Buckaroo Breakfast

Now here is one I just might have posted before but as I'm sure the additional photos were lost in the Gallery switch I'll do it again just in case.
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This is a pretty involved scene as I wanted to get in as much of the actual detail of a Chuckwagon set up as possible. It took me about a year and a half to complete it. In the closeup photos in the Scanned Photo album you can see the details more clearly. The cowboy leaning against the front wagon wheel is me with my mouth full of beans & biscuits. And tied up next to me is my first horse Biscuit, like Boomer a true and trusted friend who left this world much too early. Biscuit hated mud puddles...he just would not cross them. I always prayed when we came upon one it was in the clear and not bordered by a bunch of poison ivy infested brush. Unfortunately it never seems to work out that way. He would cross a river ... no problem...but a mud puddle?....no way!!!
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The wagon is a copy of the one we own right down to the working breaks and chuck box. It was manufactured in Springfield, Missouri somewhere around 1900 and sold new at the C.L.Higgenbottom store in Seneca, Missouri. The reason I know this is because you can still make out the lettering on the sides. I have a photo of Seneca taken about that time and from the looks of it old C.L. owned just about the whole town as his name is on almost every building. Only one building in the photo still stands today and it houses an filthy auto repair garage. As for the wagon it's in great shape with everything being original except for the main connecting timber between the two axles. If you go to the Out West Gallery webpage you can see a photo of Judy and I cooking from the back of it. They say that cowboys had it rough but if the food they ate was anything like what we've rustled up over the fire or in a dutch oven the evening meal they had after hard day in the saddle was something to really look forward to. A plate of tasty beans, a cup of hot coffee and a warm biscuit is hard to beat.
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Buckaroo With Saddle

Another Buckaroo...this time with a tricked out saddle. In doing this piece I was faced with a little engineering to get the saddle anchored in place being as it was carved as a seperate piece and I wanted to have the hand actually inserted in the opening beneath the swell. The solution was to do the holding arm seperate with the hand inserted in position but not to glue it in place until everything was painted. Once that was done I used a wooden dowel to anchor the saddle solidly to the leg and then glued the arm in place.

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A saddle is not a light thing to handle so the figure leans away from its weight. You really have to pose it this way to keep the entire forms in balance. There are a couple more photos in the Scanned Photos album and comments are welcome.

The Brush Popper

If you're wondering what a Brush Popper is it's a wrangler who works cattle in areas with a lot of low, scrub brush. Here's how Rooster Cogburn put it in the movie True Grit:

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"Rooster pulled his cedar-handled revolver and cocked it with his thumb and threw down on LaBoeuf. He said, "It will be the biggest mistake you ever made, you Texas brush popper."

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Evidently he didn't think much of Brush poppers...especially those from Texas. The brush popper theme is also amplified by the bodacious amount of "brush" growing beneath his nose. I did this piece quite some time ago as the rope he's holding is made from nylon string vs. the wire method I use now. I really like the colors especially the calfskin vest. T

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There are a couple more photos in the Scanned Photos album. Comments welcome as always.

Beans For Breakfast

As I mentioned before, if I come across a piece that I think deserves a post of it's own I'll seperate it out from the others. Here's one of those:

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I did this piece back around 2002 and immediately sold it the fellow we bought our Chuckwagon from. We were both members of the Missouri Cowboy Poets Society and have parked our wagons next to each other on a number of occasions when we're out having fun at various Cowboy events.

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Hope you enjoy him. It looks like he knows what he's doing!

Woodcarvings, B.D. (Before Digital)

As I'm kind of bummed out on just about everything at the moment I thought I would start something I've been wanting to do for quite some time and that is to scan and upload all my old pre-digital photos to my computer and at the same time flesh out my Blog albums.

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I'm sure you've seen a lot of them already but I'm also sure there are lots that will be new to you. They'll be placed in albums titled "Scanned Photos" and if there is a piece I think deserves special attention I'll give it an album of it's own along with a description.

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Today we made it through the A's so there's lots more coming!

Charles M. Russell - The Cowboy Artist

Yesterday I had the opportunity to revisit an old friend when the wife and I delivered a new carving to one of my collectors. "Charles M. Russell, The Cowboy Artist" was completed back in 1998 after we had made the trip up to the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana. As it was before my pre-digital camera days this visit finally allowed us to make a new, more expansive photo record of this piece.

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Setting next to the Museum is Charlie's original studio. All the items seen in my little scene were based on the photos we took of the items he used. One little detail that I added I had completely fogotten about until it was pointed out by the collector during our visit. If you click on and enlarge the fourth photo in the Gallery album you will se a lit cigarette hanging over the edge of the left side of his painting table. Next to it are several burn marks left from previous smokes.

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The painting in the scene is based on a line drawing Charlie made of a group of Cowboys heading to town for a few drinks and only God knows what else. I stretched the canvas, just cotton sheeting in this case, over the frame, applied some gesso and then added some color to flesh it out. With Charlie bent over with his maul-stick in one hand and a wet brush in the other it really brings everything to life. His Montana Peak style hat hung on the top of the easel and the Buffalo skull, which is part of his signature, finishes everything off.

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I really love this little carving. Maybe someday I'll try to do another similar to it. I certainly don't see any way I could improve upon it.

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Comments welcome and lots of additional photos in the Gallery.

My Friend Boomer

Yesterday afternoon I lost my good friend Boomer. He was a great companion. We rode the through the Rockies together, down into the Palo Duro Canyon, across Civil War battlefields, through the Ozarks and on too many trails to mention. He never complained, never bucked and was always ready to go somewhere. Our Grandkids took their first rides on him. I can't write anymore.

Hacked Again!!

I'm getting the feeling that someone doesn't like my woodcarvings. A check of my main website, outwestgallery.com, yesterday brought up a large warning sign advising that it had become an "Attack Site"! Our web hosting site advised that someone had gone in and attached something which set off the alarms. This is the same thing that happened before with the old gallery section of my blog which is also hosted at this same site.
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Anyway, we're in the process of fixing the problem but until then I'd recommend that you steer clear.

Carving A Cowboy On His Horse-Part 6-Finishing Up The Horse

It rained all day today so between watching movies on TV and working in the shop I managed to finish the horse portion of this project. I think he turned out real well. As you can see in the photo I've added a Rain Slicker behind the saddle. I've also gone ahead and burnt on some definition lines to the areas I think need emphasis. It is too early to think about painting as in doing the upcoming Cowboy figure we'll need to do a little fitting to get him to set squarely in the saddle.
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As you will see when I carved the Slicker I used a carpenters profile gauge to assist in getting a good fit. We'll be using that again when we start the Cowboy so if you plan on completing that portion you'll need to make a trip to the home center to pick one up. Mine belonged to my Dad so I'm sure the new ones might look a little different. I wouldn't think they cost too much.
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I'm thinking of trying something new with the Cowboy which, if it works out, should make carving a portion of him a little easier but at the same time allow us to do a really nifty detail.
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Lots of additional photos in the album and questions and comments always welcome.

Thinking About Ron.

Last night I received an email from Ron Bushman's son advising that he had passed away. I don't know if any of you were fortunate enough to know him but he was an avid follower of this Blog, completing just about every tutorial I placed here. I never met him but came to pretty well figure out the type of person he was by the numerous comments and emails we exchanged over the past couple of years. I sure wish I could have met him because I just know we would have become good friends.
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I spent this morning on the tractor mowing the back forty as we call the ten acre field we bought last year. There's not much to do as you're steering the machine back and forth across the field but to watch out for rocks, listen to the hum of the mower and think. Today I thought mostly about Ron. I sure hope we end up in the same place so I can finally shake his hand.

Carving A Cowboy on His Horse - Part 5 - Carving & Attaching the Head.

With the body pretty much complete it's time to start working on the head. I use a 2" thick piece of wood with the grain running as indicated in the photo. We're on the downhill stretch with the horse but we still have a ways to go before we start looking for a rider.
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There are 28 new photos in the associated Gallery album along with comments. If you have any questions or comments just drop me a note.

Is My Blog Infected?

Virus Update!!
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PeterG just brought up an interesting point in that if you might have bookmarked the old Gallery and go to it it is still infected. DO NOT GO THERE!!!! All photos are now being posted to the Picasa Gallery only.
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I just received a note saying that a Trojan Virus has infected my blog. Please let me know if any of you out there have experienced this problem when visiting this space. Thanks!