Chuck Wagon in the Snow

The chuck wagon, invented in the 1860s by Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight, served as home base for cowboys on open range cattle drives and roundups. A welcome site at the end of hard days, the chuck wagon provides warm meals and companionship out of the saddle. It remains popular today in the open-range states of the far West where distances are great and it is impractical for cowboys to return to the comfort of a ranch house every night. Of the quiet landscape, "Chuck Wagon in the Snow," Bama says he finds magic in the snow and its softening effects upon whatever it touches near his home in Cody, Wyoming. Bama is referred to as an “American Realist.” Through his detailed portraits of Native Americans and cowboys, we see the American West as it is today and not a vision of the Old West. Bama enrolled in the Art Students League under the GI Bill. He had a twenty-two year career in commercial art as one of Manhattan’s top illustrators, before devoting his time to award-winning success in fine art. It is a testament to his talent and its enduring influence that his work from those early years continues to be honored in the world of illustration, science fiction and fantasy.