The Will James Roundup

This is a promotional piece I just finished for some friends of mine in Montana. They are the promoters of the Will James Roundup, an old time rodeo, different from what is typically seen today in the professional rodeo ciruits.

The piece was all hand painted in the theme of the old wild west posters and banners. It took a lot of work but I am really happy about the way it turned out. At this point I am not sure what they will do with the image but if you would like a print of it you can contact me directly.
The painting is done in acrylic and measures 30x40. It will be framed  and is priced at $2500. Contact me if you have any interest or questions, or if you have an event you would like something like this done for.

Louis'

 The restaurant is located beneath an upstairs hotel. As you enter, the bar is on your left. The wall to the right is posted with old black and white photos of Basque sheep herders and such. A very old and well worn wooden floor is beneath your feet. To the rear of the room is the dining area which consisted of long dining tables, long enough to seat up to eight people. It was apparent that if you were just a couple, you would no doubt have company at your table. Service and dining are “family” style.

It was evident from the outset that this was a locals place. Not many, if any, tourists in there. Immediately we liked the place. We took up most of one table and were warmly greeted by an elderly lady in an apron who announced what was for supper that evening, take your pick, it’s all the same price. No handout menus to peruse here.

Shortly we were given a stack of plates and bowls to pass around followed by a couple of baskets of bread, large serving bowl of salad, another of beans, a plate of chicken and a couple decanters of red wine. After an appropriate amount of time, a serving plate of what was maybe the best leg of lamb I’ve ever had, arrived which we passed around serving ourselves.

It was obvious that this wasn’t the kind of place that expected you to eat and move on. It looked like most of the folks were there for the duration. Food, drink and conversation were all in order and happily shared. You can go to http://www.louisbasquecorner.com/ to read more about it. Turns out there is a video or two and it was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, a show that we follow regularly. I didn’t know that before hand. Check it out.

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.