Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Flag a Waving

In honor of the 4th of July, and the founding of this great country, I'll be displaying my flag this week, in the background.
Today I finished the front Indian's right leg, then worked on the last horse.

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Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Finishing up the Lead Crow Indian's Horse

Spent today, finishing up all the legs of the lead Indian's horse, and adding pants leg to his right leg.. I'll get to the left leg tomorrow.

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Final photographs today. I'll be in studio tomorrow. It's getting exciting. This piece is getting close to being done and I'm already figuring out what I'll start up next.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Finished up the Cowboy's Horse

It's 3 am on Saturday morning.. I'm so dedicated. I left from the studio and went to Bozeman yesterday evening to see a movie. Transformers 2.. great movie.
Well yesterday (Friday) I finished up the legs of the cowboy's horse and then, using lighter fluid, I smoothed the skin of the horse. This horse is done.

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Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Visitors Again Today

I love it when people I haven't seen for years stop by my studio. I had that happen again today. It's the time of the year. All I had time to work on was the rifle and scabbard and it's placement as well as the straps and buckles that held it to the saddle.

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Final photographs today. I will be back in the studio in the morning.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Bridle, Saddle Bags, Rifle

Bridle, Saddle Bags, Bed Roll, and Rifle were either worked on or added today.
The cowboy that the Crow Indians stole the horse from, was riding fence and checking on cattle on the ranch he worked on. So he carried all he needed to survive for several days on the range. Making losing all the tack and the horse even more of a stress moment for him.

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Final photographs today.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Fine Tuning Face

I had a couple stop by today to visit me. I took them on a small tour of Ennis, and Virginia City Montana, and did lunch. So I only got a little studio time today. I spent it working on the front Indian's face, mostly and some on his arms and leg.

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I'll be in studio tomorrow.

Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful

Took a short trip to Yellowstone Park today.

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I won't be in my studio on Monday. Delivering bronze to the foundry in Bozeman for shipment. Will be in my studio on Tuesday though.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Legs

Today I worked on the rear legs of the back Indian's horse. Every joint, tendon, and muscle. The hooves lined up with the ground.
Had visitors from San Francisco stop by. So the day was a bit short, even though I spent several hours on the legs.

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Final photographs today. Monday I will be heading to the Foundry in Bozeman to deliver a bronze for shipping to a client. So won't be back in the studio till Tuesday. Have a great weekend.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Small Details

The last Crow Indian and his horse, have been the hardest of the three horses and two Indians to get right. Today I spent working on the neck and head. Fine tuning them. Also re-did the mane.
I decided over the last couple of days to shorten the video and just concentrate on one part. This means the time recorded would be maybe a half hour out of a full day. When I speed up that half hour or so, you'd be able to see more clearly what and how I sculpt. 10 minute time frame for videos on Youtube and here means a lot of speed when it's several hours and a lot of cutting. So today I focused my video on repairing the horses head.

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Just thought I'd share a photo of a new painting by an artist friend of mine. Patricia Dobson, Scottsdale Arizona. It's titled "The Grinding Floor". See if you can find the mouse in the painting. This painting is for sale.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Hand and Arm

Was a short day today. I got the to studio and started to fine tune the Indian with the Cowboy's hat. Worked mostly on his hand and arm. Then started to put detailing into the war shirt.

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Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Headdress Finished

Finished the War Bonnet today that the Indian in the back is holding in his right hand. That's about all I did, were feathers. Once I finished up today, I headed up to a friend's (Todd Connor) studio, north of Ennis where I live. All of this is on today's video.

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Photographs from today

WAR STORIES - Colored

Started out early this morning to Bozeman Montana and Northwest Art Castings to color the first copy of "War Stories". It took from 8 am to 5 pm to color this bronze. I videoed the whole process. Hope you'll enjoy this.
A discription and story of what this bronze is about is found below the photos below.



Photographs I took this evening in my studio of the finished bronze.

A friend of mine, Joe Redfeather, a member of the Lakota Tribe wrote the following, concerning my bronze War Stories.

"I have watched the progression of this piece and agree with all that has been said and done. I am glad you went with the strike claw in his hand rather than a scalp lock, in this depiction of a War Story."

"To many none Indian people think that battles were only with other men. That taking scalps was the only trophy taken. Never mind that scalping was started in the East by the French. This tradition caught hold there and and gradually moved west late in the 1800's. This depiction, shows another side of my ancestors way, a way that helped us survive for thousands of years, without hurting or damaging our land, and our four legged brothers. It was the white man who almost killed off all the buffalo, not the Indian."

"The claw he holds is a Strike Claw. This is the claw on a Bear's paw which is the longest." Joe continues, "I am thinking he is talking about how close it came to striking him in battle, He survived his battle with an aggressive Grizzly, and is still living. This mighty warrior is telling the story of his battle with this great bear, because another battle is near, another bear has declared war, he is giving a warning to this new enemy, through his stance, and the showing of the Strike Claw, taken in victory, from the last bear who dared declare war against him and his tribe."Joe talks about the warrior himself. "His clothing and buffalo robe, also tell stories This is a great warrior, with many great deeds that he has done for his people."

"This warrior is of the Bear Clan."Joe talks about the four directions, and the deeper meaning of the colors associated with those directions. "The direction West, being the Black Road. This road which travels the opposite of the good or Red Road (North to South). The Black Road is East to West. The West being the Bear which is introspect the ability to look within the darkest corners of the mind, to know your own weakness and to be able to conquer that weakness.""If people didn't have a dark side, they could not recognize the dark side in others, including our four legged brothers."Joe continues, "In most Native American tribes, the predator animals are never taken for food, (unless the tribe was starving) . If a bear, or cougar attacked the village, his family, or a hunting party, as with any aggression, they would have declared war on that animal." Describing the tactics of an enemy bear, "The bear will stand when fighting so War Arrows are used in a battle with a bear. War Arrows are constructed different from hunting arrows."Joe gives meaning to the the items worn and carried by this great warrior. "The buffalo robe tells the stories of this warriors most remembered events. The center shows the bear, his clan, also his spirit helper."

"The lance he carries is a buffalo honoring lance. With buffalo hide to honor the buffalo and the seven eagle feathers, honoring the God head. The first three are for the Father, Son, & Spirit, and the bottom four feathers are for the four directions, North, South, East, and West of the medicine wheel. The total number seven is a sacred number.""The stories this warrior tells will be passed down for generations."

War Stories Update - First Bronze Check AP1/40

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The AP1/40, indicates the number of this limited edition bronze. AP stands for Artist Proof. The number 1 after it, indicates that it is number one of 4 AP's. /40 means or indicates the number of numbered copies in the edition. This one is considered an un-numbered copy.

I went to the foundry to check the bronze for any blemishes or un-attached parts. Only found a couple of blemishes and got those fixed quickly. Only one item that needed to be fabricated and added on. You can see all this in the video, linked above.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - War Bonnet Feathers

Today I was in the studio working on feathers for the War Bonnet. Kinda boring.. lol

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Photo of the Bonnet so far

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walking - Harry Merrill

I didn't actually work in the studio today. I was up on the foothills videoing a real genuine cowboy for a talent agency here in my town. He was dressed as a cowboy from the same period of my current clay, 1880's to the 90's. So I was able to get my current piece critiqued by him and he suggested a couple of things and agreed with most of what I was doing. I'll let you know more later.

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Current photos