MIKE TABOR

Creating Art to Inspire

Mike Tabor’s reputation as one of America’s most respected Western Expressionist painters and accomplished sculptors didn’t happen overnight.

First, he earned a bachelor’s degree in art at Tarleton with the hope of using his gifts to inspire others.

Then came cowboying and rodeoing, marriage to Suzy and the joint venture of the Calico Cattle Company in Hood and Somervell counties, and children. The desire for full-time involvement in art led to a teaching position at Granbury High School—a position now enjoyed for almost three decades.

When Tabor sold his first two drawings for $300, he had no idea if anyone would like his postmodern approach to Western themes.

They do.

So much that Tabor’s reputation permeates the United States and Europe. People are fascinated with his use of light, color and ability to create more with less. He credits his vision to the pop artists of the ’60s and French Impressionism.

Tabor’s first thought when asked to do a life-size bronze of Maj. Gen. James Earl Rudder was to create an action piece—a statue to showcase the strength and confidence of a true American military hero.

“I’m honored to death that the university asked me to create a bronze of Earl Rudder,” he said. “Not even in my wildest imagination did I see myself doing a life-size piece of one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. history, and fellow Tarleton Distinguished Alumnus.

“Not to take away from his leadership role as president of Texas A&M and later chancellor of the A&M System, I wanted him to look as regal as an Army general should. I could have done a dress uniform, but it just seemed more fitting to put him in an Eisenhower jacket, helmet and boots, hands behind his back, looking stoic and at peace.”

He started the bronze after reading about Rudder’s historic assault on D-Day, the parade that followed in France and anything else he could find. Thanks to a family friend who attended Texas A&M during Rudder’s administration, he was able to craft a true-to-life statue.

The bronze is realistic down to the tiniest detail. The folds in the general’s jacket, his medals and the serial number on his weapon—JMS081814—the birthday of Tabor’s grandson, Jace Michael Smith.

Rudder is Tabor’s second large bronze, and a third is in the works.

“I never intended to do life-size statues,” he explained. But that changed after the death of his best friend, sculptor Dan Coates.

John Hancock Financial asked Tabor to carry on Coates’ work of sculpting annual employee awards, and he said yes before he thought.

The company liked Tabor’s work so much that it commissioned him to create a life-size bronze of Team Hoyt, the father-son duo best known for their 32-year participation in the Boston Marathon. Dick, the father, pushed his quadriplegic son, Rick, in a wheelchair along the 26.2-mile route. Located at the starting line of the marathon in Hopkinton, Mass., the statue celebrates selfsacrifice, heroism and the bond between a father and son.

“To be asked to sculpt a memorial to the Hoyts and to Maj. Gen. Earl Rudder is surreal,” Tabor said, “and to have a statue on the campus of my alma mater is a dream come true. The Hoyt and Rudder stories inspire others to believe that anything is possible.”

Like Tabor’s art. Hear more from Mike Tabor and his work on the Rudder statue at tarleton.edu/miketabor

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