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Acrylic by Bill Rabbit

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 200.00 USD
Acrylic by Bill Rabbit
Entitled "Strength Together". Depicting an Native American man and wife. Image size 23-1/2" wide x 16" high. Framed and matted 29" wide x 21" high. Bill (William) Rabbit (1946 - 2012).Rabbit was born in Wyoming on Dec. 3, 1946, and grew up in Pryor. He won numerous awards during the 30-plus years he worked as an artist. For nearly 20 years he worked in partnership with his daughter Traci, who is also an accomplished artist. They shared a studio in Pryor. In 2011, the Cherokee Nation named him a National Treasure for his artistry and for preserving Cherokee culture through his artwork. He was self-taught in jewelry making and acrylic painting and said all artists influenced him. For his paintings, he did little preliminary sketching, allowing the color to shape his forms in his paintings. Rabbit voluntarily joined the Army in 1966, during the Vietnam War. He served 18 months in the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam with filmmaker Oliver Stone, who earned an Academy Award for the his 1986 film “Platoon,” which was about the tour of duty they shared. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1969 at the rank of sergeant. He said Vietnam taught him that the freedom enjoyed by Americans is not free, American people don’t fully appreciate the freedoms they have and that life’s moments are precious. “Life has been good to me. I’m thankful I’ve had the opportunity to see the things I’ve seen and do the things I’ve done. But if I died tomorrow, I would feel so blessed, and I hope God puts me in charge of painting rainbows,” he said.