Fall is here! After a decidedly abnormal summer, no rain for months, two months of forest fires and smoke (we actually had to evacuate for a week, bleck), I guess I'm ready for what fall has to offer. The animals are at their peak, the scenery is terrific, and it's hunting season too, always an inspiring time for me.
I got an early taste of fall colors during a recent trip to the Brooks Range in Alaska, where I hoped to chase a grizzly and perhaps a Dall sheep. Alas, luck was not on my side, but I sure enjoyed the majestic mountains, along with sightings of moose, a wolverine, and several wolves, which inspired this recent oil. Wolves aren't super popular where I live, but they're still a beautiful and important part of the wilderness I cherish.
Of course, African subjects tend to dominate my work, and this is a recent oil of two zebras called "Hofmakery", an Africaans word for "courtship".
I also enjoyed trying my new medium on some waterfowl...I entered this piece in the Ducks Unlimited contest. If it makes the finals, I'll be hoping you'll all go online and vote for me!
The biggest recent news is that I just returned from the Society of Animal Artists annual museum exhibit in New Jersey, and my polar bear painting won the Purchase Award! It will be in the Hiram Blauvelt Museum's permanent art collection, along with some past winners that are idols of mine in the wildlife art world. This was a very special honor, and I sure feel lucky and humbled in being chosen from hundreds of other excellent works.
Don and I will be off on a Montana elk hunt at the end of the month, and then off to Zimbabwe for a photo tour and a Cape buffalo hunt; it's never boring around here! Here's hoping you get a chance to enjoy a lovely fall season; be sure to check out my
website for all the latest!
Cynthie
