Something clicked when my Comcast/Xfinity technician told me he had been a rodeo bull rider. His charismatic presence affected me and I contacted him later to ask if I could paint his portrait. Everything these days is directed towards the youth and in my 50s I am more interested in what the elders are doing. We talked back and forth a few times and he said he would be interested in participating in my project as he had never had his portrait painted before. He explained he didn’t have any photos of himself in his rodeo days (long story) but he offered we take pictures of him in cowboy attire in my backyard (that looks a bit like an old west scene). I suggested that from the photos I could insert him into an old John Wayne movie poster. Once when I called him he was driving back from Denver - he had responded to an open casting call for a Jay-Z all black western film.
I admired this man’s honesty and vulnerability about discussing the hardships he faced as a black rodeo rider and the ups and downs of his life. I was looking forward to representing this powerful, compelling, handsome aging black rodeo bull rider in a painting - and scared. Maybe I’m not good enough, maybe he won’t like my work? While we were talking back and forth, and even though I didn’t have any photos yet, I decided I better get started.
The curator at the South Broadway Cultural Center, Augustine Romero, urged me to create large pieces for the show because the gallery space is expansive with high ceilings. I began by gessoing three 6’ x 4’ masonite panels. From there I painted all three with orange on the top and yellow on the bottom; two colors I don’t like and never use but was thinking New Mexico sunset. I had a few smaller panels that I did the same with. I was intending to put two of the large painted panels together as a diptych for the portrait. When the curator came by for a studio visit he was supportive of the beginning stage of the work and was excited about my painting proposal of a contemporary black cowboy.
And then literally a few days before the state closed down due to Covid 19, my model had to leave Albuquerque indefinitely due to an urgent family matter. He took a leave of absence from his job at Comcast and was gone. Though I never heard from him again and I don’t even really know him, the thought of him lingers in me because its true; chance encounters have been known to change lives.