BUFFALO - When sculptor D. Michael Thomas opens the door of his studio, a newcomer could easily assume the tall, lanky Wyoming native to be a rancher.

His studio a few miles east of town looks like a horse barn, and the mustached Thomas in his denim shirt, well-worn jeans and cowboy boots fits the profile of a Western man.

The art in Thomas's barn is horses, horses and more horses, whether the riding or draft variety, and the people who work with them. Thomas's love of the West came from his boyhood in western Wyoming, plus a natural bent for sculpturing which he picked up in college.

Thomas's father Dave, a western Wyoming game warden, encouraged his son to learn the ranching lifestyle and love the outdoors. His mother passed on to him not only his talent, but a deep appreciation for all things artistic.

Thomas was working hard to gain some notoriety with his bronzes when Bob McBride commissioned him to do two large pieces for Buffalo's First National Bank's newly acquired parking complex. The bronzes, titled "Ridin' for the Brand" and "Livin' on the Edge," stand as a testament to the 100th anniversary of the Johnson County Invasion of 1892. Rarely a day goes by when visitors to town aren't standing by the eye-catching display.

Since the early 1990s, Thomas has produced winning bronzes currently displayed in galleries all over the West. His intense devotion to "getting it right" includes in exquisite detail the bits, reins, harness, spurs and buckles all in their proper place. He says dental tools work well for details, defining the faces of weathered ranchers with bushy eyebrows or hoary frost on a draft horse's body in winter.

As impressive as his animal bronzes are the people he sculptures. With exacting preciseness the faces, limbs and clothing fall into place. The face of one bronc rider in his studio resembles the craggy look of Gary Cooper, and the work-worn facial creases of a driver behind a team of horses reminds one of a hard-working pioneer grandfather.

Thomas learned to ride at an early age, and at the age of 10 he drove his first team of horses while feeding cattle in what he refers to "the icebox of the nation," Big Piney.

His love of horses and an artistic bent helped him forge a strong bond with his friend, the late bareback rider and country music star Chris LeDoux.

"I also love music, especially the Western kind. I pick the guitar and sing for area guest ranches, and that has helped me sell many bronzes through the years," he said. "Before Chris became a mega star I opened for him at the WYO Theater in Sheridan as well as for Baxter Black."

Thomas's main focus now is to complete a bronze of LeDoux "large enough to stand as a monument to him" in his hometown of Kaycee.

His initial piece will serve as a pattern for the finished monument, which will be life-and-a-half sized. LeDoux stood a little over 6 feet tall, so the completed monument piece will be massive. In order to add additional character to the bronze, Thomas has placed the bucking horse LeDoux is riding on a guitar-shaped stand.

"The horse and guitar together just seem to honor Chris's notoriety," Thomas said.

With a slight tremor in his voice, Thomas speaks about the warm, caring personality of his late friend. Then he adds that 200 smaller-sized bronzes will be for sale to help in raising money for the Chris LeDoux Memorial Trust to be placed just off Kaycee's Main Street.

It only takes a swift glance at Thomas's LeDoux piece to recognize the face of Kaycee's best-known resident. The cowboy hat reminds one of LeDoux's early songs, "Under This Old Hat."

It's enough to make anyone who knew LeDoux wipe away a tear.