SHA’BING !!
HOT OFF THE PRESS

As promised, the new painting in the Bob Coronato Rodeo Poster Series…… DEADWOOD
I worked on this painting for about a year. The Image was created from several new chine colle’ etchings that were then silkscreened down onto board and painted with oil. The new poster will be available in a few Galleries and exclusive shops throughout the Black Hills.
The antique rodeo poster feel comes from the Pittura Di Strati style of painting. The painting is acrylic, oil and Silk Screen on wood panell. Wild Bill Hickock with his guns drawn gets your attention and the aces and eights dead mans hand reminds you Wild Bill did not last long in Deadwood South Dakota.
Images of old antique American Indian beadwork , Antique western guns , old theater curtains and Lakota Sioux references are reminding of the history of Deadwood Gulch. Gold pans, card suits, Broncs and wild cowboy characters finish off the “feel” of deadwood. Deadwood South Dakota has a Rodeo every year known as the Days of 76 . The Black Hills and Deadwood are synonimous with Black Hills Gold. All of this was taken in to give the 2012 Rodeo Poster the Feel of “DEADWOOD”

The new poster is the latest in the Bob Coronato Rodeo Poster Series started in 2008. “I have been working on the series for years and the Pittura Di Strati painting style lends itself well to the vintage yet contemporary look of the Rodeo posters.” “They look like a vintage rodeo poster , but they are new and I create one about every year.”

Several in the series are completely sold out and the others are well on thier way. This is the latest in the series.
Some collect them because they look like an antique rodeo poster, others want a modern collectable rodeo poster from their favorite western town like DEADWOOD GULCH!

The sold out posters have consistantly brought 300. – 500. at auction when they come up for sale.
* The new poster in the “Bob Coronato series” is for Deadwood Gulch 2012 available for only 20.00 while they last.

Wace Snook from Hulett Wyoming near Devils Tower takes a classic ride in an old time pair of whooly chaps as he has in many exibition rides. He grew up riding bronce and he seems comfortable on Max burch rough stock. The quarter circle Z S is infamous for great rodeo stock and the legendary bucking horse Blood Brother. Max Burch Rodeo is the stock contracter for the Days of 76 Rodeo.

About the Image:

At the 2012 Deadwood Days of 76 Rodeo, Max Burch supplied the rough stock. locally his horses have been always known as some really rank outlaws. Burch’s P.K. Ranch, has hundreds of horses on his large ranch covering several hundred thousand acres. In the 1990’s Max would gather up his four year olds that had never been ridden and bring them to Jim Wilsons ranch in Ridge Montana. People would pull their trucks into a circle and have a ranch style rodeo, a good o’l bronc match. These horses had barley ever seen people before, being mostly wild, and the bronc match became one of the wildest rodeos most had ever seen. Every June for 10 years they bucked out over 50 head, the only hard part was finding enough cowboys to ride them all. It was like the early days of the west, but took place in the 1990’s. As you looked out across the prairie there was not a house to the horizon in any direction. With a cold wind blowing over the plains, wild horses, and mostly local cowboys, it was like going back in time to the earliest days of rodeo. The horses that bucked wild became rodeo stock, those that didn’t buck as hard became ranch horses, or were just set back out on the range. Since those days, Burch Rodeo horses have become legendary and many broncs have been chosen for the finals in Las Vegas year after year. Supplying some of these horses to the Deadwood Days of 76 Rodeo, Burch Rodeo is sure to supply every bit of what is expected at this historic Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame rodeo.

The Bronc rider in the poster, is Wace Snook a local cowboy from Hulett Wyoming, and locally one of the favorites. Wace is a pure class act, with an old time flair to his dress. I remember a story about Wace from when he was about 10, he went to Max’s bronc school to learn to ride. legend has it, that Max said you have to be at least 12 years old and 100 pounds. Wace wasn’t 100 pounds wet, but said “I’m 12 years old and 100 pounds”, the rest was history. I’ve always wanted to draw a bronc rider wearing woolly chaps but since that hardly ever happens anymore, it was not looking to good for me. I’ve always drawn or painted from real life, people I know, and places I’ve been. I wanted to draw someone wearing woollys, and wanted to see it or it just wouldn’t be real. Finally along came Wace, on many occasions he rides with woollys. Of course it’s usually at a “wild ride” or an exhibition ride, where its legal to fan the bronc and ride a stock saddle. Sometimes a little pink or purple chalk in the woollies helps, it always livens up a crowd to see the chalk puff out of the chaps. Every time the horse bucks with a cloud of chalk dust, the crowd hoots out cheers. The Towns around Deadwood and the Black Hills are still a living “old west” with all the flavor of the old days if you look for it. Just about a week ago Wace rode his horse into the Ponderosa Saloon in Hulett and packed out the bartender. Monty Neiman said to me, “Bob, I’ve got a title of your next painting,……I said whores, not horse!” and everybody laughed.
Wace, always being a class act, made sure his horse had a drink too before he rode out the side door!

As I created the imagery for the poster border, I took into mind many things important to Deadwood and the Black Hills during the Days of 76 rodeo. I put “Lakota territory” on the banner because technically the Black hills are still legally Lakota land. Paha sapa and He Sapa are Lakota for Black hills. In Lakota one is when your “in” the Black Hills and one is when your “looking at” the Black Hills. The coup stick with honors and gunstock war club give a taste of the early days and the Lakota warriors that roamed through these sacred hills. Those that live here can attest that the spirits of the Lakota that have changed worlds, still roam these hills. The flavor of Deadwood has always been mining, gambling, brothels, theaters, saloons, and “just plain wild”.

I drew all the little things that reflect the flavor of Deadwood. Looking close you will see old theater curtains, gold pans ,Plains indian arrows with iron trade points, 1851 navy colt, and ponderosa pine boughs. Tucked away like relics of the past, an old time rifle, powder horn, and a tin panner’s tools of the trade. The Spirit of Deadwood really never died in the old west. The hundreds of people experiencing the “odd things” in Seth Bullocks haunted hotel are just running into the gamblers and restless pioneers that still roam Deadwood. Hell,…it’s too much fun to just leave it, even after you cross over.

Deadwood has always had its host of characters in the past and the present. People that imbue the west like, Big nose george, Potato Creek Johnny, Poker Face Alice, Wild Bill, Calimity Jane, and Pam from the infamous Pams Purple Door. The characters I added to the bottom are a couple local guys born in Deadwood. On the left you have Saddle maker Carson Thomas, and on the right Tom Waugh, a local charter, hell raiser, and all around nice guy. I included Dirty Nellies Saloon because it was such a local classic. Even after the closing of this good time place of music and spirits, people morn. Years later in 2012 they had grave side rights with bag pipes and drinks served along with “relics” from the o’l bar for remembrance.

I used the card suits as a border for a couple of reasons. First to give flavor of this favorite cowboy/card-playing town, and second Wild Bill, the notorious western lawman, gambler, and lighting fast gunfighter who was killed in Deadwood. Wild Bill was shot from behind playing poker in Nuttal and Mann’s Saloon Ten. Bills last cards he held were aces and eights. His last hand has been known ever since as “the Dead-mans Hand” and is incorporated as the corner pieces. The saloon he was killed in was also the saloon I met my wife, so above Old Style Saloon Number Ten , I wrote “bad for Bill, good for Bob”.

This series of rodeo posters are some of my favorite work. Trying to keep them contemporary with an old time feel and yet they still drip with the flavor of the area they come from is my personal passion. Being a print maker and having a fondness for the old time letter press printing, I try to include all the details of that style of printing along with the modern images of friends and the local western flavor. Most people think they are Antique rodeo posters or based on vintage rodeo posters but they are not.

After spending about a week or two hanging these all over the Black Hills, I was finding as soon as they hung up, they were being stolen from every window and bar that had them. As fast as I could hang them, they were missing a day later. I walked up the street hanging them in Deadwood and by the time I reached the end five were missing. Ive been told it was the most popular poster they’ve ever had, but I get the biggest compliment every time someone steals one.

All Rights Reserved to the Artist.
Bob Coronato Hulett Wyoming