Cowboy Ornament and the Tattoo

For me, cowboy hats are so iconically American, iconically Canadian too, really, considering the significance of our Prairie provinces to Canadian identity. It's been my experience that a good cultural centrepiece usually has a lot of power as a tattoo.

As an eight-year-old I saw my first episode of Bonanza, in German no less, while visiting relatives in Austria (The episode was, appropriately, Doppelgänger).

I must be pretty impressionable because along with Bonanza, countless Spaghetti Westerns, and all that Marlboro Man propaganda I've become a total sucker for all the stereotypical cowboy romanticism: the imagery of the open plains, big sky, campfires and baked beans, six shooters, and dusty old boots. And I fully confess to having never even set foot in Saskatchewan or Manitoba, neither have I been to the Midwest/Central US. Arizona counts for something though, right?

The closer I look the more I see a connection between cowboy gear and tattoo imagery. Besides the strength and appeal of many long-standing tattoo designs that probably derive from cowboy lore, guns, stars, and the Pharaoh's Horses, for example, there's an incredible tradition of (surface) embellishment on everyday practical gear. It's a fantastic mix of utility and beauty: the leather-tooled flourishes on saddles, cowboy boots with their stitchwork and leather inlay, engraving on weapons and tools, and much more.

This tradition of ornamentation extends to almost every item in the canon of cowboy paraphernalia so I think plenty of opportunity remains for incorporating these visual elements into tattooing. Let me know if you've got any cool cowboy-related tattoos or ideas for one.

Thanks for reading