“Cactus Boot Jack” 11 x 18” Watercolor on Paper

A totem of boots and cactus plays with the romance of the old west as seen in the movie and in our collective imagination.

Although we don’t have a lot of cactus in the Black Hills, this boot painting called for them as an iconic design element.  I’m enjoying painting watercolor cowboy boots: how divergent thinking is that? Something rock solid in heritage rendered softly in a watercolor medium.  The setting sun, the prickly texture… the bandana to clean up and protect.  All iconic images: as well as the idea of a nickname: Jack, Charlie, Buster….  The title referring to a  boot jack is a play on words, referring to a device which is designed to hold the heel of the boot as one works it off one’s feet.  In the westerns, there was always some overworked woman there to do that for the cowboy…