“The Skirmish”

24 x 36” Oil on Canvas

Tales told of skirmishes past are hinted at in this painting. The imagery of U. S. Calvary soldiers being pursued by a Native Americans is inspired by the Ewers Ledger. The original artist of the ledger was a Northern Cheyenne, incarcerated in a fort in Montana Circa 1870 – 1880.  The Ewers Ledger is named after the Calvary officer whose descendants inherited it.

The intensity of the battle is conveyed in the original ledger art, by a border of flying bullets, and bullets scattered amongst the two figures. The application of texture and energy to the painting adds to the sense of drama and motion which the scene being depicted inspired. Horses entangled, soldiers dismounted and injured, and the chaos of a mighty skirmish is depicted in the painting.  All images told and re-told long after the battle’s conclusion.