For many of you here who are younger than I, you might not
recognize the name "Curt Gowdy." Many my age and older
grew
up watching and listening to this man. I remember vividly, the
man's elegant voice as he announced the Super Bowls that my
beloved Steelers had won. He even announced the game
where
Franco Harris caught the "Immaculate Reception." I used to
watch Mr. Gowdy do his famous "American Sportsman" show.
It
was a weekly show that he would hunt and fish with some of
the
most famous sports figures and celebrities of all time. In my
book, he was a "sportsman's sportsman." I could go on and on
about Curt Gowdy. He was well known among his peers as the
"Cowboy Behind the Mic."
This is a commissioned piece that I was asked to do almost
two
years ago. After Curt passed away in February, things moved
ahead with more commitment. As time went by between then
and now, Cheryl, Curt's daughter, and I had discussed the
portrait of her "Daddy." At first discussion, it was going to be
a
graphite in my tight style, but with my evolution into oils, we
agreed that I would "paint the man." Paint the "man" in his
true
elements, that is what I did. The photograph that was provided
to
me by the Gowdy's photographer showed Curt sitting along a
trout stream in Wyoming wearing his favorite Stetson,
turquoise
bolo tie, antelope pin, and his prized fly rod and reel. The
Gowdys asked that I title this piece "The Cowboy On The
River."
Here, I give you a look at my finished piece.
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