Blondie Freitas with Mayor Bill Hat

For the hundred year anniversary of the Haleakala Ranch, several artists were given passes to wander freely on the gigantic, sprawling ranch in search of painterly views to capture for the celebration. We were all invited to witness a day of ranch hands at work branding, castrating, tagging, and inoculating cattle. I took photos and sketched.

Blondie Frietas and Johnny Pacheco became the subjects for a few of my paintings. People who Knew Blondie well, all commented that they'd never seen him drink a coke ...only beer. On this day, I promise, he was drinking a coke and I ate grilled bull testicles. I'm not saying I liked it. I just had to cowboy up. ...I didn't go back for seconds.

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