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 My wife, Laurie, and I lead fairly anonymous lives. We live in a little cabin on a small ranch in South Texas where we tend to stay fairly-well under the radar.
I, like most craftsmen, am a bit of an introvert with regard to promotion and marketing. I would much rather stay in my barn/studio tinkering at the workbench than to pack up and go out on the road trying to show my work at rodeos and stock shows.
Laurie is just the opposite. She lights up the room whenever she walks in and has never met a stranger. She is as comfortable talking to the governor as she is talking to the mailman. She used to work in sales and marketing for Eddie Bauer and she also owned a retail store in Santa Fe NM. She knows lots of well-healed folks in the western world. She constantly amazes me with her knowledge of western art and history. I suspect my work as an engraver would have remained unnoticed if she had not been my ardent supporter. A few months ago she made contact with a marketing rep, Brandy, for Cowboys and Indians Magazine and told her about my horseshoe engraving. One thing led to another and eventually the Cowboys and Indians Editor, Dana, got word internally of what I do and before I knew what was developing, I received an email from Dana asking if I had any pictures of my work. Well to say the least, I was floored. I have read Cowboys and Indians Magazine for years and have always considered it to be the “de facto publication in the western art world”. I appreciate Cowboys and Indians for another important reason too; I would never have met Laurie if it weren’t for that magazine. (That’s another story) I gave Dana my website address and then shorty after I received another email from her in which she said that she wanted to put me “on the editorial calendar”. Well, I had no idea what that meant and didn’t even know that the magazine published a calendar but it sounded to me like they were offering to put a picture of one of my horseshoes in it. I wrote her back the following response, “I'm not sure what that means (being put on the editorial calendar), but I think it must be good... So thanks. And thanks for looking at my work.”
She must have had a big laugh. She wrote back right away to explain that it meant that they wanted to do an article about me... I just about passed out cold. I called Laurie and she was even more excited than me.
A few weeks later, I received an email from a writer named Ellise Pierce and she set up a time to call me for an interview. I have been interviewed only three times before – Once when I got called up for jury duty and twice more for jobs I had applied for - but I could not recall ever having been “interviewed” by a real, live writer. The result of this conclusion and the knowledge of the fact that (despite a concerted effort to the contrary) often when I open mouth, something stupid will inevitably blurt right out, got me to worrying about “the interview”. On top of the bare fact of the interview, I was further aware of the fact that Miss Pierce was going to be calling me all the way from Paris, France. So by the time the phone rang on the fatal day and hour, I was nervous as a minnow in a bait-bucket.
When the phone rang, I swear my voice was cracking like a teenage boy asking for a date to the prom. But after a couple of minutes of that, Miss Pierce got me settled down and I was visiting with her like she was an old friend. We talked about family, dogs, horses and even a little about western art and engraving. Before I knew it a solid hour had passed. I admitted to her that that was the most I would likely talk to anyone for the rest of the month and that I had really enjoyed the conversation.
That conversation was way back in February. It has been a long wait for the July issue of Cowboys and Indians Magazine to come out. All we knew about the July issue was that the main theme of the issue was going to be horses and that John Wayne (God Bless John Wayne) was going to be on the cover.
Today Laurie had to go to town to buy some wire and fence posts and when she got out or her truck, she was walking a little hunched over with her hand behind her like she was rubbing her back. She had a grimace on her face.
“Whad’ya do?!” I asked figuring she had loaded the fencing herself instead of letting the hardware boys do it for her. Then she straightened up and produced the big glossy magazine from behind her back and there was John Wayne’s steel eyes looking straight at me.
“It’s so amazing… I’m so proud of you!” Laurie said with the grimace now replaced by a grin and tears of joy had filled her eyes.
That is the best way to describe the honor of being in Cowboys and Indians Magazine. The experience has been joyous to the point of tears.
Jim Brandvik
Read the Cowboys and Indians Magazine article here...
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