We saw several large elk on the side of the road during our drive over the longest, highest paved road in the United States: Trail Ridge Road, which travels from RockyMountainNational Park to GrandLake. At it’s highest point (tundra above the tree line), we were at 12, 186 feet. Yes, there were glaciers, and it was cold and windy. And Mike gripped the steering wheel for the entire 4 hour round trip drive. I hung out the window and got some GREAT photographs!
This elk was with two other guys and he kept lifting his head and gazing off into the distance. As far as I could tell, there were no cows nearby (we had seen the main herd of females with their calves way farther down the road). But he kept searching the distance, like he was dreaming of a lost love…
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Isaiah 59:14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
We are still in Rocky Mountain National Park and enjoying the cool weather and spectacular vistas.
These are the same three sheep I used in the previous painting – standing differently. In actuality, they WEREN’T on rocks – they were on the side of the road – hence the name for this painting.
We have taken a number of picturesque hikes this past week, and I have been on the lookout for great looking rock ledges that I can place the sheep upon. They deserve to be portrayed in the habitat that we normally envision them – on rocky ledges, risking life and limb for survival. The painting is in my head already – waiting for me to get home to the studio.
Hold that thought…
(NOTE: I am loading this blog from a remote location and if you wish to purchase this painting, send me an email and I will get back to you when we re-join civilization. Please be patient! THANKS!)
Deuteronomy 8:9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
8 X 6 oil on canvas board $125 Includes shipping and insurance
We have seen the Rocky Mountain Sheep twice now and I could not resist painting them. These guys were actually on a hillside next to the road to Thirty Mile outside of Creede, and when I hollered “STOP!” while scrambling for my camera, Mike nearly had a wreck! But I got some good photos. The rocks I put them on is from another spot in Thirty Mile. I really liked the way the light played across the shrubbery. I may crop this some more and paint it larger – perhaps square.
If you want to purchase this, I won’t be able to mail it to you until September 1. I have discovered that rushing these paintings to dry and mailing them too soon after varnishing them is dangerous. I have had reports of damage to the surface. If this has happened to you, please let me know so I can either fix it or compensate you!
We are momentarily in town (Estes Park) doing laundry and "computer work". About to go back to the boonies again -
Garrett and Merideth are caring for the house as are half my neighbors (the BEST people in the world!) If it weren't for good friends and family, this trip wouldn't be possible
Acts 27:9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them,....
We are at 30 Mile Campground, 6 miles from the headwaters of the Rio GrandeRiver. We found this place 2 summers ago while camping near Creede, Colorado and came back to camp here last year. I fell in love with the remote location, the extreme peacefulness and the opportunity to hone our fly fishing skills in a river that is still relatively untouched. There is no electricity or phone or water hookups here. There are latrines and water faucets (you fill your own containers and haul them if you don’t have an RV tank, like we do). An emergency phone is available for calling out, but there is no calling in. We have a small generator which we use for a limited time during the day to charge the RV batteries and to turn on my desktop computer for storing the photos I take (doesn’t REALLY sound like roughing it, does it???)
We have fished every day and have caught enough to feed us and the dog. Anything over what we can eat here we release. Two days ago, we our catch resulted in a lovely assortment: a brown trout, a brook and a rainbow – all over 14 inches (the brown was 16) and all supremely flavorful cooked over a wood fire with no embellishments but the smoke. I eat fish for every meal….
This Mule Deer doe is a camp regular – she loves saltine crackers. Rattle cellophane in her presence and her ears perk up (even higher), and she’ll cautiously approach you. She doesn’t trust Georgia, so we haven’t gotten her to stay around very long – but long enough for me to get an image to paint!
Creede, Colorado is 30 miles down the road (hence the name of the campground) - half of it a one lane winding dirt road with blind hairpin turns and steep dropoffs. We journeyed to Creed today to do laundry, pick up a few supplies and let me catch up on the internet stuff. I may be back on-line in about 5 days....God willing and the Rio Grande don't rise!
Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
6 X 8 Oil on Canvas Board $65 SOLD to a Houston collector
Well, they COULD be wild! I am told there ARE wild horses in Colorado, but I suspect these are not. Their ancestors are, though.
These are the 2 horses I painted yesterday - and this is the setting they were in. Nice life in the summer (except for the Skeeters). Pretty rough in the winter, I'd bet. I frequently think I'd enjoy living in Colorado, but then I remind myself what the winters are like. Mike and I lived in northern Illinois when we were first married and the winters were brutal to our thin, Southern blood. I think I'll stay contented with summer visits to the Rockies, and continue my vow to stay off skis. I used to enjoy the winter slopes (well bundled), but my poor busted legs can't handle the strain any more.
Matthew 23:24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
8 X 8 Oil on Board $65 SOLD to a collector in Florida
We are on the road - LaVeta, Colorado to be exact. Saturday we rode the train to Fir, Colorado to enjoy a Michael Martin Murphy concert on top of a mountain. Talk about a "Rocky Mountain High"! On the way to the concert, we saw bears, elk and this pair of horses helping one another keep the flies at bay. The weather outside the RV was lovely this afternoon and I couldn't resist getting the paints out. This is not my usual style, I know, but while on the road I promised myself to try new directions. I'll return to the more realistic stuff when I get home, I'm sure, but for now, I off in new directions.... This painting will need to dry a several weeks before I can ship it. Matthew 5:39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
I knew if I started painting longhorn cows in the bluebonnets, I wouldn't be able to stop! This one is Number 9...Thank goodness I have an endless supply of models...and a long list of Texas Longhorn lovers!
The Bible verse today is rather prophetic.... 2 Timothy 3:1-41But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
A typical Texas summer - grass turning brown, mid-day siesta time for this horse with the promise of shade on the next hill top. Just gotta get there...from here. We actually still have green pastures here in the heart of Texas. We haven't had as much rain as some parts - just 3 miles west of here, the Parkers have had over 3 inches this week where we've had less one. And of course, the hurricane has left its mark on the coast, along with spreading the oil. That's a topic I don't want to get started on. My best vacations as a kid were spent on South Padre Island - and I'm a huge fan of the folks who have brought the whooping cranes back from extinction. I have even sighted them flying overhead on their way to their summer nesting grounds - what a thrill. I don't want to think about their future now...
Proverbs 24:14 Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.Media: oil Size: 8 in X 6 in (20.3 cm X 15.2 cm) Price: $115 USD
8 X 6 Oil on Board WIP color study Contact artist for availability
It's been slow all summer and suddenly I have 3 commissions...right before we leave on vacation. Thank you , Lord! And thank you, Tessa, for your Arabian models! This painting will ultimately become an impressionistic 18 X 24. The hero returns to the herd. Lots of symbolism here. See the horse with her head up? Wonder who that one represents???? Psalm 68:30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
