Fortuna Rodeo Poster Artist

Bradley Chance Hays

Bradley Chance Hays is a professional calf roper and artist, painting primarily expressionistic pieces of horses.  “It’s kind of a wild duo,” he said. “Art’s been good to me. It’s opened a lot of doors.”
Growing up the son of a rodeo cowboy — his father — and an art teacher — his mother — Hays learned both crafts and works hard to combine the two.  “It’s tough. I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s cost me relationships just to do what I love,” he said. “To make it great, you have to sacrifice things.” Having a rodeo cowboy father and an artist teacher mother gave Chance Hays an opportunity to explore both of his passions.

“When I was a kid, I would never get coloring books. While she would cook for my dad in the mornings, my mom would lay out rolls of paper, and I would lay down and draw my stories,” Chance said. “It just stimulated my abilities. I had to do everything myself. My mom made me build my own canvases in high school, too. I never got anything pre-made. It opened that creativity.”

While he had a love for art, he shared that with the rodeo.

“I loved art and my dad was a rodeo man. It was probably one of the best experiences for me because I grew up in a real rodeo home. It was no joke and there wasn’t any messing around,” Chance said. “I just ate it up”.

Check out our poster art by Brandley below and see more of his artwork online here!