A year ago when we were trying to name my painting for The Russell Auction, my wife and I joked that we should name it "Little Ass-Kicker" but we settled on the name "High Caliber"- a decent name, but not that exciting. After heading up to the events in Great Falls, Montana, we were sad that the name wasn’t "Little Ass-Kicker" because we felt like a name like that would really make a splash at the auction. At The Russell auction, there's always a lot of fun, excitement (and lots of drinks) which can sometimes make a piece of art sneak past a potential buyer without notice. So, we really wanted to switch the name so everyone's ears would perk up but, there was no way to get a message to the auctioneer to change the name. Well, it was Saturday afternoon- just a few hours before the big auction- and my wife and I had just had lunch (a birthday lunch, happy birthday to my wife, Danielle!) and we were heading back to the hotel to get ready for the auction. Walking down the hall, I saw two young men dressed nicely with white shirts and ties. They looked like they were possibly spotters for the auction (either that or Mormon missionaries:). I asked why they were all dressed up. They said they were going to the auction and that they were with the auction company. Not only were we staying in the same hotel, our rooms were right next to each other! I asked if they could get the name-change message to the auctioneer. One of the young men’s responses? “Well, the auctioneer is my dad, so I think I can get that to him.” We were FLOORED. We spent 3 nights in that hotel and that is the only time we saw those guys. We indeed were able to get the name changed and, in turn, get the audience’s attention. I’m still shocked at what transpired. I know that God’s hand was in this. He has blessed our family tremendously. Check out what happened in the video below.
This story was in the newspaper in Great Falls the next morning and my local newspaper in Utah did an article on it, too. It also made it into Western Art Collector Magazine.
