A Labor of Love: Honoring My Family’s Legacy Through Paint

Acrylic on Canvas | 60” x 40” | Not for Sale

This painting has been a labor of love—one I’ve worked on sporadically over the past year. It’s based on a still frame from a video of my Grandpa, Buss Carson, singing and playing guitar back in the 1960s. Capturing that quiet moment on canvas became more than an artistic exercise—it became a way to honor the roots I come from.

Growing up, I was immersed in a life most people only see in movies. My family performed in western shows—horseback riding, trick roping, clogging, dog acts, and even a rodeo clown (played by my dad). It all started with my Grandpa Buss, who dreamed of becoming a rhinestone cowboy like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Alongside his wife, Athlea, and their five children, they brought that dream to life.

In the 1930s, the Carson Stuntcapade was born. The show featured Roman riding, trick roping, liberty drills, and dog acts. They toured across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, performing at fairs and rodeos. Grandpa Buss even rode in the Pasadena Rose Parade for 35 consecutive years, proudly seated atop his Bohlin sterling silver saddle.

As the youngest of six, I grew up in the thick of the family business—one that constantly struggled financially but overflowed with heart. Afterschool hours, weekends, and summers were spent shoveling corrals, practicing trick roping, and learning dance routines. We didn’t have much, but I felt incredibly lucky to be part of a close-knit family, to perform, and to be surrounded by animals.

But that life came with a cost.

My grandpa passed from complications after a fall during a parade. My dad followed years later, after a lifetime of working under the relentless Southern California sun—his fair redhead skin unable to withstand the toll. My siblings and I have faced similar battles—skin cancer, worn joints, and the quiet aches of a physically demanding lifestyle.

This painting is cathartic. It’s a portrait of my Grandpa, but also of everything he passed down: dreams, grit, resilience. It holds a complicated kind of love—the kind that includes gratitude, sadness, pride, and reverence.

Love for family.

Love for tradition.

Love for being part of a lineage of dreamers, hard workers, and doers.

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