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lot has been said about Boots Reynolds but most of it can't be printed. One printable comment was made, however, by a friend who said "He can buck a fella off harder with a paintbrush than any bronc I've seen!" Maybe that's because Boots has been down there lookin' up many times himself.
Boots is really Roy Reynolds who was born and raised on the ranches in Osage county, Oklahoma. He's been on, over and around horses all his life. His career began at the age of eight as a brush-track jockey riding matched races in Oklahoma. From there he graduated to the race tracks of Riudoso and Raton, New Mexico. When he finally ate himself out of a job, he ventured into rodeo to try his luck with bareback broncs, calf-roping and a little clowning. After taking too many hard falls too often and winning too seldom, it was back to ranching in Wyoming and Texas. Somehow in the early 70's Boots ended up in Hope, Idaho where he now resides with his wife Becky.
The first drawings by Boots were made on cardboard boxes used to deliver groceries to the ranches he grew up on. This was before he started school where Boots said his arithmetic paper just didn't look right without a horse grazing on the addition. Always seeing humor in his surroundings and being a natural artist, it was only a matter of time until Boots' drawings became cartoons. After years of drawing 'funny pitchers' for friends and family, he decided to try his hand at sharing them with the public. Somebody must have liked them as his pen and ink cartoons have appeared in such magazines as Western Horseman, ProRodeo Sports News, Horse and Horseman, Horse and Rider, Outdoor Life, Bugle Magazine and more.
It was only natural that the next step was to try his hand at painting and that seems to be what Boots likes to do best. His humorous western and wildlife paintings are becoming more popular every year. Over seventy of his images have been used by Leanin' Tree Publishing of Boulder, Colorado as greeting cards, Christmas cards and other items. Boots' prints and other merchandise are marketed and sold by Western Classics of Sandpoint, Idaho and at various western art shows, rodeos and conventions.
Awards that Boots has to his credit are many. Among them are: Western Cartoonist of the Year (1996) from the Academy of Western Artists, the Trumble Family Award and the Western Horseman Award given by the Cowboy Cartoonists International, and the Penny Onstott Memorial Award from the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Artists Association. According to Boots, "It's great to win medals and awards at art shows. It's even greater to hear workin' cowboys laugh and recognize things in my paintings that have happened to them or to have some outfitter or hunter confess that they've experienced a situation just like the one I painted. When you mix reality in with the human factor and then stir in a little humor you definitely get closer to home with your artwork. People really appreciate something they can relate to and get a chuckle from at the same time."
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