Annesley sums up his approach to art with this statement: "I am an artist - I am an Indian.  Both of these things influence my life and the way I perceive the world around me.  My work is a combination of subject matter and the abstract considerations of artistic expression.  When these are handled carefully - Art becomes magic, and speaks in a universal language."

Bob Annesley has achieved critical success as a painter, sculptor, graphic artist, poet and Indian historian.  Since turning to fine arts full time in 1973, he has received international acclaim for his work in a wide ranch of media and has won over 150 major awards in national competitions.  Bob's art combines personal experiences and research to capture the mysterious and legendary world of the American West.

Born at Norman, Oklahoma in 1943, he won his first major award in painting when he was fourteen and had his first one-man show at eighteen.  Encouraged by this, Bob continued his formal training in Fine Arts painting and sculpture at he the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoman City University.

In 1976, Bob, who's father was of Cherokee descent, became the first artist ever given a one-man retrospective show by the Cherokee Nation at the Cherokee National Museum. In 1986 he was awarded the title of "Master Artist" by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum.  In 1989, Bob was made a member of the prestigious "American Indian and Cowboy Artists of America".

Bob Annesley's paintings, graphics and sculpture are part of important private collections across the United States, Europe and Asia.  His work has also been purchased by several museums including the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in London, the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the Cherokee National Museum, the Southern Plains Indian Museum, the Buffalo Museum, the Oklahoma University Museum of Art and the U. S. Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board for their individual permanent collections.

The original "Sprit of the Smokies" was done in pastel and was awarded "Best of Graphics Category" in the 1983 Trail of Tears Art Show at the Cherokee National Museum.  A limited edition of the "spirit of the Smokies" was presented to members of the Cherokee Heritage Council in appreciation for their financial support of the Cherokee National Historical Society.

"Day of Distant Thunder" portrays the gathering of the Cherokee people outside the Rattlesnake Springs federal detention camp in the late summer of 1838.  The Cherokee nation was beginning the long journey to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi. 

Although he had vigorously opposed this removal of hid people from their homeland, the Cherokee leader Going Snake, planned to lead his people on the journey West.  He was not going to let the government soldiers drive the people along as if they were animals. 

At the moment that Going Snake rode to the front of the long column, a low rumbling noise filled the cloudless sky and a mysterious dark cloud spiraled over the Western Mountains.  This ominous signal marked the "Day of Distant Thunder" which was the beginning of the Cherokee "Trail of Tears".

"Great Plains Magic"...Bob Annesley describes this work..."Standing on the edge of a buffalo herd watching a powerful storm roll across the prairie grasses, you too can experience the magic our people felt in the Grandfather days.  You can physically taste and smell the storm as  it spiderwebs the sky with its lightening.  The rolling thunder and the buffalo grunts become a symphony of sound that surrounds your body and blends with the static electricity that crackles in the air.

The buffalo don't turn away from such a  storm, but face into it as their matted hair sparkles with drops of mist.  They acknowledge the storm's power and draw strength from it.  As Cherokee we remember that our ancestors drew life from the buffalo as a gift of the Thunders.

Even today, standing exposed to the elements on the fringe of a buffalo herd, listen carefully and you'll hear the whispers of our grandfather's songs.  Then,  you too can combine with Yansa (the buffalo), Galvo i (the sky) and Elohi (the earth) and become a part of the Great Plains Magic."