Sculpture by Roane

Prairie Thunder

Having grown up in Montana the bison soon became an animal of interest and fascination for me. The cutbanks and coulees, canyons and prairies that surrounded me as a child yielded buffalo heads, arrow heads, spent bullets from Colt 45's, and Sharps 45-70 and 45-90's used to hunt the largest animal in North America. When we were kids, my cousin and I would play in abandoned buffalo wallows as we alternately pretended we were Native Americans or buffalo hunters galloping along side a thundering herd of these mighty beasts.

For me, the bison is a symbol of power and driving force. When one views the art of early observers of the buffalo, many of the artists, Catlin included, depicted them running. Rather than a staid rendering of what I call the "Wooden Nickel" buffalo, I choose to sculpt this magnificent beast driving hard, twisting, turning, even charging. I think it tells us more accurately what the American Bison is really all about.

In my opinion, the Bison could easily work as a symbol of America. I have no problem with the Bald Eagle. I admire the great bird and think we made the right choice. But if we hadn’t chosen the Bald Eagle, we might have done well to have chosen this powerful beast that roamed so freely over the vast prairies that become the major part of America.

“Driving Force,” 7 feet long, 3 ½ feet high, bronze. On display through June of ’07 at the Avenue of Arts in Gillette, WY. My plan is to show this guy at the Loveland Invitational this August 10 – 12, 2007.

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