Cows (and ice cream) help artist make his mark

Most ice cream-loving Americans — and especially kids — are familiar with the Vermont-made brand of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and their familiar black and white graphic cows that give personality to their delivery trucks.

But outside of Vermont, Woody Jackson’s identity may not be as famous as his Holstein cows.

Meeting Jackson in Manchester, Vt., where he gave a delightful presentation to kids of all ages, it was easy to see that the artist loves to tell his story as much as he loves to illustrate.

Inspired by the barns and hills of Vermont dairyland country, Jackson fell in love with the Holsteins of Addison County.

“When I started painting cows I had no idea how famous they’d become. I just painted them ’cause I wanted to. I had no commercial interest,” he said.

All that changed in 1983, when Ben Cohen (the “Ben” of Ben & Jerry’s) contacted Jackson.

“I didn’t really know anything about the ice cream duo... Ben had seen my prints and contacted me.

“Ben and Jerry’s had painted a rather cartoonish cow on their trucks, but they thought my cows were what was needed. They also thought it was a good fit between two Vermont enterprises.

A year later, they began using Jackson’s images in other areas of the business, and “we made a licensing agreement so that my cows could be made part of Ben & Jerry’s all over the country,” he said. “The cows gave Ben & Jerry’s an instantly powerful trademark, which has helped the company to become world renowned.”

Years later, he still loves to see the big Ben & Jerry’s semis rolling down Interstate 89 covered with Woody cows.

Now a renowned artist, Jackson said he was no artistic prodigy. Moving from New Jersey to Vermont where he worked as a printmaker and farmhand, he said he’d watch the black and white Holsteins moving back and forth as he worked on the farm.

“My cows don’t have eyes or a nose. In the models of cows I painted from, I couldn’t see their eyes (it was black on black). All I could see was the black and white moving back and forth... as an artist I simplified the most important parts of what I saw.”

In a slide show presentation at the Mark Skinner Library in Manchester, Jackson showed his cows in the varied seasons.

With his cows famous worldwide as ambassadors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Jackson’s art isn’t limited to cows. He has painted dogs, vegetable gardens, scenes of New Mexico and Colorado and many landscapes of Vermont in its vastly different scenic seasons.

In one 1983 painting, he depicts his black and white Holsteins with the Brooklyn Bridge and World Trade Center in the background.

Most recently, he’s written and illustrated two books for children — “Counting Cows” and “The Cow’s Alfalphabet.”

With flavors that include Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia and New York Super Fudge Chunk, one flavor name stands out. “Imagine Whirled Peace” is caramel flavored and has round pieces of dark chocolate embossed with a peace symbol.

Jackson’s personal favorite is Mint Chocolate Chip. He said he has no cows of his own and prefers to make his neighbors’ cows famous.

For trivia buffs, Vermont has the highest ratio of cows to people of any state: There’s one cow for every four people.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley who is working from the Green Mountains in Vermont. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.