Empy’s paintings, cartoons, and postcards featuring the Southwest and a touch of cowboy humor have been sold for over 90 years and grace national museums and collections.

Groves and her husband Peter own and operate Hal Empie Studio in Tubac, south of Tucson. It houses a collection of Empie’s works and reproductions. And since her 1986, Groves has had her own shop next door, carrying Empie postcards and Southwest gifts, aptly named her The Artist’s Daughter.

“My parents came here in 1984. During that time, I was in my father’s cartoon card business in Oro Valley,” she said. “I was processing orders and going to the post office to mail them. Dad said, ‘If you build a little shop here, come see us, put your inventory here, and run this post office.’ Would you like to use it?” he said.

“So I had this little shop for my Empy comic business, and I got hooked and started adding stuff.”

After 37 years of cultivating fun signs, coffee mugs, and other collectibles, The Artist’s Daughter is closing after running out of inventory.

“My husband is 80, I’m 78, and we own two businesses,” says Groves. “It’s much easier to run one business with two people instead of two. Frankly, I lost a lot of vendors during COVID, but it has allowed me to work with others. was different, but business is still good. No complaints. Just time.”

Groves said the decision wasn’t easy, but it was the right one to give the couple more time to run Hull Empy Studios and work on other projects.

“My heart doesn’t want to close the shop, but when you reach a certain age, even if you’re healthy, you have to look to the future and do something,” she said. I am hoping to write another book and will be able to accept more invitations to talk about my father. Our goal, the artist’s daughter, had a good life.”

Hal Empy was born in Safford in 1909, three years before Arizona became the 48th state. He settled in Duncan in his 1934 with his wife Louise.

He owned a drug store there and eventually other businesses, and at age 21 is believed to be the youngest licensed pharmacist in Arizona’s history.

“He had a drugstore in Duncan for over 50 years, but it was the Gila River that inspired him to build a gallery here,” she said. “Due to flooding, they had to rebuild the store three times, and the fourth time he was nine feet deep outside the store. Dad said he couldn’t keep spending money on repairs. said.”

Groves says her father used an easel at the pharmacy to paint between prescriptions, and she worked at a soda fountain as a child.

The Empys had friends in Tubac and moved to the area in 1984.

When her father built a space to house the artist’s daughter, it began as a place where she ran his business selling postcards and grew into a full-fledged gift shop.

“Some of my favorite items are signs. We sell hundreds of signs,” she said. “People always have a reason and an identity when they buy it. Whether it’s because of someone’s look or their own car or bike, funny saying.”

“My favorite part is making people smile. I sell my dad’s comics. The humor is timeless.”

Groves said that no two days at The Artist’s Daughter are the same and she loves getting to know customers and other shop owners.

“I now have people who are my third generation. They are now coming with their grandchildren,” she said.

I also have a duck named Auntie J who is a regular at the store.

“One day a woman stopped in her pickup truck, walked into the store, and said, ‘Can I bring my pet?’ Open it and the duck will pop out and walk around to get the stroller.The duck will jump in the stroller and she will take the duck to the store.Every time she says something the duck will immediately return to her. I came.

The artist’s daughter is also a local favorite.

One year at the annual Tuback Art Festival, her shop was voted a favorite, and another year it had the “Most Bags Seen”, meaning the most purchases.

It was also the location for the 1997 remake of Vanishing Point starring Viggo Mortensen.

“One day I came to work and Viggo was sitting here having lunch with his parents,” she said. I decorated it with a pump in front.”

She’s also seen Sam Elliott, Rex Allen, Diane Keaton, and other celebrities in the shop.

“Sam Elliot walked in one day and I said hello. He nodded and was wearing a baseball cap,” she said. “He leaned over and looked at something and said, ‘I haven’t seen anything like this in years.’ I said — I was so cool — oh, well, Sam Elliott, I was by my side.

Yet, at the end of the day, history is part of collecting and selling her father’s work, which she loves most.

“The painting comes with this history that doesn’t exist anywhere else, so I always look forward to that day and to meeting and talking to people,” she said. .

The gallery sells reproductions and pieces of Empy that were commissioned because the original was not preserved.

“My father’s work has been on the market for over 90 years,” says Groves. “We have many reproductions of his paintings taken from those who are declining or who have no heirs, and his postcards have been on the market since his 1936 His paintings are his since 1929.”

She said it was most exciting when she found her father’s work that she had never seen before.

“I left Duncan in the ’60s, so it’s a big gap from when I saw his work,” she said. “He drew everything, so you never know what’s going to pop out.”

The artist’s daughter will start selling everything in the store this month. When products are sold, Groves sells exhibits including her 1910 solid copper washing machine.

They own the building and will eventually rent out the space, according to Groves.

Focusing solely on the Hal Empy Gallery will allow Groves to work on additional books she wants to write about her father, freeing her up for more historical talks she presents across the state. .

“I change the story based on where I’m talking,” she said. “I was in Safford a few months ago for the Graham County Historical Symposium. When I was giving talks at museums, I was talking about art, and when I did OLLI at the University of Arizona, I was talking about techniques.

Groves said the gallery isn’t going anywhere and looks forward to continuing to share her rich family history.

“I love talking about the history of Arizona and my father. It’s so easy,” she said. “Thank you to our hundreds of customers for their loyal support over generations. Thank you for making our artist daughter a very successful business. Right next to the gallery.