O T G U Y O S ’ E H S
How a Lesbian Romance Led to an Outpouring of Americana Art
by Addison Herron-Wheeler
W
Art courtesy of Laura Goodson
hen Laura Goodson first started painting, it wasn’t because she felt a higher calling or was desperate to earn a living as an artist—she just wanted to get the girl. When she started dating local, Houston badass Magen Pastor, she knew she needed to be impressive.
Then, when Goodson went home and started painting, something magical happened. It wasn’t just about getting the girl anymore. She started painting cowboys, since that’s what she had learned to draw as a child. Starting with nothing but a cowboy hat on each illustration, the people she drew began to come to life.
“She is really plugged into the art scene in Houston,” Goodson explains. “And so, when we first started dating, we were going to a lot of art shows, and I quickly realized that she was gonna lose interest in me if I didn't have some sort of creative engagement with her. And so, I quickly was like, ‘Oh, I'll paint you a piece.’ So, I went and went to an art store to get some canvas and paint. I had never painted before, but was inspired because I wanted to get a girl.”
“The whole cowboy thing came about because of my grandfather, who was really influential in my life,” Goodson says. “When I was really little, he taught me how to draw a cowboy hat and nothing else. And so, for whatever reason, it stuck with me whenever I had the chance to be creative. It was like the one thing I knew how to do. And so I started there, and I think a lot of the characters are just reflections of people that have been in my life at some point, maybe not this life; it may have been a past life.”
1 2 \\ A U G U S T 1 9 , 2 0 2 0
