RUSH COLE FINE ART
Cowboys, Indians, and More!
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***"Gallery-Wrapped" describes images on stretched canvas painted on all four sides, making additional framing unnecessary.***
"WILLY RUNS ABOVE"
20" x 16" , Oil on canvas, gallery-wrapped.
Copyright Rush Cole
With a grin like a young brave, Willy Runs Above, third generation Lakota Sioux Medicine Man from Rosebud Reservation, wears his heart right out where everyone can see it. From the moment he joined the Longmire production, Season 4, Willy both attracted attention and shunned it. A more humble individual is hard to imagine. Now, as Season 5 is wrapping, it seems that everyone has a "Willy" story.
A background casting assistant recalls how ravens began floating down and lining up on the utility wires overhead when Willy was due to work on set. As soon as he arrived, the birds peeled off, one by one, and flew away. When a stunt double sustained minor injuries during filming, Willy found a quiet corner and prayed for the stunt man's healing.
Of course, I have my own "Willy" tales. Swiveling the barstool in the Red Pony where I'd been directed to sit, I spied Willy perched at the far end of the bar. One look at his face and I knew I had to paint him. I scribbled a brief note on a scrap of paper, wrapped it around my business card and passed it down the bar to Willy. Just like a school girl. That's part of Willy's magic, I suspect; he views the world around him with an enchanting mixture of innocence and wisdom and makes others feel like children again.
I photographed Willy Runs Above with the sun overhead and behind him, bouncing off the ground and illuminating his facial features in a naturally dramatic manner. Innately dignified, Willy is a particular dresser, so I checked with him before adding the hole in his hat.
"It's up to you," I assured him, not wanting to insult him by including the bit of realism if he didn't want it showing. The Medicine Man shrugged eloquently.
"Go ahead and put it there," he urged me. "After all, it's natural, you know."
I glanced to see if he was teasing me, but he didn't blink; just twinkled those warm eyes of his and kept a straight face.
Natural, indeed.
*Asked for permission to use his full name as the title for this painting, Willy smiled and told me that when good things are happening, he knows to let them roll.
