Howard Council is a saddlemaker by trade. 11 world champion calf ropers have won their titles on his saddles; country music superstar George Strait has four of Howard’s saddles; and Garth Brooks has his leatherwork on the seat of a four-wheeler.

 

Howard is also a storyteller, as anyone who wanders into his workshop near downtown Lawton knows. But, not that many people know he is also a painter. On Thursday Aug. 23, that’ll change, when the 81-year-old has his first one-man art show.

It's as much about history and Western culture, good memories and closing your eyes and imagining, as it is about art. Howard paints the things he knows and loves -- calf roping, a grazing horse, a grandchild, the Southwest Oklahoma landscape, old friends.

"I never took lessons, I'm just self-taught," he said.

Council has been collecting back from the collectors of his art to get ready
for his show and he's completed a few new works in oil, watercolor and of course a piece on leather.

Diana Brown, curator of Southwestern Medical Center Pride Gallery, approached Council two years ago about doing a show. From 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday "Howard Council: An Artist in Leather and an Artist in Oils - A Living Legend" will open with a public reception at the gallery, 5602 W. Lee Blvd. It’s free, refreshments will be served and chances are real good that you’ll hear Howard talking about rodeo star Roy Cooper and his great horse Topper that he’s painted; or about his first painting, done in 1961 -- a 30 in.-by-40 in. oil of a quarter horse that hangs on the wall behind the counter of the shop; or about the saddle order from Oscar winner Ben Johnson that he didn’t get completed before Johnson’s passing; or about the fact that the store that he and wife Genevieve run may be the second oldest continual family business in Lawton; or, well, there are many more possibilities.

"I can't wait to see who shows up," he said.

The exhibit will hang until Dec. 1.