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…and there she is! I’m going to be spending the rest of the summer painting a mural over the entire surface of the cart. I’m also looking into building a brake system, a “chuck-wagon” style top with flip down hinges to allow for security, dryness for my wares and a drafting table on the road, and then also possibly a leather harness system for me to wear in order to more equally distribute weight on the road
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The Cowboy Prince in the Uintas, Utah, U.S.A. (A.D. 2009)
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From All the Graces My Homeland Offered, I Chose Only Your Savage Heart
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There is no turning back now….
the cart construction is complete and just passed its first road test around the block.
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Coming soon! the Motion & Glory peddler cart is mostly assembled, seen here receiving its initial coat of paint before attaching the axel and wheels
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The Cowboy Prince & Custer’s Last Waistband present…
“the Zouave Uniform of the Cowboy Prince” (May, 2012)
-black flannel broad cloth, handmade white crinoline bias tape, red linen lining.
-Inspired by the 19th century French Zouave regiments of the Crimean War and the devil-may-care “red-legged devil” Zouaves of the American Civil War, this is my own take on the traditional military uniform
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the Cowboy Prince & Custer’s Last Waistband Present…
“American Cangaço Dress” (May, 2012)
- Black & white striped linen, cotton twill tape
… home designed and draped pattern inspired by the early 20th century homemade Brazilian bandit dresses of the Cangaço. This particular design will later feature more trim looping around the hem and skirt vents, also possibly two tuck-your-hand-in pockets trimmed in black
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Custer’s Last Waistband & the Cowboy Prince Present…
Works In Progress… April/May 2012
* beginning the first phase of transformation of turning the Cowboy Prince Castille into a full fledged tailor shop inspired me to removed the huge collage I had in the bedroom and opt for a simpler wall design to better direct the creative flow of the soon to be “drafting and cutting room”. I’m going to be building drafting tables and filling the room with various sizes of dress forms. The quote is from Pablo Neruda’s XLVI Sonnet of Love- read it for the first time the other day and damn it jumped out at me! what beautiful imagery, what bold, beautiful connotations and associations they conjured
* I have begun building the peddler’s cart, with the initial construction of the cart bed. It is 4 feet by 4 feet, made of beautiful poplar wood. Looks like I’ve found some nice storage options at least for the summer, so I will soon construct the whole thing with wheels and everything. As soon as I’m done with finals I will spend a month or more painting the whole cart in its entirety.
* Who am I to say that I am an artist if i do not see the very vessel in which I exist as an opportunity to further make art; If I ever hope to change the world with my art, I must first fully change myself. I must take full advantage of any and all opportunities to “affect the quality of the day” to embody the values “of man elevating himself through conscious endeavors” and first and foremost pay homage to the Motion & Glory and inner light inside myself through actively being the best version of myself I can be. SO therefore I have been sculpting my body with a regular regiment of lifting cinder blocks, running, sprints and doing ab work outs. I gave up a two plus year habit of smoking almost a pack a day, and now eat excessive amounts of carrots instead. All in preparation for the road ahead I have been making radical changes in my life in all regards. Physically of course, training is very important right now, as my new full time occupation will require me to pull a 200 lbs. plus cart and walk long distances….eventually the other cities, eventually possibly very far.
* The main body of my Zouave uniform is complete, including the lining. All the white bias tape trim is hand made and was lovingly arranged, twisted and then stitched in place over a matter of several hours by hand. The jacket is lined in red linen, featuring a welt pocket on the inside of the left breast. I have to finish the sleeves and then move onto the vest. The vest is an interesting design that is comprised of only two pieces with button closures on the right shoulder in addition to on the side seams, instead of the traditional button front. This vest will also be trimmed in white bias tape with two welt pockets. It will be lined in cotton muslin.
* Been doing a wild amount of reading, writing, and drawing lately. More in the same regards as the latter, I must also exercise my mind and intellect to the best of my abilities. I’m trying to practice having better handwriting, spelling, word usage and gain a deeper understanding of political systems, ecological design and my own spirituality. I’m currently reading Howard Zinn’s A Peoples History of the United States’ , David Orr’s ‘Nature of Design”, the book of Exodus from the Old Testament and 100 Sonnets of Love by the great Pablo Neruda
…ontop of all this I still got a week of finals including my last Costume History design project, Biology test, Costume history test covering the 16th-19th centuries, and then the completion of draping a dress design of mine and them constructing it. WHoa baby, and then! then! …. I will be a full time folk artist, a full time peddler, a full time dreamer! I can’t hardly wait
-your Cowboy Prince
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Today I officially have “taken a leave of absence” from school and put in my final weeks notice at work in the costume shop. An hour later this wild two hundred pound package arrived at my doorstep from Amish Wares & Wagons Co.. For scale, the wheels alone almost reach my chest, this baby is fine as hell!
There is no turning back now, Custer’s Last Waistband is coming your way and furthermore the Motion & Glory! movement has begun….
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Custer’s Last Waistband & the Cowboy Prince Present...
Horatio Algier’s Workshirt , 2010Inspired by writer Horatio Algiers’ “Ragged Dick” story and rags to riches ideology, this shirt was made entirely from scrap materials- a deconstructed pair of brown cotton trousers, and crazy quilted black and white curtain scraps. Playing with the idea of a “patch” pocket, this shirt features two oversized breast pockets quited and patched together.
This shirt was featured in the Tennessee Presents Textiles 2010 Guild Challenge wearable art Runway show “the Power of the Pocket”*…. this was the probably the third shirt I ever made
I am a folk artist creating and living what I call “atmospheric, time travel art”, a folk art living history revival in which I put into the action the words of Thoreau when he beautifully proclaimed ….
““We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.”
― Henry David Thoreau
I swear, Isnt that incredible? I shook when I first read it, and then smiled realizing exactly what living art would look like. For me I want my art to be something that isnt turned off or on; put simply just on a canvas or stitched into a shirt- No I want to live my art. When I walk down the street, or grocery shop, tailor, communicate with fellows, everything, all aspects of my life… From my 19th century everyday influenced dressing style, to my dirty wild hair, to my rustic Cracker Barrel aesthetic house, to my individual art projects and yet even more importantly from my everyday interactions with people, my choices, my handshakes, my sense of morality, and overall and most signficantly my intentionality.
Moreover I want to live well.
My faith as a Transcendentalist and artist has unfurled a whole new world before my eyes, in which I am invited and inspired and cant help but live outloud, engaged, wildly, boldly, intentionally and very colorfully.
Nicknamed the “Cowboy Prince” , my childhood was spent in coonskin caps and cowboy boots, getting into all sorts of adventures climbing trees and hiding in bushes, baking cookies, and making costumes out of my sisters clothing. I always wanted to live in a different time period, and dappled with a ten year addiction to Civil War reenacting, excessive book reading, tap dancing and yet still cannot shake my passion for all things past. I figured I might as well embrace it fully.
The greatest thing that happened to me as I got older was learning how to sew, and with that initial introduction to art, it later led to other gateway mediums such as painting, quilting and sculpture. I am now embarking on a most glorious journey in search of my own El Dorado. I am currently an apprentice costume designer, pattern maker, and tailor and am working hard to become a designer for films and eventually open my own tailor shop “Custer’s Last Waistband”.
This online periodical I have set up is an attempt at categorizing and most importantly sharing the nostalgic yearnings of my heart with a larger audience. These grainy images and artifacts are what truly turn me on. It is a way for me as an adult to maintain my sense of childhood wonder- which I feel is truly important for successful contentment- and furthermore cultivate it into the very atmosphere in which I dwell.
Well welcome y’all, set yourself down and rest a while- Lord knows! I got biscuits in the oven, while we remember and re-envision our world.
Welcome to the Cowboy Prince Castille
Ride Boldly Ride,
-Charlie C. Umhau
