Ken's Ranch

#18 Ken’s Ranch – 18x24, framed, oil, canvas on Masonite, signed   

#1 After The Roundup – 12x24, framed, acrylic, canvas on Masonite, signed   

Dick remarried in 1981 after Betty passed in 1978  He had met Shirley Kelly at the San Gabriel Fine Arts Association where they were both active members. They had decided to take a road trip for their honeymoon to Shirley’s cousin, Ken Masson, in Nebraska. The plan was to barrow, Dick’s daughter Melissa’s yellow VW beetle and take a leisurely drive into the Midwest. On the way in the vast empty plains of Nebraska their beetle over heated and caught fire and was incinerated leaving a ghastly burn mark in the asphalt highway. After that spectacle, the newlyweds hitched a ride in a bread truck into the nearest town for assistance and then travelled on to Ken’s.

Ken’s Ranch is a misnomer. Ken was the foreman at a ranch named Moon Bow in Dunning, a cow town located in Blaine County, western Nebraska with a sparse population of 100 persons. Moon Bow was a working ranch of a few thousands acres that bred Black Angus and Red Angus with Herford cattle. The Dismal River flowed through the ranch. While there Dick and Shirley were treated to a real traditional round-up. They even mounted horses and rode around the property. Not bad for a seventy year old.

With all the activity Dick was able to sketch and take photographs of the area for later development of paintings. The paintings of this period interestingly featured horses for the first time.

#18 Ken’s Ranch – 18x24, framed, oil, canvas on Masonite, signed