2026 Prix de West Collectors' Bolo: The Loon's Necklace by Tony Angell

This is Tony Angell’s 42nd year participating in the Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale, and his second year as the artist behind the annual Prix de West collectors’ bolo. For Angell, having the “honor” of designing this year's bolo, he said, provided him “the opportunity to reach a wide and appreciative community who attend the exhibition and, through art, expand their experience with the world.”

As a master wildlife artist, Angell’s adopted home of the Pacific Northwest is a singular source of inspiration. Whether in his home in Lake Forest Park, just north of Seattle, or his studio, situated on Lopez Island in Puget Sound, Angell finds subject matter in the creatures he encounters here — from owls, hawks, peregrine falcons and bald eagles to weasels, mink, coyotes and sea lions.

An award-winning writer and illustrator, Angell served as the Washington state supervisor of environmental education. Angell has also trained and rehabilitated birds since childhood. This intimate contact also informs his artwork.

Angell created the collectors’ bolo for the 2004 Prix de West, titled Calling Raven, and he again chose a feathered denizen of the Pacific Northwest for his 2026 Prix de West collectors’ bolo: the common loon. The loon’s “elegant form,” he said, provided the desire for him to use it as his subject. Quite rare when compared to other water birds, Angell said the common loon is “distinguished by its stunning white ring of feathers that wrap about its lower neck and stand out against its dark, velvety plumage.”

In addition to its beauty, the loon is the subject of several mythic tales within indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest, which is evocative of the enduring human connection to the natural world. In these myths, the loon is “featured as a force for giving us sightedness and opening one's eyes to the larger world. The Native people gave the loon its feathered necklace for providing us this gift,” Angell said. 

Myths regarding the loon’s distinctive vocalizations exist as well. “The loon's plaintive call is considered a voice from the spirit world that resides in the wilderness,” Angell said. “Along our lakes and bays, the penetrating calls of the loon in late winter and early spring are a reminder of the inextricable links we have to nature.” 

This summer, during the Prix de West Art Sale Weekend, June 12–13, Angell will once again find creative impetus being among the artists who return annually to the world’s premier Western art exhibition and sale. “Over the years, being in the company of the distinguished artists who participate in Prix de West has inspired and motivated me in ways otherwise unavailable,” he said.

With The Loon’s Necklace as the 2026 Prix de West collectors’ bolo, Angell also intends to inspire appreciation for the loon and the natural world, hoping his bolo will “invite inquiry of this wild companion and a pathway for admiration. As I like to say, 'Where words fail, art will prevail.’” 

The Collectors' Bolo tradition began in 1986.

Add to your collection of our Prix de West bolos or start your collection today! These bolos are replicas of the original artwork. Each bolo comes with a braided horsehair bolo tie.

Discounts are not available for this item.