Post 1Cowboy Poetry Week

Everyone is so excited!

Cowboy Poetry Week is celebrated each year during April, National Poetry Month in the United States.

In 2020, Cowboy Poetry Week—the nineteenth annual—takes place April 19-25, 2020.

In 2020 it is made possible by generous support from Edmund Wattis Littlefield, a grant from the Margaret T. Morris Foundation, super donor Jean A. Emmons, and all of the individuals and organizations who support the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry.

CowboyPoetry.comhttps://blog.cowboypoetry.com/2020/02/11/cpweek2020/ initiated Cowboy Poetry Week, and for the celebration’s second year, in April 2003, the United States Senate passed a resolution, with unanimous approval, recognizing our Cowboy Poetry Week celebration. Twenty-three states’ governors and other officials have recognized Cowboy Poetry Week since, and many activities take place in communities across the West and beyond.

Teal Blake/CPW's Poster Artist

Teal Blake grew up in Montana, on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by ranching country. Growing up in his father’s studio looking at C.M. Russell paintings and reading Will James books inspired him to pick up a pencil and start capturing his own visions of cowboys and the American West.

Teal has been painting professionally since 2005, he was predestined to become, a western artist. Teal has always liked to show what makes the traditional West: cowboys not always clean shaven, shirts not always creased, and their horses’ manes not always long.

Teal’s love for the tradition of ranching and cowboying is unparalleled. Up before dawn gathering the cavvy, camping out on the wagon for weeks on end and playing cards with the crew during a rainstorm. Blake’s portrayal of ranch life and the handful of people keeping it alive is an authentic one. No models, no costumes, simply being fortunate enough to work and ride alongside his friends and muses; he is able to capture his material and inspiration first-hand.

In 2014 Teal’s labor, talent and accomplishments earned him an invitation into the renowned Cowboy Artists of America organization. He has also been honored with several awards, including the Joe Beeler CAA Foundation Award and 1st Place Watercolor at the Phippen Museum and has been featured in such magazines as Western Horseman, Western Art & Architecture, Southwest Art, Ranch & Reata and The Cowboy Way.

In 2011 Teal created “We Pointed Them North,” an art show held in Fort Worth, celebrating the memoirs of Teddy “Blue” Abbott. Teal’s work appeared on the cover of Big Bend Saddlery catalogue in 2012 and 2013. His painting “Morning Gather” was used for the cover of Some Horses by Thomas McGuane.

Teal and his son Luca currently reside in Fort Worth, Texas.