Biography

Malone grew up in Houston and has lived most of his life in the American South and Southwest -- the settings of much of his work. He holds degrees from the University of Houston (BA 1978) and The University of Arizona (MFA 1986).

Up to the River (Rust unto Gold), 2025. Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 122 x 183 cm.

His polymathic career, in addition to painting, covers numerous experiences and disciplines. He has been a soldier, a bartender, a newspaper journalist for five years between degrees, an instructor in English literature and writing at several colleges and universities, a book critic, an editor at a literary magazine, a writer and poet, an author.

The Tyranny of the Moment (Rust unto Gold), 2025. Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 122 x 91 cm

His books include the award-winning In An Arid Land: Thirteen Stories of Texas (1995), a second story collection (2000), and a novel, This House of Women (2001). Since its publication, and before, Malone has lived and worked full-time as a visual artist.

Washing Feet, 2025. Acrylic and charcoal on Arches paper, 56 x 76 cm

His paintings have appeared in a number of exhibitions, galleries and publications, on both sides of the Atlantic. Last year he was honored with the 6th International Prize Leonardo Da Vince - The Universal Artist from the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan and the Effetto Arte Foundation of Italy.

Kicking Water, 2025. Acrylic and charcoal on Arches paper, 56 x 76 cm

First an abstractionist, Malone investigates his themes, people and landscapes in several other painterly genres as well. Lately his approach to painting has evolved into an amalgamation of these influences and, coupled with a renewed emphasis on narrative, has led him to a signature style and palette in his latest series, Rust unto Gold. The artist now lives and works at his studio in Rockport, Texas, a fishing village on the Gulf of Mexico.

After Mexican (Rust unto Gold), 2024. Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 122 x 152 cm

Artist Statement

I began my career out of college as a newspaper journalist because I needed a job, but wound up a painter. My work today is but a continuation of that beginning nonetheless. I make artworks out of what I have done in my life, seen in my life and, especially, what I've heard.

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