Jon Vick Biography

I was born Sunday morning, September 15, 1963 in Killeen, Texas, a fifth generation Texan. Yes, my roots run deep for my beloved Texas.

My younger years were spent hearing tales of early Texas and the “West“.  One of my great grandfathers was a meat hunter for Fort Concho in San Angelo, Texas; the other great grandfather participated in the early days of the Texas fence cutting wars.  My Grandfather, Jesse Carl Vick (aka, “Spud“,) was a working cowboy in the Texas panhandle circa 1910-1917,  then he was needed for World War I.  It seemed natural for me to want to be a cowboy since I grew up around old cowboys and ranchers.

In my early teens I began working on local ranches.  I was very fond of one rancher in particular, his name was Dudley Barker.  One day “Dud” told me “If you are going to Cowboy, you might as well make some money doing it…. Rodeo!”  A rodeo cowboy was born.  I rode broncs and bulls through my teens, well into my early twenties.  I met the legendary rodeo clown, Leon Coffee, one night at a jackpot bull riding, which was being held at the Steiner’s Arena in Austin, Texas.  Leon asked, “Who would like to try their hand at bull fighting?”  I jumped at this rare opportunity to learn from such a legend. I learned more from that blessed Man in one night than a lifetime could have taught me.  Leon had me fighting some of the rankest bulls in the world that night; “Savage Seven” and “Black Six” just to name a few.  A rodeo clown was born. 

During my bullfighting years, I teamed up with another young clown and boy did we put some miles going down the road!  It seemed like we were on top of the world, then the injuries started; collapsed lung, broken ribs, broken bones, and they all started to take a toll.  It was a freakish accident where I crushed my fibula, tibia and ankle all the way down to my toes that ended my rodeo days. Amid the following years of intense rehab, I started drawing to help me pass the time.  Soon I had half of the bull riders and bronc riders in Texas asking me to draw them.  Ranchers also joined the list asking me to draw their prize horses.  An artist was born.

At this point in my life, I really began to study Remington, Russell, and Joe Beeler just to name a few.  Art had really taken a hold on me.  When I would look at Remington’s bronzes I would tell myself, “You have to try this!”   When I first picked up plasticine clay and began to make shapes I was hooked for life, I had found my medium.  A sculptor was born.

I will always hold true to the legacy established by Remington and Russell while exploring my own fresh concepts to take  western sculpture into new frontiers.  Evident in my work, my attention to authenticity and detail could only come from someone who has lived the “Life.”  Generations have passed since the trail blazers, the drovers and the heyday of Remington and Russell, but the spirit that help define these American characters lives on.