Yesterday my sister, mom, dad & I went to the Great Western Stock Show in Denver.

I love going with my family because they are the only ones that I know that will spend hours experiencing & enjoying the culture of the Stock Show. It started with the food- my only regret being that I did not leave room for a fried Twinkie or Snickers Bar- food items I have heard of but never experienced-I know it is probably not politically correct but I figure if I am up for trying iguana pizza in Costa Rica, fried grasshoppers in Mexico or guinea pig in Peru why not a fried Twinkie?

First stop- the cow/calf/bull show. The owners spend hours, bathing, blow drying & sprucing up their cows.

They all had Mohawk upper tails with a giant dread lock ball on the end of the tail.

We noticed that the “in” fashion this year was bling bling belts for the women- Project Runway take note!

Some of the bulls were impressive

But it is the chickens I love- each breed is so different- maybe I’ll become a chicken portrait painter:

the greys in this one were beautiful- made me want to try to capture it in paint!

big red combs- I wonder what the evolutionary reason is behind these?

slightly demented:

fluffy like an angora bunny

proud

curious

the look in their eyes not unlike a rehabilitated eagle that was there:

A lot of my world revolves around art & living in a rural area where I see elk, deer, coyotes etc. daily but not farm or ranch animals or people. I am fascinated how we develop our own sub cultures within the general American culture. As artists -in general- we wear more “arty” clothing- brighter colors, hand woven or embellished materials etc. Funky, unusual jewelry… At the stock show we saw mostly cowboy boots, western snap shirts, cowboy hats, blue jeans & the women sporting the sparkly rhinestone belts. Here is a fellow  waiting his turn to show his pig- which is in the pen below him- checking messages, reading a book.

What a fun & interesting day off!!

P. S. There was an awesome western art show there- the Coors sponsored show- I was thrilled to see about 75% of the paintings sold- in price ranges up to $20,000.00!! No picture taking allowed so unfortunately I can’t share any with you.