This weekend we head north to yet another of my most favorite places, Bozeman, MT, and the home of our friend Debbie Butterfield’s Cottonwood Arena.
Debbie is one cool artist. She creates uber-lifesized sculptures of horses, either out of found metal or driftwood. I know you’ve seen her work, perhaps in museums, or San Francisco Airport, or some other public space, or at one of her galleries. She’s married to John Buck, who equals her in coolness, both personally and artistically, and makes a mean martini besides.
Debbie’s also a Grand Prix dressage rider, and she’s created a beautiful facility just outside of Bozeman. I love shooting there, what with the mountains, the amazing light and the cool clouds that appear in the Big Sky. Axel loves judging there, on account of the Most Exquisite Judges’ Box in the World being there at “C”. Oh, we’re not talking your basic shed that will just hold a judge and a scribe. Ohhhhh, noooooo! This box is bigger than my first New York City apartment. (Okay, so that doesn’t take much.) Really. There’s a fridge in there. And a coat rack. And an antler chandelier.
We’ll stay after the show for a day for Axel to teach a clinic. My guess is I’ll just have to force myself to paint that day, darn it. You know, mountains, or something.