting inspiration in humand and otherwordly faces. Then he discovered a love for sculpting the animals of Wyoming, like hares, owls and horses. (Courtesy Toby Wayne Larson)
Wildlife Awakening
Where Larson once focused on the human form, local collectors kept asking about animals.
"Being in Wyoming has really helped change me as an artist because I'm opening myself up to new subject matter," he said. "Everybody was like, 'Oh, well, do you have a bison?' Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do now."
Hares have become a favorite for their expressive ears. Crows and ravens sell quickly. Barn owls, horned owls, finches, and horses round out the menagerie.
"Coming from Oregon, I never saw any kind of animals like bison," he said. "And now here we are in Wyoming. And, man, these things are so beautiful and the power is incredible."
Sometimes the clay speaks for itself. While struggling with a human bust, he crushed it in frustration — and it took a new, wild shape.
"I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that's a llama,’" he said. "And so I started pushing the clay and it turned into a llama. And the people just loved it."
Burn Out
Before landing in Casper, Larson said he spent 15 years on the comic convention circuit sculpting hyper-realistic superheroes, monsters and mutants.
"I loved that. That was a lot of fun," he said. "But I had gotten to the point of a 15-year run of doing comic cons and doing these shows. And I was just burnt out.”
He’d pushed the sculpture version of fan fiction as far as he could.
Along the way, Larson worked as a dental technician, making ceramic teeth since 1997.
"I guess it's gone from one ceramic to another," he said.
True Artist
A retired art teacher who has spent nearly seven years in ART 321's Tuesday clay group, Jane Grogan was quickly drawn to Larson’s work.
"I have watched him on Tuesdays for the last two and a half months, and I am just so impressed with his style," said Grogan.
At a recent craft show, she approached him about a horse sculpture for her sister in Tucson, Arizona, who collects them. He showed her a piece in progress on Instagram.
"I want it," she told him. "And he goes, 'Well, you haven't even seen it yet. You haven't seen it finished.' And I said, I don't care, I want it. It's going to be beautiful. And it is just spectacular."
A museum enthusiast who owns copies of Ming and Han dynasty horses, she said his work stands apart, made with Larson applying his touch in broad, energetic strokes.
When asked what human emotion the pieces evoke, Grogan said, “Love.”
"It's just unique. His style is so unique. I love that I've never seen anything like it before,” she said. “And that's what really appealed to me. That's what art is about, is innovation.”For the horse she’s giving her sister in Tucson for Christmas, Larson charged $60.
Open Book
Early in Larson’s career, he said a well-known sculptor refused to share certain knowledge with him when he asked for guidance. The rejection stung — and shaped his philosophy.
"It was at that moment I was like, ‘I'm going to be the complete opposite one day,’" he said. "When I get up there and people see my stuff, I make this vow I'm going to help people.”
Now he posts sculpting timelapses on Instagram and offers tutorials through Patreon.
"I'm an open book. No gatekeeping," he said.
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
