Thursday, April 03, 2008

The Holy City

"The Holy City"
8"x16" oil on canvas mounted on panel
#080328
© Laura Marie Anderson

I went to Cody, WY today to drop off some photographs for a photography show. That done I drove out the the Cody Armory to see the other Bears for the Cody library fund raiser. I have been honored to paint/decorate one of those bears. See their progress as http://www.grizgathering.com/. The bears are coming along, and some of them are finished already. Mine is going to be a Circus bear and since the circus is coming to town this week, I'm waiting to see it before beginning the character paintings. Right now it is great big yellow bear. I will make a separate post for the bear.

After visiting with the other artists and stopping into the museum, I drove out towards Yellowstone to what I call the Red Rocks. The tourist sign calls then "The Holy City". On my way out there I saw and photographed two herds of Mountain Sheep, females and young males. The day was partly cloudy and the sun shone sporadically throughout the painting process. This was a beautiful spot. As soon as the sunset a chill filled the air that forced me to clean up quickly. Suddenly, the warmth and friendliness turned to chilling cold and memories of the town folks saying "be careful the grizzly are out already". Having my faithful dog, Sam with me there was little fear, until I noticed him tucked down in the snow napping. We got out of there quickly as he let out his tell tale growl looking just down the canyon. See a grizzly from the car with my camera in hand had been a thought earlier in the day, but seeing one with my equipment spread out on the snow was not my idea of a great moment. the drive back was a fun one, seeing many deer along the road (not hitting any and having the heater turned up full blast, to thaw out those parts of me that I didn't even notice where cold while I was possessed by the painting magic.
If you are interested in purchasing this painting please email me at ArtistLauraMarieAnderson@gmail.com