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S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 2 2 5 L isten to Kiwi writer and philosopher Peter Ryan. "On the walls of caves in France and Spain are ochre paintings, some many times older than the pyramids. Their bold, simple lines convey not just the shapes of animals, but the very essence of their movement. They capture the sweep of a rhino's horn or the proud arch of a wild horse's neck in a single, smooth line. It's impossible to imagine how this could be done underground in the dark, using nothing but smoking oil for light." Could every Stone Age savage pull that off? Likely not. Were there artists already among us a quarter million years ago? You know the answer already. And they're still here today, walking and working among us, standing out from the crowds in ways that have nothing to do with art—then standing up for their art, which is exceptional. J ulie Jeppsen got sprung from class to sketch Bambi and she did it passably well, she claims. If you think that's an odd beginning for a nationally acclaimed wildlife artist, just hold on. I've got seven stories to tell and they keep getting better. A meat inspector, a Pentecostal preacher, an architect, a smoke jumper, those anonymous prehistoric artists too, all spinners of magic with paint and bronze, ochre, even soot. But meanwhile, Julie Jeppsen is seven years old on her knees on an elementary school floor with a roll of butcher paper and a wad of crayons, making a set for a school musical. "Out of class for this? Oh yes!" By high school, she was selling her work to pay entry fees in rodeos. This was out in Utah where young girls dream of growing up to ride. But Julie Jeppsen did more than dream. She was a tenth of a second from first place in goat roping at the National High School Rodeo. She became a champion in Cowboy Mounted Shooting, an equine biathlon, where the rider negotiates a twisting course while blazing away with a vintage six-gun. She was recognized as one of the best in the world and moved from competition to instruction, coaching the likes of Sarah Palin and Reba McIntyre. She can scarcely keep up these days but children help. One handles sales, another the website, and a third takes care of 22 saddle horses while momma cruises the art show circuit and the backcountry. She carries a kit most places, paper and watercolors, making prototypes for later oils. The Indians, cowboys, horses, mountains, moose, mulies, elk, bears, and buffalo are every bit as good as Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, sometimes ever better and that is not idle flattery. This gal is good. The shortest path from obscurity to artistic success is not always a straight line. U NLIKELY SUSPEC TS THESE By Roger Pinckney