The Lonliest Road in America

That would be Highway 50 which runs right outside the door at my shop. It runs coast to coast but the “loneliest” part is considered to be from Delta, UT to Carson City, NV. Last week I mentioned that I was headed to Reno, NV on the Harley with a few other folks for a photo shoot at the Californios Ranch Roping and Stock Horse Contest. We took Hwy 50 both ways.


I suppose you’d have to define what “lonely” is but considering that we only encountered 6 vehicles in the 150 or so miles between Delta, UT and Ely, NV, I’d say the traffic wasn’t very thick. That’s only one vehicle every 25 miles and two of those were traveling together. There was equally sparse traffic between the other little towns of Eureka and Austin and it didn’t really increase by much until we were near Fallon, NV some 380 miles from Delta, UT.

We spent the first night in Ely, NV and ate at the Cell Block Steakhouse which is so named because the dining area is in what used to be the old jail. The booths are built right into the cells which is kind of neat and colorful. I highly recommend the steak.

The next morning we rode on to Eureka, NV, some 70 miles or so down the road for breakfast at the Owl Saloon and Café. This is a really cool original. On one side is the café and through the opening in the wall is the saloon. Shortly after we sat down and ordered, a rather colorful older couple came in. The waitress called out “coffee”? The wife nodded and the gent hollered back “Budweiser”. He looked over at me and shrugged his shoulders. Darn good omelet and hash browns there.

I think the best part of the trip was Louis’ Basque Corner in Reno. This place is in the old downtown area just off of Virginia Street. It was within hiking distance of our motel although we did have to walk through what might be called a questionable neighborhood and old warehouse district to get there. On the way we walked around some doubtful items in a plastic bag on the sidewalk. One of the members of our party commented that it looked like a potential bag of evidence. That kind of neighborhood. We were in numbers and sporting our leather jackets so we were good. No trouble.

Time and space is limited here so I’ll tell you more about Louis’s next week. It’s worth tuning back in for. Since I was going out there to photograph the Californio event I need to report that I did. See you downtown.

This article is reposted from a column I write every week for the Montrose Daily Press.

Antiqued mirrors have become the latest trend in home decor, from small decorator mirrors to larger more functional mirrors. This is a 23kt gold hand leafed mirror I just finished, with added "imperfections" for that "old" look. It is gilded on the back of the glass creating a warm reflective front reflection. I found the perfect moulding for the frame with just the right amount of distressing. Because of the unique reflective properties of the mirror and the challenges of photographing it, this photo has the frame in focus.

This photo has the mirror in focus. There are many sizes and finishes available. "Custom made" is the key wording. This particular mirror is 9x12 and framed like this is $195.

Range Docs

Here's another in the cowboy series I seem to have gotten into lately. This is what I used to do before turning to a fulltime art career due to a back injury which ended my cowboy days.

This freshly painted 24x28 oil depicts what everyday cowboys do, in this case at the foot of the ruby Mountains in Northern Nevada.. With a roped yearling stretched out, one of the cowboys, the "ground man", takes care of whatever deed needed to be done to the critter. The mounted cowboy has the responsibility of keeping the rope to the rear legs tight. Looking closely, you can see the horse has his head tucked a bit as he is reined back a step to help keep the tension on the rope.

The cowboy on the ground has a lot to keep track of. He's got a lot of rope strung about him as you can see in this detail. Originally he would have roped the steer (or heifer) by the head while his team mate roped the heels (hence the sport of "team roping" in toady's rodeo). Once the critter is down, the ground man will step off of his horse and with his own weight and a strategically placed knee, hold the calf in position while he "doctors" on him or her. Prior to releasing the calf, the rope is removed from the head and placed around the front legs so that once the cowboy is mounted, the two riders can give the steer some slack. When the calf struggles and springs to his feet, the loops on the two ropes will open allowing the calf to step out of the rope and trot off.

The cowboy on the ground has his rope dallied around the horn on his saddle and with the remaining coils of rope in hand, he has the ability to keep tension on the rope as he dismounts. Additionally he has a "get down rope" tucked under his belt with the other end around the neck of his horse. If things should go amiss, as they sometimes do, he still has a "life line" to his horse since the reins are draped around the horses neck and generally out of reach.

As you can see and imagine, both cowboys and their horses need to be highly trained and skilled in their ability get their work done as gently and safely as possible.

Absolutely Ridiculous

I know there is a lot we could chat about that would fall under this topic but time and space won’t allow it…fortunately. Almost each and every day we encounter something to which a natural response might be, “What? That’s ridiculous!” The other title I considered for this week’s column was “Stupid, stupid, stupid”, which would’ve been just as appropriate.


Being an artist and an entrepreneur is somewhat of a difficulty in itself. In a pure sense, an artist will create art for the sake of art. When an artist chooses to make money from whatever talents he or she possesses then the picture (pun intended) changes, sometimes drastically. With a new season (summer) approaching us here on Main Street and the anticipated arrival of visitors (tourists) to our fair community I’ve been looking around the studio/gallery and trying to anticipate what it is that they, or you good folks for that matter, might be interested in buying.

If you’ve been in the gallery you know that I like to paint a lot of different subjects. Many are subjects that appeal to me and some are strictly “market driven” so to speak. It’s that “market driven” subject matter that brought me to a new series of paintings I’m doing. I make a number of note cards and prints of the paintings I do, and I was thinking of doing something new that might have a broad appeal. It’s been in the back of my mind for some time now and like many ideas I have, it got pushed to the back of my mind as I tackle life’s every day occurrences. Yesterday I decided that now is the time.

I’m starting a series of Colorado wildflower paintings. So far so good but the idea has proven to be more of a challenge that I thought it would be. My chosen medium for these delicate delights is watercolor. I’ve got all of the reference material I need so that’s not an issue.

The problem that I’m having is that I can’t seem to get the results I want and here is the point of this column. I tried five paintings and none of them worked. Frustrated, I lined the paintings up and stood back to have a look. They all looked the same. All five had the same problems. Then it dawned on me. I had repeatedly been making the same errors. I had continued to do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. How stupid is that? It is absolutely ridiculous to continue doing the same thing over and over and expect the effect to turn out different. That little insight can apply to many things. Lesson learned…finally.

What Now Boss?

This is a 24 x 48 oil painting I just finished. It depicts a cowboy and his dog making their rounds under the big Montana sky. The dog was trotting ahead of the cowboy on the trail they were following and came across the cow and her calf coming up the hill. The cow has her eye on the dog trying to determine if he is a threat or not, while the calf eyes the cowboy. The dog looks back at the cowboy hoping to get some instruction as to what he should do about this unexpected encounter.

This is a detail of the cow, calf and dog.
The painting is for sale at my studio for $2495 unframed.

Yard Art

We took a little trip down to Santa Fe last weekend. I’ve been wanting to get down there again for a couple of reasons. It’s important to me to stay abreast of what the art market, and the related framing market, are doing in terms of not only what is being offered but what it is that people are buying.

I pick Santa Fe to be my source for inspiration and fact finding because Santa Fe is considered to be a significant art market. 2007 Census Bureau data places Santa Fe fourth in the market for sales, behind first ranked New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), followed by the second ranked Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, MSA, and the third ranked San Francisco-Oakland, Fremont, MSA. It is interesting to note that Santa Fe is the only individual city ranked, where the others are all metropolitan areas. Another reason Santa Fe is attractive to me is because it is close and I like it there.

So, with justification established, off we went. We had another couple with us who wanted to look for some “yard art” while we were down there. I figured “art is art” so let’s see what we can find for them. Driving around we saw all kinds of stuff that I suppose could qualify as yard art. Everything from junk cars to old refrigerators including the requisite worn out couch on the front porch. Lots of that. We had something a little more tasteful in mind however so we kept going.

There’s a great little place on Cerrillos Boulevard on the left, headed south, just past Tortilla Flats, which by the way is a great place for breakfast, that had some really interesting metal fabricated… sculptures…I guess you could call them. I saw a really cool eight foot tall scarecrow looking thing behind the building. It had what looked like a deer head welded out of metal with a small set of real antlers on it. Metal fabric of some kind hung from outstretched horizontal arms. Kind of evil looking, like something a shaman would have. I figured my wife wouldn’t allow it in the yard as her cats would never come home again. We settled for a couple of rusty old Spanish cross designs instead and the other folks found what they wanted too.

Last fall when we were in Santa Fe, we came across some really cool, and really expensive, metal whirly-gig kind of things that rotated in the breeze creating quite the visual experience. There is a lot of talent down there and something for every budget.

Of course it is hard to beat nature for yard art. this is a great shot my wife Kathy took.
As always, a great time, great art and good food too was had by all. Stop by if you get a chance.

Three Essentials for Life

We could probably count wind, water and fire as essential. Surviorman would have us believe that water, food and shelter should be at the top of the list. Some of you might even include love, happiness and generosity and while it’d be nice to include a fine bourbon, a steak and a good cigar too, I’d have to say you are all missing the important stuff though.


What are my three essentials for life? I’ll tell you. Duct tape, bailing wire and deck screws. That’s what I’m saying. Sure, all of the afore mentioned fundamentals are necessary to sustain life but when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, I find that my three are absolutely indispensable. I know some of you are nodding in agreement.

It is highly probable that almost anything, in the right hands, can be fixed with either duct tape, bailing wire or deck screws. If you need a little back up, throw some super glue into the sack too. It might not look real pretty when I get done with it but it will get me by until I can do it properly or, more likely, call someone who can.

There has been more than one time when I was out in the field working studiously on a painting and I had some sort of malfunction with my portable easel, or I find a branch next to my tent rubbed a tear in it during the gale force winds that came up while I was out painting. Then there was the time the radiator in my pickup truck sprung a leak, the result of hitting a deer over in Utah, or the time the bottle opener accidently broke off of the bathroom counter in the motel room. The list is long but the solutions are all the same.

Yes it helps to be a bit of a do-it-yourselfer but even the most inept can take advantage of the benefits of what’s in my sack of essentials. In fact I would go so far as to say that the more incompetent one is, the handier it is to have these items. I speak from experience. Let’s face it. Those of you who have a higher degree of finesse when it comes to repairing the unavoidable malfunctions that plague us in life will be shaking your heads in pity. I know. I know. I’ve been on the receiving end of those looks, but hey! It works. Most of the time.

Say! Have you been in the new shoe store a couple of doors down from me? D’Medici Footwear? Debbie has brought us some very fine quality shoes, which happen to be on my wife’s list of essentials. Stop by if you get a chance.