DEWITT COULTER
Tex Coulter grew up in an orphanage in Fort Worth, and what security he found at first stemmed from his six-foot-five, 270-pound frame. After service in World War II he earned an appointment to West Point, played two seasons at tackle on the great Blanchard-Davis football teams of 1944-1945. Later he turned to the pro game with the New York Giants and the Montreal Alouettes.
Four years ago, at 31, Coulter quit football and settled in Montreal to become an artist. "To most people the switch seemed incongruous," recalls Coulter now, "but I had wanted to be an artist ipce the sixth grade. I always believed that the only security I have is my own talents."
The switch from football to art was not easy until by dogged application Tex made a commercial artist of himself. Today his sports paintings, rendered with almost photographic realism and in brilliant casein colors, are much in demand across Canada. Like many an orphaned boy, Coulter is deeply interested in children and spends his spare time coaching at the Y. "You'd be surprised how you can live or die over a basketball game," muses Coulter the artist.
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