It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words...we know many that are worthy of a poem or a song.  In Art Spur, we invite poets and songwriters to let selections of Western art inspire their poetry and songs.

Our twenty-eighth piece offered to "spur" the imagination is the work of North Dakota artist and rancher Scott Nelson. The piece is from North Dakota rancher, writer, and poet Rodney Nelson's (no relation) book, Wilbur's Christmas Gift, a heartwarming book-length poem, the story of a cowboy and his gift to the children of a rural country school.

 
© 2000, Scott Nelson; this image should not be reposted or reproduced without permission; www.scottnelsonart.com
Image from Wilbur's Christmas Gift (2000) by Rodney Nelson
Acrylic wash
"Wilbur's Gift"
 

  Scott Nelson comments:

Some years ago Rodney Nelson (we share the same last name but are not related) came driving up our road for a visit. Rodney is a pretty famous person in these parts, he's about as close to a celebrity around here as one can get. I think he even was on the old Johnny Carson show one time. Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter drove by the place years ago, but they were running late for somewhere and didn't have time to stop.

Rodney said he had a poem that he wanted illustrated and someone told him I may be able to fill the bill. I told Rod I'd give it a try but as luck would have it we were just getting into haying season and Rod wanted the pictures done as soon as possible. He wanted to get it printed by the fall and in time for the Christmas season. It wasn't an exceptional hay crop that summer so I was able to juggle haying and doing the pictures. I would get up about 2AM, get the coffee going, and work on pictures for several hours before I had to go out and bale. Occasionally we would get some rain and in that case I could work on the pictures most of the morning.

I sure liked the story Wilbur's Christmas Gift and it was easy to do the illustrations because with every line of the poem, the pictures would pop in my head. If Rod had come to me this past summer with the double bumper hay crop I had, I would have had to turn him down...continued here, along with Rodney Nelson's comments

Art Spur subjects are meant to inspire poetry and songs; we look for poems and songs inspired by the piece, not necessarily for a literal description of the image or its subject. 

Submissions from all were welcome through Monday, December 19, 2011. Submissions are now closed.

Find the selected poems here.

About Scott Nelson
excerpted from www.scottnelsonart.com

Scott Nelson is a small farmer/rancher, living just a few miles north of the Cannonball river and Standing Rock Indian Reservation in southwest North Dakota. He lives on the farm homesteaded by his grandfather in 1908 with his wife and two children.

Scott is a self-taught artist; he started drawing as a small child as soon as he learned to hold a pencil. Scott works with pen and ink, water color, acrylic wash, and oils. His subjects are mostly Western, contemporary and historical. Scott has illustrated several books and has been published in a number of magazines. He has contributed artwork to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Chronicle.

Several years ago, out of a deep respect for the World War Two generation and a lifelong interest in WWII aircraft, Scott started interviewing veteran aviators and illustrating their stories on canvas. As of the spring of 2007 Scott completed 13 large oil paintings and a number of smaller watercolors. The paintings are all based on real events occurring during the war. The veterans inspect the finished painting and suggest if there need to be any changes. When the painting meets their satisfaction, they sign the painting to authenticate it. These paintings have been donated to the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot, North Dakota, where they can be seen on display.

Several of these original paintings were on display in conjunction with the North Dakota WWII Exhibit at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck.
 

See our feature here for more about Scott Nelson and view more examples of his art. Visit his web site, www.scottnelsonart.com.

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