The Cow Palace 2008 Collection
Presenting eight new paintings by Tami Oyler



"The Sheepherder"
Acrylic on archival panel, 14 x 11"
Gold 4" plein air frame with engraved wooden title plate.
$800 framed
SALE PENDING

Basque sheepherders were once a common sight in California,

grazing their animals on leased and public lands, even in the poppy fields of the Antelope Valley.

Every summer when I was a kid, they'd set up camp for a few days

on the railroad-owned land that butted up to our property,

bringing nothing but a tiny trailer and some snow fencing to hold the sheep overnight.

Every few days someone would drop off some supplies.

That was the only human contact these guys had.

 

The sheep normally ate filaree and other wild plants, but they couldn't resist the temptation of my

mom's Shasta daisies, growing just across the dirt road from where they grazed.

Of course she hated the sheep for ruining her garden, but I was fascinated by how an empty field could

suddenly fill with the activity of hundreds of animals, including a donkey or two and a totally amazing dog.

They'd roll in like a big hungry dusty tidal wave, bells clanging and lambs baa-ing,

and when they left, the ground was stripped bare behind them.

That was a good thing, actually - it protected us from wildfires.

 

If you look at center of this painting, at the distant blue mountains,

that's where I was born, fifty years ago and thirty miles from this spot.

 

Many thanks to Fiona Cameron for the use of her photo of the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve,

which became the inspiration for this painting.

 

Detail:

The 9th Annual Grand National Art Show & Sale
At the Grand National Rodeo, Horse, & Livestock Show at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
April 2 - 12, 2008.

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