Cowboy Kim Rose has carried the newborn calf, retrieved the last stray and rode the horse in his paintings.
The 52 year old worked on ranches in Canada and the United States for two decades before settling into work at Saskatoon Livestock Sales.
All of his artwork depicts people, places and animals he has known, said Rose, citing a portrait of a rancher carrying a newborn calf that would succumb to coyotes within the week.
Art seemed a natural option for Rose, who was forced to consider a new line of work after suffering multiple fractures to his leg in a bullpen accident in February 2003.
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He had doodled since childhood, whittled wood and sketched scenes in bunkhouses as an adult and won numerous awards for his efforts.
What separates him from a dizzying myriad of western artists in Canada is his job as a working cowboy, said Lissa Gruza, owner of the Collector’s Choice gallery in Saskatoon where Rose’s paintings hang.
“The strength he brings to it is that he lives the life,” she said, citing his attention to details in his fresh, clean portrayals of the cowboy lifestyle.
“He’s not an artist trying to capture something he doesn’t understand.”
Gruza said western art appeals to the farming community but also to those with a love of nature. He is sensitive to hardships in the industry.
Rose’s latest work, The Last Stray, is a chance to give back to an industry devastated by BSE in Canada and closed international borders. It will be auctioned at Regina’s Agribition Nov. 27 and the proceeds sent to the Canadian Cattleman’s Association recovery strategy program.
He spent several hundred hours completing this large acrylic scene of a rancher friend on horseback rounding up a cow-calf pair with his dog near Sundre, Alta.
“(This stray) maybe is the last one forever for some guys,” said Rose about the fallout from BSE.
When times improve for cattle, he hopes to settle on an acreage and raise a few cows and horses with his wife Kathy and daughter Ella.
“I don’t really know any other way of life,” he said. “There’s nothing more peaceful than sitting on a horse on a hill watching the cows.”
A smile creases his weathered face as he details the long list of broken bones from years in rodeos, racing chuckwagons, riding horses and chasing down unruly animals.
“Maybe some of that pain shows up in there occasionally,” said Rose of his paintings.
“The fact I lived this way gives me an eye and brings it to life a little bit.”
While the painting comes easy to Rose, the business side of art has been more difficult. He has received funds from the Workers Compensation Board to support him through his convalescence and for seed money to launch his new business.
Sales are steady, with originals priced around $2,000 apiece.
The self-taught painter hopes his wood carvings and paintings will provide a career while helping immortalize a changing western ranch lifestyle.
“If I could paint for four hours and ride for four hours a day, I’d be a happy guy,” said Rose.
