Sunday, June 16, 2013

Cowboy Up


Happy Fathers Day
I had a good Father...
He has been gone for some time now. 
Today's post is dedicated to him
This photo came to me in the form of old slides. 
I was so happy to get them.
 It was quite a process to get them
back to a photograph. 
The watch part face is an actual watch he owned, 
and the horseshoe nails are a
 finding from his old pack shed.
My Dad was a cowboy as you can see.
Not the ones you see wearing a hat,
 or playing one in the movies.
 But a REAL cowboy who lived in the heart of the 
Rocky Mountains. 
JOURNAL READS:
....... Just to the corner of my vision, the place that disappears when I turn my face towards it .... I know he is there. I can still feel the ground shake like it did  when he called them .... The Man in the Big Black Hat .... 30 horses thundering towards him.....The tent is empty now, all that remains are the memories of this cowboy . The man I called Dad. He would journey into these mountains for weeks at a time. In a time when there was no such thing as a cell phone. His horses would pack in all his supplies. Sometimes I can still hear his voice calling the horses 
.... 'COME BOY'S' .... 
..... and they always did ....


He was 'Big Jim' 
He was a LEGEND  in his time.

So, here's to all the good fathers 
that are still here. 
Happy Fathers day "Steve"
 and for all the ones we are
 thankful for having known.
 
This is an old mirror, that I found in Dad's pack shed. The family had taken everything they considered of value from it. I was just poking around in the wreckage and saw this mirror. He never traveled without one. You can see by the yellow wire, that even after it had started to come apart, it was still used. The image in the corner was adhered to the back of the mirror, after I removed some of the shiny reflective backing. I think it gives it the right mood for the piece. All the bits were found items that he would have used....well, at one time or another. Scissors, buckle, pencils, wooden matches, and he always drank Pepsi. Remember when you use to have to pop the lid off ?  Because the mirror was broken, I wanted to add in a bit of background. Graphic 45 paper was perfect for this piece. A bit of crumpling, some inking and it looks like it belongs there.





8 comments:

Jessi Fogan said...

A beautiful tribute to your dad, Pam. Big hugs to you :)

Jo Murray said...

You've honoured your Dad with this piece.

Allison Rankin said...

This is lovely! You are the queen of distressing...all types!

Anonymous said...

beautiful tribute my dear. he really was a cowboy. it was great to know him for the time that i did.

love romeo

Dawn said...

A gorgeous layout Pam, and a beautiful way to preserve and cherish the memory of your father.

Hugs, Dawn

Micupoftea said...

I just loved reading this post, Pam! You really captured something of your Dad's personality and shared it so well. LOVE how you made the lower part of the LO flip down- creative! Happy June :)
S
so happy the lilac is blooming!

Anonymous said...

very nice.... love the silhouette....

Ellen Taylor said...

Fantastic tribute page! Love the silhouette and the whole design!