Sharon Crute
Ocala, FL
My ultimate bucket list? To be a cowgirl artist in Arizona. Although I'm better known as an equine artist, I love to sneak off into the western landscape.
MessageI've know Jim Anderson since my California years. He's an accomplished photographer, capturing superb images of horse racing and rodeo, especially bull riding. Generously offering them to me as reference for my paintings, I picked out this photo of a bull rider with red chaps several months ago, however, I was busy with other business and only recently painted it. I loved the juxtaposition of the red chaps with the black bull and freely experimented with creating texture and marks of varying shades of gray in the background.
I uploaded an in-progress pic on Instagram and the piece received more attention than I've ever experienced on the platform. Realizing that I should know who the rider is, Jim wrote back his name, Mason Lowe, and added "very sad". Turns our that the rider was killed at a competition just this past January. I was shocked and very dismayed. I felt terrible not knowing about this and posting my painting on social media. His widow made a lovely comment, breaking my heart.
I discussed my feelings with Jim and he thought I was making too much of it and that I should consider my painting a tribute. At least the bull I painted isn't the bull Mason was riding on that tragic night.
Bull riding is like horse racing - it's a dangerous sport that can kill. I guess that's why I'm so attracted to bull riding because the perilous pursuit is fraught with uncertainty. It's not a matter of if a rider sustains injury, it's when. Victory is all the sweeter when emerging unscathed from an intentional confrontation with extreme risk.
- Subject Matter: western
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