Mike Childress, 1964 London Wildcat

Mike Childress graduated along with about 40 other students in one of the last classes of London Wildcats. In the fall of 1965 the school consolidated with Gaston Schools and integrated with Lincoln School to become the West Rusk
Raiders. Mike went on to graduate from Texas A & M with a degree in chemical engineering. He then went to work for the Texas Eastman facility in Longview, working his way up the corporate ladder to a public relations executive position which he held until his retirement in 2010.

While at Eastman, Mike began to cultivate his artistic talents using India ink and a pen. He combined his artistry with the rigors of precision that came along with his engineering background. Mike loved the outdoors; he and his twin Pat, along with their classmates, were outdoors as much as indoors while they hunted and fished the East Texas countryside.

As early as the 1970's, Mike was creating beautiful pen and ink drawings for his twin to use in his business as complimentary Christmas gifts for his customers. Mike's talents soon came to the attention of the executives at Texas Eastman and the company began to engage Mike for the creation of Eastman's own public relations programs. One of Mike's first Eastman print was one titled "Friends Around Us", a compendium of the wildlife of East Texas. That print was followed by another titled "The Best of Texas".

Through his position in public relations, Mike came in contact with the Texas Wildlife Association (TWA), a nonprofit association made up of a wide array of influential land owners in the state, all of whom shared a common objective of protecting the native wildlife of Texas, particularly the native deer and antelope. Mike began to create an annual custom pen and ink drawing for TWA, using one of the trophy deer or antelope that scored exceptionally high on the widely respected Boone and Crockett scoring system.

To create the annual TWA drawing, Mike traveled all over the state to the home of the landowner and/or hunter who had bagged "the big one" the previous year. Mike would take numerous photos and measurements of the mounted trophy. Whether a mule deer harvested Central Texas, a whitetail deer in South Texas or a pronghorn antelope taken in West Texas, he was sure to get not only the vital measurements, but the story behind the hunt, including the environment home to the animal. All of these elements were combined by Mike in creating a very special moment in time.

Mike usually finished the original print in time for the annual Spring TWA meeting and convention in San Antonio. Mike's original work was one of the high points of the auction and typically brought $2,000 to $3,000 at auction which was attended by 400 to 500 TWA members and guests.

After finishing the original pen and ink drawing, Mike would then order up 500 prints on very high quality, special bonded papers. He would sign and number each print and TWA would then sell these limited edition reproductions on their website for $75 each to members. All proceeds would go to the Texas Big Game Awards and wildlife-oriented education activities for Texas youth. Mike received no compensation for the thousands of hours of his artistic endeavors, other than a great deal of personal satisfaction that his time was well appreciated by all.

Mike's outreach to notable figures on behalf of Texas wildlife was very successful. The annual TWA convention always featured significant public figures as speakers and included such luminaries as James Baker, Chief of Staff for President George H.W. Bush; Lt. Governor David Dewhurst; presidential advisor Carl Rove, along with many others. Mike made it a point to present these individuals with a specially framed piece of his artwork.

Unfortunately, Mike passed away in August 2018, a victim of brain cancer.

Mike's wife, Annette, has been most gracious in passing along to the New London Museum Mike's remaining personal collection of limited edition, signed and numbered prints. The museum currently has more than 200 individual prints of Mike's, commencing with one dated 1993, "The Best of Texas". Once this inventory is depleted, no more artwork will be available.

Please note that the above prints originally sold for $75 each.

The New London Museum special pricing for the prints is $56.50, postage included, for a single print. Buy an additional print and receive a 50% discount on the second. The price for two prints sent to the same address is a very low $81.50. Please note prints sent to a different address will incur the $6.50 postage fee. Feel free to use the Donate button and pre-pay for your prints.

 Don't Wait another Day! This is an extraordinary offering of limited edition artistry from one of our own graduates and will give your home or office a touch of Texas wildlife class - they frame up beautifully!