The Cowgirl Project- Ally Taylor
@allyyy.tay
Meeteetse, Wyoming, United States
“A Trace Of Time” on the easle and complete. I loved the fall attmosphere of the dry grass and golden light.
The beginning of “A Trace Of Time” a quick Burnt Sienna sketch and then straight into laying my darkest darks, a mixture of blue, red, and dark brown.
Fun Fact: I don’t use black in my paintings.
Ally Taylor is a sixth-generation rancher from a small town in Wyoming. That means the land isn’t just where she works, it’s who she comes from. She runs cattle on the same ground her family has stewarded for over a century. When she’s not horseback, she works as a veterinary technician, still serving the animals and people who live this life.
I was unsure of how I was going to structure this painting and originally I intended to match the photo and have no sky, but at this point in the painting I felt that it should have a sky as that’s how most people recognize my work.
“This life has shaped me in ways beyond words,” she says. “My heritage means absolutely everything to me. I never intend to change my way of life.”
When I moved to my ex husbands family farm years ago, I began to feel the weight of generations too. I had to look back through my own history to realize the strength I admired in other women was already in me.
Ally was born into her story. But even then, ranching isn’t easy. It teaches through failure as much as success. It asks for your body, your patience, your resilience. and even still, Ally says:
“Femininity is not weakness. Wear it proudly.”
That line hit me because it connected to another phrase I recently read that said, “I’d choose to be a woman in every lifetime.” It claims that I know the cost of being a woman, the weight we carry, the invisible work, and the expectations. And still, I would choose it again because of who we get to stand beside.
The Reference photo I used for “A Trace Of Time”
Every year I feel myself stepping deeper into my people, finding more women who value land, loyalty, family, and community. Women who show up quietly and keep going.
The Cowgirl Project was created to honor women like her — women whose strength isn’t loud but is undeniable. Because being a cowgirl isn’t about a checklist of skills. It’s about values. Commitment. Heart.
Ally wears all of that proudly.
And I would stand shoulder to shoulder with women like her — again and again.