K.C. WILLIS ORIGINAL CLOTH FABRIC TEXTILE ART 15 x 20in TILLIE BALDWIN COWGIRL

Description

K.C. WILLIS ORIGINAL CLOTH FABRIC TEXTILE ART 15 x 20in TILLIE BALDWIN COWGIRL.
THE BUTTONS AT THE TOP ARE GLASS. THE DETAIL TO THE SEWING IS AMAZING USING STITCHES I NEVER KNEW THEY MADE. A GREAT LOOKING PIECE FOR A TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE MOST SKILLED AND FAMOUS OF THE COWGIRLS- AS THEY ARE CALLED NOW. She is considered the greatest as to skill and flair for the Rodeo.
Tillie Baldwin (1888–1958), born Anna Mathilda Winger, was an American rodeo contestant and performer in Wild West shows. She is credited as being
the first woman to attempt steer wrestling and succeed.
.
The story of Tillie Baldwin, whose birth name was Anna Winger, began in Norway with her birth in 1888. At age 18 she came to the United States to live with an aunt in New York City. This young woman was attractive and extremely athletic. She had excelled at skiing, skating and canoeing in her native land but her new dream in America was to become a hairdresser.
She learned English quickly and enrolled in cosmetology school, but that would not become her life’s work. On a chance outing with friends on Staten Island, Winger would observe several Hollywood cowgirls practicing trick and bronc riding for a movie that was being made with Will Rogers and several other notable western actors. Those images became indelibly etched in her young mind.
Winger had never ridden a horse before, but with her athletic skill and a friend who had access to a horse stable, she soon learned. Not satisfied with just becoming an accomplished rider, she soon began to challenge herself in other ways. She was fearless and creative.
Winger found she had an intuitive knowledge of horses. She soon joined a small wild west touring group as a trick and bronc rider. While working for Captain Johnny Baldwin, she changed her name to Tillie and took his last name, although the two never married. The stage was now set for this woman to travel a path that would eventually lead to her induction into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame.
THIS WAS MADE BY KC Willis of Boulder Colorado. I DO NOT KNOW THE DATE IT WAS CREATED.
KC. is a woman with true artistic style. She has a passion for the women of the early west, Annie Oakley, Sadie Austin and Pearl Heart. Her iconic work depicts these women and many more in rustic fabric collages and photographs. Each piece is filled with history and a sense of awe for those who helped shape these rugged territories of the west. KC’s work can be seen all over the United States in homes, galleries, shops and on the Internet.