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"Celebration Dance"
16X20
oil
So where did I leave you? Oh, yes...I had narrowly escaped being trodden by horses. As I recall...next came the noon til mid-afternoon hours of sitting around. For the non-artists among you, most artists don't like the hours around noon for taking photos, because we like cast shadows, etc. And the lighting at noon is just too harsh. And it was lunch time, and artists - much like people - get hungry and tired.
I was invited (or perhaps I invited myself...I don't remember) to join my friends "John", "Ted", and "Don" for the noon/early afternoon dalliance. Or...for some, drink-fest. My friend Don had brought his camper to the ride, and it was stocked with a variety of booze. I believe that I had my usual little sissy Chardonnay. There were several models there, as well as we four artists. There were no Native Americans, though. I don't think they wanted to associate with the likes of us.
Anyway...one of the attendees was a "cowboy" (that is to say...a cowboy model, and not remotely a real cowboy) named Garrett (not his real name, though surely he's no longer among the living). Garrett had begun drinking well before the dallying started. In fact, he was quite well-lit. He seemed to take a fancy to me, as drunks are wont to do. I was sitting there with my shoes off, and I had my feet propped up, resting...minding my own business. He suddenly decided that I might enjoy a foot massage. Which I did.
If only it had remained so innocuous. He shortly thereafter determined that I would enjoy having my calves massaged even more. Which I really did not. My gallant friends John, Ted, and Don thought that this whole episode was riotous. Hilarious. Fortunately, it didn't take much to dissuade Romeo. He was more interested in drinkin' than he was in romancin', as it turned out.
Later that afternoon, the Native Americans returned (where did they go?), and further scenes were enacted and re-enacted. One was of a skirmish between "cowboys" and "Indians". The cowboys were on horseback...the Indians hiding behind a big log, with their tomahawks and rifles in tow. And thus the skirmish began. It was interesting to observe the dialogue between the stunt men - who clearly knew one another - between scenes. I remember distinctly a "cowboy" addressing an "Indian", "Hey...Greg...hand me my hat, would ya?" A Sioux named Greg...why not?
There was also a cavalry battle scene enacted down at the river. This time, I was little more judicious as to choosing my spot. Around the same time, there was an impressive action scene in which a man dressed in Cavalry attire galloped (for clarification...his horse galloped. A Cavalry officer would look ridiculous galloping, would he not?) across a field, and jumped his horse over the same big log as was used in the previous cowboy/Indian scene. He was holding a rifle and firing blanks at some imaginary bad guy, while jumping over the log without holding onto the reins. I thought it was quite impressive. He repeated the same scene again and again, each time jumping the log while firing blanks, in perfect choreographic precision.
And this was just day 1. Not really. I think I combined a couple of days. Hard to say. I will leave you with "to be continued" one more time, but the next part will be the end of this series. I promise...there IS an eventual end to this Artist Ride. Stay with me...
