Cattle Baron

7 7/8″x5 7/8″ oil on gesso-coated board

AVAILABLE, email me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for price

“Courage is being scared to death – and saddling up anyway.”  -John Wayne, 1907-1979

This is my first post in over a week, mostly due to blog problems with my server. But as I have already stated, I’ve been painting a lot, both on fine art projects and some commercial. You know, trying to make a living. I guess that makes them all commercial. But that’s another subject for another day. I finished a painting for a friend, a really large yellow lily. Yes, I paint flowers too. It came out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Lynn liked it, so that’s what is most important. Ah yes, another satisfied customer.

As I am writing this post, it is a beautiful, sunny day, mid fifties and there are two tiny finches outside my studio window carrying on like there’s no tomorrow. What a beautiful sound. Last week, I walked out my front door one morning and a red-tailed hawk swooped down right in front of me, six feet from my door! It was amazing. I heard the swoosh of his feathers as he flew by within feet of me. I think he was as surprised as I was. I’m sure he didn’t expect to come that close to a human that morning. It was a memorable experience, one that I will never forget. They are one of my favorite birds.

So, about this painting I am posting. As is my habit with these small pieces, I rarely know what I’m going to paint when I sit down. I had been working on a Western art piece, another side of my oeuvre,  a modern-day cowboy working a two-year old horse, so I guess my heart was in the West (wait, my heart is always in the West!). This Cattle Baron sort of showed up. He represents those crusty, ruthlessly powerful men in the late 1800s that laid the foundation for cattle operations in the modern West as we know it. I guess he could have been a New York tycoon, or a railroad baron, but somehow he became a cattle baron before my very eyes. Kind of bullied his way on in.  Enjoy!