A BIG DRAW FOR THE VALLEY COWBOY FEST THIS WEEK.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - On next Sunday's menu for the Santa Clarita Cowboy Poetry and Music festival is ``art with a view'' at a new event, the Artists Quick Draw, set for 10 a.m. at Robinson Ranch.

The Quick Draw will test the speed and skill of nine artists who will create Western masterpieces while guests enjoy a Southwestern brunch. At the end of an hour, the artists will put down their pens and brushes for an auction of their works.

Event coordinator Andree Walper was inspired by a similar event in Los Olivos, an artisan community near Santa Maria.

``Western art is a portion of the Cowboy Festival that we had not explored until this year,'' Walper said. ``We wanted to try and expand the Festival out into the community, so we selected Robinson Ranch in Canyon Country for its decidedly Western style and spectacular view. I'm excited about the lineup of outstanding artists.

``It's also a way to get some fabulous art, maybe even below gallery prices'' she said.

When organizers were looking for someone to draw the essence of Santa Clarita's Western heritage for the first festival in 1994, they found Don Vernon, a Canyon Country artist who was familiar with the territory and quick with a paintbrush.

``They had seen my work locally and asked me if I could come up with a poster,'' he said. Vernon will return to the 10th anniversary festival for the Quick Draw.

Vernon takes his inspiration from his youthful days in Oklahoma. Although he has been an artist for more than 30 years, it took a move to California in 1976 to get him ``in the saddle'' of Western art. Now he's known for his Western renderings and has been featured at the Cattlemen's Association show in Paso Robles for the last 13 years, as well as making time to show his work at home.

He said he was honored to be included in the first batch of rapid-fire artists.

``This is a fun thing to do,'' he said. ``I've been working with some designs of Vasquez Rocks.''

Buck Taylor, a Western artist of both the visual and performing kind, is looking forward to returning to the streets of festival central at Melody Ranch, where he filmed ``Gunsmoke'' for seven years. His feature film work includes ``Tombstone,'' ``Wild Wild West'' and the recent ``Gods and Generals.''

He will join other Western entertainers when his bronze saddle is unveiled Friday afternoon on downtown Newhall's Walk of Western Stars and is planning on spending the weekend at his old stomping ground, where he will sell his artwork at the festival before and after the Quick Draw event.

Taylor, who is coming in from Ft. Worth, Texas, works primarily in watercolors to capture the romance and reality of the American West. He also received the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for his contributions to preserving the country's Western heritage.

Artist Reine River, who lives in Acton, has been billed ``California's Premier Contemporary Cowgirl Artist'' and exhibits her creations all over the U.S. and overseas. She also dabbles in cowboy poetry to augment her prints and photographs. River and fellow quick-draw artist Joe Ortiz are members of the Santa Clarita Artists Association.

Other featured artists include Susan Kliewer from Sedona, Ariz., an award-winning sculptor who is painting for this event; Margo Peterson and Karen Foster-Wells, both members of Women Artists of the West; festival vendor Anne Huthason-Sherman; and Jim McCarthy.

In addition to the artists and brunch, entertainment will be provided by Curly Musgrave, the Western Music Association 2002 Male Performer of the Year. Tickets for the event are $20 each and are available by calling [phone].

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(1 -- 2) Western artist Don Vernon, here displaying one of his paintings, ``Where the Wagons Passed,'' will participate in the Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival, which begins Wednesday in Santa Clarita.``The Fawn,'' another painting by Vernon, is a sample of the type of artwork to be seen at the festival, which will also feature a ``quick draw'' contest among the artists.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer