The Artwork
About Legends Limited Edition Print Artist Proof
LEGENDS, LIMITED EDITION PRINT
The cycle of life is celebrated by the cowgirl with full moons on her chaps and stars on her scarf, as she follows the path of the bears cyclical rebirth. Different cultures and myths form the tapestry of this painting, all referring to the Big Dipperï`sometimes seen as a bear"and its reappearance in the night sky. The panels in the background are drawn from Micmac tradition, where the bear or Big Dipper was chased through the sky by seven hungry birds. It is the robin who finally vanquishes the bear, its breast and the leaf of the nearby maple stained by the bears blood. The reappearance of the Big Dipper, like the emergence of the bear from hibernation, was, to many cultures, proof of the cycle of life.
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About the Collection
Donna Howell-Sickles is a renowned cowgirl artist celebrated for her mixed media paintings that blend contemporary Western imagery with symbolism and references to classical mythology. Her work often portrays confident and empowered female figures, capturing the spirit of the American cowgirl. Raised on a 900-acre farm in Texas, Howell-Sickles draws inspiration from her rural upbringing, infusing her art with authenticity and depth. Her distinctive style and contributions to Western art have earned her a place in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
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This piece is artist signed and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.
Image Rights
Image copyright © 2026 by Donna Howell Sickles.
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"They have energy, wit, wisdom and self-awareness. They have charm, style,
independence and a love of animals that goes beyond the mythic. They are the
cowgirls of Donna Howell-Sickles.
It all started with a postcard. Howell-Sickles came upon a 40 s-era, hand-
tinted postcard of a woman dressed in wild west gear astride a big sorrel horse
above the inscription, ""Greetings from a real cowgirl from the ol Southwest.""
""This was a wonderful image in that the colors were printed over the black and
white processing,"" Howell-Sickles says. ""And her bright red lips were printed
just slightly off-center. That quality of the real and unreal fascinated me.""
That postcard started the Texas Tech University graduate on a search for her
own American cowgirls, ones who were strong and joyous.
The search led to rodeos and Wild West shows, dating as far back as the 20 s
and reaching up until today. ""I kind of got acquainted by name with all of
these old rodeo women,"" she says. ""Wonderfully, wildly atypical for their
time."" And from their inspiration and her own love of life and art, Howell-
Sickles created a new cowgirl for the 90 s and beyond.
Now her images are eagerly sought by collectors, galleries and museums and
adorn the walls of many a person who admires bold colors, decorative design and
symbolic strength. Howell-Sickles has had more than a dozen one-woman shows and
was named the featured artist at the American Woman Artist show at the National
Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. Her book Cowgirl Rising was
published in 1997."
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