Dr. Michael's Search

                                                          Dr. Michael’s Search 

                                                                         By

                                                                  Mike Capron

Dr. Michael left Berlin, Germany yearning to meet Cowboy Artist and see as much cowboy art as possible on a family vacation.  He had soaked up as much as he could in Germany. 

He said when he left to come to Texas he had a saddle in his office that he wanted to take home with him. His boss ask him where he was going with that saddle on his back.? He said that he was riding home this evening.

After he arrived in Ft.Worth he went to the Amon Carter Museum and the Sid Richardson, a great move I told him.

 I was the third or fourth artist that he visited on his trip across Texas in search of Cowboy Art. He arrived around 9 o’clock in the morning, coming from Ft. Stockton after leaving the Palo Duro Canyon and Jack Sorenson’s .  He had been to visit Wayne Baize at Ft. Davis also, along with some others.

I didn’t know what to expect when he arrived with his mother and dad. There was plenty to look at in my studio as I have all my treasures and some art scattered around . I was just finishing a painting called “The El Paso Salt War 1877” and it was 48x30.  A monochrome “Sheffield Where The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side Of The Fence” 14x20.  And a 22x16 oil “A Cowboy And His Herd”.   I was tickled I had a good smattering of art around.  I wasn’t sure what Dr. Michael was looking for, but he told me he was a cowboy while he was on this trip and he left the Doctor in Germany.  

He was very familiar with all the European and German cowboy artist since the Second World War.  He showed me examples of their published works and I couldn’t believer how much they resembled Fred Harman and Red Ryder series .  Very similar but very well executed. 

We visited the day and they spent the night. I cooked some pork ribs on the grill and Anne fixed corn on the cob, caesars salad and bread.  We slept well and got up to Cowboy Coffee boiled in a pot with German Sausage , eggs and toast. Michaels daddy and I had a healthy helping of strawberry jam.  

While we were sitting around the breakfast table , Michael ask me if I would do a small sketch in his Cowboy Artist Sketch Book. I said I would be honored and do my best . It was a beautiful sketch book he made with very beautiful paper. I told him I would need a model and asked him to act like he was riding a bronc. I did the pen and ink sketch and told him I wanted to color it with the cowboy coffee we had for breakfast. He thought that was a great idea. The sketch above the article is Michael riding a bronc…..  We had a great time and I would love it if we lived just across Texas instead of around the world apart.