The Lone Ranger
Many of my paintings, not all, are inspired by a personal story and this
one is no different. The masked horse that is found in the gallery was
influenced by my love as a child for the TV series called “The Lone
Ranger”. This program ran from 1949-1957, with many reruns to follow. If
you remember he was the masked hero who played a Texas Ranger. He
was always dressed in blue, fighting the outlaws in the Old West along with
his Native American friend named Tonto. As a child growing up I never
missed an episode of this program, and if I did it was not intentional. I absolutely loved Silver, his beautiful white stallion.
legs, all the while staying in the saddle. Waiting to see what was about to happen in each episode
was almost impossible. I always thought that this fighting hero was the
most gorgeous man alive with those baby blue eyes hiding behind that dark
mysterious mask! But for me the excitement came from watching the Lone
Ranger fight with the enemy. Of course he would always win, but my wish
would be that the bad guy would get him down just long enough to rip the
black mask from his face. I always wanted to see what was hiding
underneath. To my disappointment this feat was never accomplished.
However this never discouraged me from watching the next program
because I felt sure that the mask would finally be torn away.
So several years after I began painting horses I decided that I wanted to
create something a little different. Indian ponies, I had not tried to paint, but
thought that I would give this a try. Native Americans painted their horses in
preparation for battle with many powerful symbols. They believed that
these designs held magical powers that could help them in battle as well as
showing others their previous victories. While looking through reference
photos for ideas I thought once again of the Lone Ranger’s friend, Tonto,
and his pinto named Scout. Then the thought came to me. What about a
painted pony resembling Scout wearing a mask similar to the Lone
Ranger’s? So that thought developed the birth for this watercolor creation.
Soon after it was completed I entered a show and the original painting
sold. Wow, someone liked it as much as I did! Even though I no longer
have the painting, I do have the saved files of this work, I do have prints,
and I do have all the great memories of this unforgettable hero known as
“The Lone Ranger”!
