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S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 2 2 6 "There are wonderful connections between competition riding and art," Jeppsen notes. "You are always pushing yourself to be the best you can be, in the saddle or at the easel. And people who love horses and shooting also love animals and the romance of the Old West. It's a great way to introduce them to my art." S moke on the walls of caves? Let me tell you about smoke and sculptor Fred Boyer of Anaconda, Montana. Boyer used to jump out of airplanes into wildfires. On purpose. A veteran of 30 jumps for the U.S. Forest Service in five states, he parachuted into forest fires with little more than the love of Jesus, his britches, and a shovel, more supplies on the way pretty quick, maybe, a hero by any reckoning. "They gave us a hundred feet of line," he says, "so we could rappel to the ground when we got 'treed.' We had two days rations, then we had to climb back up the tree, unsnarl the chute before packing to the nearest trailhead, not always so close. When I got sent to the West Coast, they gave us an extra sixty feet of rope, as the trees are taller out there." Can you make this up? Fred Boyer's work depicts "nature frozen for a moment in time," a critic noted, "portraying life in the wild as simple and ruthless, majestic, and pure," just like those ancient artists did on the walls of caves. Boyer's animals come in eighth size, quarter, half, or full. And a full-size moose, even hollow, tips the scales at nearly a ton and tips the till at well over 100 grand. In his spare time, Fred Boyer guides for black and brown bear in Alaska. What? Jumping smoke and brown bear? Is he some kind of adrenaline junkie? Boyer laughs. "My wife made me quit jumping once the children came, but I do like to keep the blood pumping." B lood pumping, Holy smokes! Pastor Sam Timm is a master of nostalgic rural Americana. Pastor Sam? That's right, an Assembly of God Evangelical from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Known as an "artist's artist," Sam's admirers revere his mastery of sky, snow, and the use of color, inspired by his surroundings on his 200-acre homestead in the Badger State. You will know his work once you see it—collector plates, wallpaper murals, welcome mats, greeting cards, and calendars. The National Geographic Society, Ducks Unlimited, and the Smithsonian Institute use his images for fundraising. How does being a pastor suit the artistic life? Or maybe the other way around? "People are a long- term investment, many years in most cases," he says. "You baptize Thirty years old at the time, Fred Boyer and other smoke-jumpers prepare to be air-lifted out of their base at West Yellowstone to fight a wildfire in the national park. LIMITING OUT BY FRED BOYER