Fourteen Cows One Bull

R. Tom Gilleon

The title tells the tale of the hunt that became this Comanche home...fourteen cows and one bull buffalo were taken in the hunt. This bounty not only fed the family, but the hides also provide their shelter and have become their home. A wonderful painting by R. Tom Gilleon illustrates life on the plains for the nomadic Comanche whose entire existence depended upon the cows and bulls of America’s great bison herds, which once numbered over 100 million and were hunted almost to extinction by the white hunters.

Artist Bio

Raised in Florida by his grandparents (his grandmother was a Cherokee), R. Tom Gilleon served in the United States Navy and is a Vietnam Veteran. He began his career as a technical illustrator for Pan American World Airways. Soon thereafter he moved to California where he worked for the Walt Disney Company in the Imagineering studio and led the design team that created the Epcot Center. In the early 80’s he moved to Montana to become a painter.

Over the past 30 years, R. Tom Gilleon has achieved impressive success and acceptance as a fine artist. Working in an impressionistic state, the bold colors and compelling lighting of his Native American subjects result in stunning art that captures the Spirit of the Great American West.