Presented by Mena Art Gallery

Painting: Checking the Gears. Rance Jones won an Award of Excellence from American Art Collector Magazine in the 2015 Art of the Heartland competition. Where I come from, there is plenty of wind but not always enough water. With out the windmill, the production value of the land in West Texas would run pretty thin most years. Cowboys especially have to be able to keep the water pumping from these wells so that livestock can thrive in the dry plains. This Aeromoter windmill has a 14 foot diameter- it's big and it's very tall. Once your up on the crows nest you have to hold on tight. The gears that drive the pump have to be checked regularly to make sure everything is running smoothly. The cowboys I grew up around could fix anything from a loose horseshoe to a loose fan belt on a pickup truck. This is the kind of work ethic that makes America great and this cowboy perched high on the windmill exemplifies true American character and tenacity.