Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Mattie Earp's Final Stop

June 11, 2014
  I have a history speech over at Carwright's Restaurant at six tonight. First one of the new season. "Related to Outlaws" is the subject and is the theme of a cover story in the next True West, which is at the printer even as you read this.

  In addition to filing and culling my art morgue this morning, I also got back into my Daily Whipout routine. My goal was to do five before work, started at eight and got four in the can. Here they are:

 
"The Storyteller" (12"X 9") gouache, $500 for original


"Moonscraper" (5"X7") gouache, $250 for original



 
"Mickey Free Looks For Sign In The Sky" (9" X 12") gouache, $500 for original

(actually a reworking of an earlier painting I found in my failure pile)

 
"Mickey Free Rides Around the Glowing Crosses at Fronteras." (17.24" X6") gouache, $500 for original

   Went home for lunch and whipped out the final Whipout:

 
"Dust Storm Over Pinal" (12"X9") gouache, $500 for original

   Dig the dust but then what would you expect from the Duke of Dust? Yes, Pinal, Arizona was Mattie Earp's final stop and today nothing remains of the boom town except the a few headstones. True West magazine helped save the cemetery from vandals several years ago. The rider in the foreground is, in fact, on his way to see Mattie. His name is T.J. Flannery, a 30-year-old laborer.

"[Wyatt] Earp, she said, wrecked her life by deserting her and she didn't want to live."
—T.J. Flannery, testifying at Mattie's inquest