Levi Knievel
Death-defying feats have fascinated mankind for centuries. Many a hospital trip followed the words “hey ya’ll watch this”. Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Evel was influenced by Joie Chitwood Auto Daredevil Show, to become a motorcycle daredevil.
A generation of children grew up transfixed by his televised exploits, imitating his stunts on bicycles in the 1960s and 1970s, and I was one of them. My orange Schwinn Sting Ray bicycle jumped many a small creek, wooden ramp or rode a “wheely” down a street with a baseball card affixed to the real wheel by one of Mom’s clothespins.
In one of his first jumps for ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Knievel successfully jumped 50 stacked cars.
This painting captures the excitement and imagination of Evel’s exploits in a Plain community farm setting. I wanted to capture the childhood thrill we had on our bicycles imitating Evel but in an over-the-top way. Since the Amish would not have cars or school busses to jump over, they would however have an abundance of cows. By the way, this painting officially documents the world’s record for the number of cows jumped on a scooter.