Native Americans

This painting is my first miniature. The size is 7” x 5”. This is Stan Bearpaw. Stan is a friend and neighbor from Cody, WY. He is a full-blooded Cherokee and he is the great, great, great nephew of the famous Indian Outlaw, Ned Christie. This painting is traditional oils on Realgesso Masonite. This is day two. I have roughed in the feathers and hair on his head dress, along with the upper part of his face. This is the final version. Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny

This is Danny Reyes from the Cheyenne Nation. This painting is traditional oils on Ampersand Gessobord Masonite. The finished size is 11" x 14". Here is version one. On day one, I painted in all the dark areas. This is day two. I have laid in the base coat for the upper head feathers. Day three. Here I painted the base coat on his face. Day four. I spent the entire day roughing in his porcupine quill collar/chest plate and ear rings plus I added more detail to his face. This is the final version. I finished detailing out his upper feathers, painted in David's collar feathers and lastly, I signed it. I wanted to point out something in this painting that I didn't notice until after I was about half way through the painting. If you look closely, check out the gold shape on David's face. It is very cleverly painted to represent a crescent moon using his actual eye and nose, giving us the title that Andrew and I came up with, Cheyenne Moon. Here are two close-ups of my final version to show all the detail. Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of…

This fine young man is Native American, Jay Eagle from Bullhead, South Dakota. Jay is Hunkpapa/Oglala Lakota. This painting is traditional oils on Ampersand Gessobord Masonite. The finished size is 16" x 16". Here is version one. On day one, I laid down a base coat for Jay’s face. This is day two. I have added some detail to his face and laid down my base coat for Jay’s leather bonnet straps, neck and the top of his cloth necklace that holds a feathered pendent that is just out of the picture. Day three. Here I added the cloth that is wrapped around his long hair braids. I also roughed in the feather cluster on his left shoulder. Day four. I spent the entire day roughing in all the feathers in his bonnet and more detail to his face. This is the final version. I finished detailing out his bonnet feathers, painted in the off-white background and lastly, I signed it. Here are two close-ups of my final version to show all the detail. Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny

In the summer of 2008, Leigh and I had the ultimate privilege to attend our first dance Pow Wow in Cody. It was held and sponsored by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. The Grass Dance style is a very old dance rich in history that has become very popular. In the old days, it was the job of the grass dancers to flatten the grass in the arena before a Pow Wow. The name grass does not come from the stomping of grass, but it comes from the old habit of tying braids of sweet grass to the dancer's belts, producing a swaying effect. Today, Grass Dancers resemble a multicolored swaying mass of yarn or fringe on the dance floor. The Grass Dance is a very fluid and bendable style, with the dancers trying to move their fringe in as many places as possible at once. The Grass Dance style was born in the North, but its popularity has spread South, and now this beautiful style is available for everyone. The regalia of a Grass Dancer is very different from most other styles. The head gear is much the same: roach, spreader, and maybe a beaded headband. One primary difference…

This is my first painting of Michael Bad Hand Terry. Bad Hand is his given Indian name. Michael is an accomplished Actor, Stuntman, Authenticity Expert and Technical Consultant for nearly 50 motion pictures including Dances With Wolves and Last of the Mohicans. He is currently the nation's renowned authority on Plains Indian history. Michael's journeys take him all across the USA where he teaches, lectures and entertains the curious public on Plains Indian history, culture, and corrects many of the myths and untruths propagated and compounded by generations of television and inaccurate historical portrayal. Michael's mission is to undo the misunderstandings about the Native Americans from history and show the kinder, gentler side of their survival as a culture. Michael was kind enough to pose for me in Pinedale, Wyoming in July 2006. All the clothing, regalia, props, jewelry and such are made by hand by Michael to accurately reflect Native American history. Michael is careful to explain, educate and nullify myths and legends about the Plains Indians history through demonstration, story-telling and careful and accurate responses to questions posed by his audiences. Michael has posed and been painted for the last 30 plus years by the likes of Frank…