Cowboy Chic -- Headboards make a good canvas

I've always considered my furniture to be a mix of folk art and decorative art.  

Folk art is defined as art produced by indigenous people or laboring tradesmen (such as cowboys), and is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic.  Decorative art is the design and manufacture of functional objects, such as furniture, but is usually not considered fine art like paintings and sculpture.

I like to think of my "cowboy chic" furniture is both functional and aesthetic.  I approach my designs as if the furniture is a large blank surface to be decorated.

The 1994 photo above includes a headboard that depicts a "Trail Herd" scene, which I carved and painted.  Following Molesworth's example I used Western silhouettes, but I also textured the wood background with a gouge, and  I used contrasting stains to set the artwork apart from the furniture form.

Beds presented a bit of a shipping problem, so I designed mine so they could be broken down and shipped in pieces.  All of my beds were pegged mortise and tendon joints.  The headboard (above) is my "Buffalo Hunters" design.

The detail above is of my "Dude Riders" headboard.  The silhouette was inspired by a 1930s dude ranch brochure.

This "Teton Packers" headboard (above) is one of my favorites.  It  found a good home with a friend, who now lives in the High Sierras at Bridgeport, California.

The "Horse Wrangler Meadow" headboard (above) is on my own very tall California king size bed.

Another 1994 photo (above) of the "Trail Herd" headboard with my "Wrangler Joe" highboy (left).  The "Wrangler Joe" design was also the logo for Lure of the Dim Trails.

2021 Update -- Buddy Rosenberg's Chip Craved 'Buffalo Hunt' Headboard.

When made it I didn’t have time to photograph this headboard, probably the nicest I ever created, but many years later a friend sent me this photo.

It was originally crafted for Buddy Rosenberg, a longtime Hollywood photographer, and delivered to his 2-story houseboat in Marina Del Rey., California.

2024 Update -- Friend Ronda's 'Trail Herd' Headboard.

Thanks for sharing the photo Ronda.