Rain & Shine

Depending on which member of the Cowboy Artists of America is speaking, you are likely to hear many different versions of what happened during the 2022 trail ride at the 6666 Ranch in Texas. Each of them has slightly unique descriptions of the storm that slammed into them. Even the tiny details change from member to member: the angle of the rain, the duration of the downpour, the size of the droplets that pelted the camp, the sound of the wind as it whipped through tents. Some artists describe the flood that preceded Noah and the launch of his ark, and others shrug it off as a mere drizzle.Brandon Bailey, A Little Night Music, oil, 38 x 72”

Tyler Crow, No Room for Error, oil, 28 x 40”

But one thing they all agree on: challenges build character and comradery. And as that rain poured down and the members of the CA fought back nature in their yellow rain slickers like they were in a James Reynolds painting, few trail rides brought them together like the 2022 ride did.

“What people don’t sometimes realize is that the show supports the trail ride, not the other way around,” Chad Poppleton says. “It all started as a group of friends who went out to celebrate the things they loved. The trail ride is really at the heart of the CA.”Bruce Greene, Busted From the Brush, oil, 48 x 48”

After the rain stopped and the waters receded, the group packed up their damp equipment and headed home with renewed spirits. It’s not hard to imagine that their studios were quite active upon their return as they found inspiration in each other, in nature’s abundance and in the foundational history of the group. Although the trail ride took place in May, it set the stage for the Cowboy Artists of America 56th Annual Exhibition & Sale, taking place November 4 and 5 at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Not only will the show present work directly inspired by the trail ride, but also artwork rooted in the friendship of the group’s members. “It’s all about that comradery, about enjoying each other and having some fun. When groups are all about business they don’t last long,” says Bruce Greene, the outgoing CA president. “The work I’ve seen this year is looking really wonderful. It’s shaping up to be a great year.”Teal Blake, Shake, Rattle and Roll, watercolor, 27 x 20”

In addition to new work from some of the iconic CA artists—Greene, Martin Grelle, Bill Nebeker, Clark Kelley Price, Teal Blake, Tom Browning and others—the show will also highlight magnificent work from its newest members, Jack Sorenson and Brandon Bailey, who were voted in at last year’s CA show.

Bailey will be presenting A Little Night Music, a 72-inch-wide work showing cowboys and cattle with an evening storm nipping at their heels. “With this painting, I wanted to show my affinity for storms and particularly storms at night. As the storm passes and moves off usually to the east, we are greeted with a symphony in the night sky for the duration of the night, with the sounds of frogs, crickets and distant thunder accompanying the light show.Grant Redden, Juniper Ridge Trail, oil 28 x 30”

Phil Epp, Turbine Fields, acrylic on board, 40 x 30”

I have always equated this phenom with classical music. Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik has been one of the best descriptions for me. Translated from German, this symphony is ‘A Little Night Music,’” Bailey says. “Being elected into the CA has been a surreal experience for me. It’s hard to believe I am in the same company with not only the best Western artists in the world, but the best artists in the world. To me, the most unique aspect is the ability it affords me to grow as an artist. Being around those kinds of sculptors and painters pushes you not only in expanding your subject matter, but it pushes you to be a better artist. The legacy of the group and what the initials CA stands for gives me the chills each time I sign a piece of work with those initials behind my name.”C. Micheal Dudash, A Journey Ends, A New Home Begins, oil, 40 x 54”Sorenson will be showing The Hunt, a dramatic buffalo hunt with a Native American rider preparing to take down a target as his horse rides into the fray. Phil Epp, who was inducted into the CA in 2016, will be showing several of his grand landscapes with horses, as well as one of his spectacularly modern paintings of wind turbines. Mikel Donahue is bringing work in a variety of media, including colored pencil, acrylic and a mixture of the two. In his Rough Country, he shows two riders making their way through a rocky landscape that seems to vibrate with heat and light. Mikel Donahue, Rough Country, acrylic, 24 x 32½”

Chad Poppleton, All it Needs is a Coat of Paint, Honeybun, oil, 24 x 40”

Other works in the show include several action scenes: Greene’s roping cowboy in Out of Nowhere; Price’s thrilling American Cowboy – Red, White, and Blue Clear Through, showing a rider surging toward two fleeing cows; Grant Redden’s bucking horse painting, A Rough Start; and Blake’s dangerous rattlesnake watercolor Shake, Rattle and Roll. The works can also be more reflective and story-driven, such as Dustin Payne’s bronze The Red River Council, C. Michael Dudash’s A Journey End, A New Home Begins, and Chad Poppleton’s snow scene All It Needs is a Coat of Paint, Honeybun. Dustin Payne, The Red River Council, clay for bronze, 15 x 21 x 8”

“At the confluence of Pine Creek and the Smiths Fork rivers near the town of Cokeville, Wyoming, sits a little old log cabin. Not far from there is where Jedediah Smith camped on the Smiths Fork and Bear River junction between 1820-30. I wondered what stories this old cabin could tell if we could hear them,” says Poppleton. “In this painting, an old mountain man had found a beautiful Native bride and procured the necessary supplies to resettle an old cabin. No doubt he had been sharing the memory of a place with opulence and abundance to his bride as he trekked through the snow. However, when the bride was introduced to this ‘Chateau of the Mountains’ she was less impressed with the reality of the conditions. Like all of us husbands, this man could only see the opportunity of a fixer-upper.” Clark Kelley Price, American Cowboy – Red, White and Blue Clear Through, oil, 24 x 30”The Cowboy Artists of America Annual Exhibition & Sale will kick off November 4 with an evening preview party, followed on November 5 by a Q&A hosted by the nearby Amon Carter Museum and then the fixed-price, by-draw sale that starts at 5 p.m. This year, with the support of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, the CA will also offer educational opportunities for hundreds of students. “We did it last year too, and it was really remarkable,” Greene says of the group’s youth outreach. “We’d love to see that spark so these kids have an interest in this Western way of life we all love.” —

Cowboy Artists of America 56th Annual Exhibition & Sale
November 4-5, 2022
Will Rogers Memorial Center
3401 W. Lancaster Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76107
www.cowboyartistsofamerica.com