I drew this fellow while we were in South Dakota and knew he'd be good for a number of different paintings - and all big. This is one of about 10 different images I plan to use of bison.
We came upon a herd of around 150 animals while visiting Custer State Park in southern South Dakota (which was a spectacular state, by the way) and I went nuts getting photos. There were several bulls and every one of them was chasing a cow. They weren't interested in me, so I didn't feel too threatened. I was, however, very threatened by one very large, angry, head-shaking cow who definitely didn't think I should be in her territory. She charged toward me twice and I got the message the second time. There was a fence between us, but I had no doubt that she could go through it if she wanted. We used to have a Simmental cow that behaved that way when she had a young calf. That cow nearly caught me several times and once chased me around and around the tractor bellowing and head-shaking the whole time. We called her "Spooky", because she was also hard to catch and pen and nearly impossible to get into a trailer. Obviously we finally DID catch her...and we vowed to never again coddle spooky cows. One cow that is difficult can "infect" the whole herd and make catching them impossible. What a rodeo that used to be!
Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Debbie, I've enjoyed reading about your travels and your life and looking at your paintings! They are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you captured the colors of these magnificent beasts. Yesterday I layed as still as a stone and watched these guys come and go doing buffalo buisness. I like the 30X40 size.
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