Alva Review-Courier -

Though he's spent most of his working life in construction, Jason Yauk of Buffalo has turned to a new endeavor. "I've always had that little passion inside for art," he says. "And finally, I kind of want to say I let it out, and it won't ever crawl back in. This is all I can do."

With his well-worn hat, work hardened hands and soft-spoken ways, Yauk looks like a rancher you'd meet on the streets of Alva. But inside, he's an artist. "I've mostly drawn my whole life," he says.

He took his first art lesson in college in 1995, and met three people who changed his life. One was an artist in Liberal...