The winner for 2019’s Williams Lake Stampede poster contest is local artist and first-time submitter, Tiffany Jorgensen.
A lifelong artist Jorgensen is a passionate creator with a deep love for making cowboy and horse-related art, doing art professionally for the last 18 years. On a commission basis Jorgensen paints portraits, landscapes, nudes and whatever else her clients want in exquisite detail.
“I’ve always loved to draw and stuff, ever since I was little, I just really like to draw,” Jorgensen said.
Creating art is “recharge time” for the busy mother of three girls, where she will spend several days at a time working productively on her various works in the studio.
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The cowboy lifestyle, specifically horses, has always been a big part of Jorgensen’s life, adding that she has ridden horses almost as long as she’s been making art. In fact, one of her first words before mommy or daddy was “pony.”
Her poster design does not have an official name currently but Jorgensen said she personally thinks of the lyrics to Garth Brooks’ Rodeo: “It’s the ropes and the reins, the joy and the pain and the thing they call the rodeo” whenever she looks at the piece.
She was inspired by a picture taken by Peter Castonguay that was sent to her by a past client, that shows local rodeo star Virgil Poffenroth jumping off his horse to rope a calf.
The base photo is already cinematic in nature with big action and energy all around. Jorgensen simply made the piece more dramatic by adding dust, pushing the onlooking cowboys further back and desaturating the lighting to make it feel more gritty. The result, an acrylic-based painting on canvas, is a far tighter shot that she feels really embodies the spirit of the Stampede.
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“(The photo) just would have made a really good painting. Sometimes you can get pictures and you go, ah well, that’s not going to make the best painting but that (photo) I felt was going to make a really good painting,” Jorgensen mused. “It’s action plus it’s a local born and raised (cowboy).”
In the past, Jorgensen has been hesitant to enter the contest, due to the possibility of not being picked and therefore not being paid for all her work, but Poffenroth’s wife Caterina offered to buy the original work off of her if she didn’t win. Now that she’s won the contest and the $500 prize, Jorgensen intends to give the original painting to the family after the poster has been printed.
“I am so excited, I know a couple of the other artists who put their stuff in and they’re amazing so I feel very honoured (to win),” Jorgensen said. “The Stampede posters are everywhere, its a part of history, it’s so cool. I was so surprised and excited.”
The prospect of having her work displayed all over town excites her immensely and makes her feel truly honoured. Jorgensen added that Caterina is also quite happy that Virgil will be the Williams Lake Stampede 2019’s “poster boy.”
“Thank you so much for considering me and choosing me, thank you so much,” Jorgensen concluded with a big smile.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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