Western Slope Artist Lyle Nichols Puts ‘For Sale’ Sign On His Moo-tor Home

Stepahie Wolf/CPR News

A Western Slope artist is ready to let go of one of his prized possessions.

Lyle Nichols, who creates sculptures out of materials many would consider junk, told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel he’s selling a motorhome he made out of a fiberglass cow for $15,000.

“I don't drive it enough, and I'm not seeking attention as much as I used to,” Nichols said in a email to CPR. “I'll let someone else create new memories.”

The cow used to be at the Prime Cut restaurant in Grand Junction. Then, about 15 years ago, Nichols came across the bovine structure at an auction. He would often go to auction, estate sales and junkyards to collect materials for his art, and then stashes them at his home outside Palisade. He wanted to add the cow to his collection.

“When I was a kid we used to go [to the Prime Cut] and eat ice cream and the folks would eat steaks,” Nichols told CPR News last summer. “I said, ‘yeah I don’t want that to leave the Grand Valley.’”

• When You’re On The West Slope, It’s Hard to Miss A Funky Lyle Nichols Sculpture

Nichols bought the cow and after it sat in his yard for several years, he cut it to fit on top of a truck. From the front seats of the truck, you can climb up into the belly of his “Motorhome on the Range,” where you’ll find sofas and a bed. The cow truck, which is a little more than 13 feet tall, is complete with a moo-ing horn.

In an interview with the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Nichols said he hopes the cow truck can find a home in the Grand Valley, which is why he turned down an offer from a man from Connecticut, telling him the moo-ing vehicle wasn’t up for a cross-country trek.

Nichols is retiring from doing commissioned art and part of that process is downsizing his eclectic collection of art materials, which includes bowling balls, metal coils, slabs of granite, old appliances, and even old kitchen sinks.

One thing Nichols will likely miss once it sells is driving it “down a dirt road with the rolling hills. Someone’s coming towards ya and all they see over that hill is the big cow head.”