In the late ’50s, Harley Brown, fresh out of art college, had a small booth at the Calgary Stampede where he tried desperately to hawk his Elvis on velvet paintings.
The early days were lean for Brown, who admits to begging people to buy his work.
"I even changed my name for awhile thinking Brown, who is going to buy a Brown?" said the artist. "But this is where it all started for me: the Calgary Stampede."
On Wednesday, Brown and Stampede officials unveiled one of the artist’s proudest accomplishments in his storied career -the 2012 Calgary Stampede centennial original artwork, which will be reproduced on more than 30,000 posters.
Entitled the Vision and the Dream, it’s a breathtaking piece of art featuring the Stampede’s founder, Guy Weadick, who 99 years ago launched what would become known as the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
In addition to a handsome portrait of Weadick, the painting shows an eager-looking, beaming young boy about eight years old, decked out head to toe in cowboy duds.
His eyes are looking off the canvas, to help illustrate the Stampede’s next 100 years, Brown said, adding he scrubbed the canvas clean many times to get the boy’s face just right.
He worked tirelessly on the piece for "months," Brown said, noting that creating a perfect portrait of the legendary Weadick was challenging.
"When I do a portrait of somebody, I have to feel the heart pumping, and with Guy Weadick I finally felt that he was alive and his heart was beating and I put down that last stroke," said Brown, who was born in Edmonton and attended Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary. "But you have to wait for that person to come alive."
Stampede president Mike Casey, is pleased with the painting, saying he wasn’t sure what to expect when he asked the artist to come up with a centennial piece honouring the past and anticipating the future.
"Harley captured it so well," he said, adding that including Weadick was important and the young boy stirs up feelings of hope. "It makes me think of a little fellow standing at the gates of the Stampede saying, ‘This is my dream.’ "
Brown’s artwork will be auctioned off on July 14.
As for the identity of the boy in the painting, Brown says that will remain secret.
"That’s the biggest secret of all, never to be divulged."
Calgary Herald
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