Evergreen Studio

07/10/2026

While digging through my archives I came across this image of one of my paintings, "Celebrity Train" at an early stage in its creation with a few of the figures painted in place.

Since I'm often asked about the process of creating such a monumental work, I thought I'd share this here with a more comprehensive story about the painting and the project. Here is an article about the project.

Every painting has a story. Some stories are remarkable. Others become part of history.

One of those extraordinary stories is "Celebrity Train," a monumental watercolor by artist Steven Saylor that brought together one of the largest gatherings of country and western legends ever assembled in a single work of art.

Commissioned by the Carson City Rotary Foundation, Celebrity Train celebrates the spirit of America's railroads and the enduring legacy of country music. Created in Steven Saylor's signature glazed watercolor technique, the painting required months of painstaking work, building hundreds of transparent layers of color to achieve its remarkable depth and luminosity.

The finished painting features an unforgettable cast of entertainers, including:

Roy Acuff

Eddy Arnold

Hoyt Axton

Mae Boren Axton

Glen Campbell

Roy Clark

Jessi Colter

Lacy J. Dalton

Larry Gatlin

Crystal Gayle

Mickey Gilley

Waylon Jennings

Sandy Kelly

Roger Miller

Lorrie Morgan

Juice Newton

Kenny Rogers

Connie Smith

Randy Travis

Boxcar Willie

Nevada Governor Robert Miller

Danny the Dog

Each celebrity became part of an ambitious limited-edition fine art publishing project unlike anything attempted before.
A Truly Historic Edition

The print was released in two editions.

The prestigious Celebrity Edition consisted of only 260 prints, along with 25 remarqué Artist's Proofs. Each was individually signed by the participating celebrities, Nevada Governor Robert Miller, and Steven Saylor himself—creating one of the most unique autograph collections ever assembled on a fine art print.

A second Timed Release Edition was signed and numbered by the artist, allowing collectors to own this remarkable image while preserving the exclusivity of the Celebrity Edition.

Upon completion of the edition, all lithographic printing plates were destroyed, ensuring that no additional prints could ever be produced.
Museum-Quality Production

Every detail of the publication reflected the highest standards of fine art printing.

Lithography by A. Carlisle & Co.

Printed on Mohawk Superfine Archival Paper

Published by Evergreen Studio

Produced under the personal direction of Steven Saylor

The archival materials and meticulous craftsmanship were chosen to preserve the artwork for generations.
About the Artist

Steven Saylor earned both his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Kent State University, where he later taught illustration, design, watercolor, photography, and painting. He also taught at the University of Nevada and served as an assistant television director and art director before dedicating his career to painting the American West.

His distinctive glazed watercolor technique—developed over decades—builds transparent layers of watercolor separated by clear varnish glazes, allowing light to travel through the painting in much the same way it does through the glazes of the Old Masters. Some works require hundreds—and sometimes thousands—of individual applications of color and glaze before reaching completion.
More Than a Painting

Celebrity Train represents far more than a gathering of famous musicians. It captures an era when railroads, western music, and American storytelling traveled together across the country.

Today, it remains one of Steven Saylor's most celebrated commissions and stands as a lasting tribute to the artists whose music helped define generations.

For collectors and lovers of Western art, Celebrity Train is not simply a print—it is a remarkable piece of Americana and a testament to an extraordinary collaboration between artist, musicians, and history itself.

Steven Saylor
Evergreen Studio
Dayton, Nevada

07/09/2026

The Legend of Buffalo A. Butterbread

The true story behind a poster, a borrowed name, and a time when the Comstock still believed anything was possible.

There are posters that advertise an event... and there are posters that become part of the story themselves.

This was one of those.

I created it in 1973 during one of the wildest, most colorful chapters of my life. Back then, Virginia City was attracting an unusual mix of old miners, artists, musicians, dreamers, bikers, hippies, and people who had simply wandered into the Nevada desert looking for something they couldn't quite name. The silver boom had faded nearly a century before, but another kind of boom was underway—a boom of imagination.

For reasons that seemed perfectly sensible at the time, I adopted the pen name Buffalo A. Butterbread.

Nobody ever asked what the "A" stood for.

Nobody cared.

On the Comstock, a name was less important than the stories you told while wearing it.

The poster advertised Annie Bowers singing You Can't Get a Man With a Gun with The Chickens, a wonderfully eccentric local band whose performances were as unpredictable as Nevada weather. Every show was different. One night you might hear country, the next blues, and before the evening was over someone would be playing a washboard while another musician had somehow incorporated a garbage can lid into the percussion section.

The audience loved every minute of it.

I wanted the poster to feel like the music sounded.

The giant exploding word "MAN" dominates the page, letters flying in every direction like they had been blasted from a cannon. The dramatic black-and-orange design borrowed from old vaudeville bills, silent movie posters, and nineteenth-century broadsides, all filtered through the psychedelic spirit of the early 1970s.

Everything was hand drawn.

No computer.

No digital fonts.

No "Undo" button.

Just pen, ink, rulers, lettering guides, and more than a few cups of coffee.

When I signed the artwork vertically along the border as BUTTERBREAD, I never imagined anyone would still be looking at it more than fifty years later.

The original posters sold for one dollar.

Most people folded them under their arm after the show or thumb-tacked them to a cabin wall where they slowly yellowed in the mountain sun. Few survived.

Looking at it today brings back the smell of printer's ink, the sound of guitars drifting up C Street, laughter pouring from saloon doors, and the feeling that every weekend on the Comstock was another chance for something extraordinary to happen.

Virginia City has always attracted characters larger than life.

Some carried pickaxes.

Some carried paintbrushes.

Some carried guitars.

And some—like Buffalo A. Butterbread—simply carried a pen and tried to capture the magic before it disappeared.

Today the poster stands as more than an advertisement.

It is a small time capsule from an unforgettable era when art, music, friendship, and a little harmless eccentricity flourished on the old Comstock.

And every time I see that little vertical signature—

BUTTERBREAD—

I'm reminded that, for a brief and wonderful time, Buffalo A. Butterbread was very much alive.

06/02/2026

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04/28/2026

“Victory Train”

This image, drawn from my archived paintings, reveals a glazed watercolor in progress. You can see pigment being worked into the outer margins—areas that are ultimately concealed beneath the mat when the piece is framed.

In my glazing process, each layer is built gradually, often extending beyond the visible image. These hidden passages are part of the painting’s evolution—evidence of the hand at work, and of decisions made along the way. Though they disappear in the final presentation, they remain essential to the structure, depth, and luminosity of the finished piece.

Giclée Print
Image size: 36" × 20½"
Edition: 260 signed & numbered prints, 24 remarqued artist proofs

Victory Train was created as a special commission to raise funds for the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad, famed for its operation of the bullet-shaped McKeen Motorcar. Though many McKeen cars were built in the early 20th century, only a few survive today—one of which has been painstakingly restored by the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City.

The scene captures a jubilant moment at the end of World War II. The station platform is alive with celebration as families, servicemen, and townsfolk gather in a shared wave of relief and hope. Flags fly, embraces abound, and the air hums with the promise of peace restored.

Among the assembled crowd are a remarkable number of notable figures, portrayed as part of this historic convergence:
Hal Holbrook, Patricia Hitchcock, Paul Revere, Tony Curtis, Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, former Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn, Toni Tennille, Daryl Dragon, Dean Stockwell, Lacy J Dalton, Juice Newton, Kevin Cadogan, Janie Fricke, and many others—each woven naturally into the fabric of the celebration.

Victory Train stands as both a tribute to American railroading heritage and a cinematic snapshot of unity, gratitude, and optimism at one of history’s most meaningful turning points.