When Brent Cotton presents his newest painting at The Russell on March 20 in Great Falls, Montana, he will be packin’ heat.
The Deer Hunter, oil, 24 x 32 in.
Weapons are not frequently encouraged at art shows, and yet Cotton has found a compelling way to work a flintlock rifle into The Deer Hunter, a tonalist landscape with a figure taking a shot at a distant deer. To complement the painting, the artist hand-crafted a flintlock rifle that will be sold with the painting when it comes up to bidders in Great Falls.
The Lehigh-style .45-caliber flintlock rifle made by Brent Cotton.
“The inspiration behind the combo was my love of hunting using the old methods of our ancestors. I’ve harvested game with another flintlock I built and have really enjoyed the challenge of hunting with it. Days spent in the field pursuing deer and elk have hopefully led to my paintings having an authenticity to them,” he says. “The Deer Hunter is an homage to the mountain men and longhunters, rooted in my own lived experience as a deer hunter. The scene depicts a moment I have personally known: a flintlock fired in muted autumn light, smoke lifting and dissolving into mist as the landscape absorbs the sound and motion.”
Brent Cotton works on the flintlock rifle that accompanies his newest painting.
The rifle, a Lehigh-style flintlock rifle in .45 caliber, serves as a companion piece to the painting and is representative of rifles commonly carried during those eras. It features a hand-carved curly maple stock and antiqued to suggest careful use over time. “Together I hope that the painting and the rifle speak to my love of tradition, respect for the land, the animal and the enduring craft that binds them,” Cotton adds. —
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