In less than three weeks the rumblings and rambling of rodeo week will once again take over the town of Oakdale. As is tradition, events kicking off the annual event will begin leading up to the 67th Annual Oakdale Rodeo on April 14 and April 15.
Oakdale High School senior Tay Talamantes is being treated to a bit of her own 15 minutes of fame via Oakdale Rodeo, as the winning artist of the 2018 Rodeo Poster Contest. It’s an honor which now showcases her work on hundreds of posters hung throughout the Central Valley promoting Oakdale Rodeo.
“It feels nice to see my drawings everywhere,” Tay said of being named the winner. “I feel really proud to be chosen as the winner.”
Earlier this year, OHS art students submitted renderings of images given to them by the Oakdale Saddle Club, for consideration in the contest. According to Tay the students were given various images to work off of for consideration on the poster.
This was her second time submitting work for consideration. In 2017 she was a finalist in the contest.
“I’ve always liked drawing and a contest makes you do something specific,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to win, so I was really happy.”
As a result of her winning, the senior’s art is on all the posters as well as passes; she also earned a cash prize of $300 and two tickets to the Oakdale Rodeo.
Tay shared she’s never attended a rodeo, so in addition to the excitement of seeing her art, she will also be able to attend the event compliments of the Oakdale Saddle Club.
Tay chose to give a somewhat different spin to the image of a rodeo cowboy on a bucking horse. The horse is primarily black with a kaleidoscope effect highlighting areas of his body, as well as the cowboy.
“It was a lot of detail,” she said of her pencil sketch. “I just played with it. I think it turned out well.”
A newer student to OHS, Tay joined the Mustang student body in her junior year. She stated while she’s always enjoyed art, it’s only been recently that she began taking classes. Now in her senior year, she is finding it to be a bit of a respite from the stresses of senior year.
“Drawing takes my mind out of it,” she said. “I’ve just always loved art.”
For more information on events and tickets for the Oakdale Rodeo visit www.oakdalerodeo.com.
