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During my first year (2003) as Artist in Residence in Yellowstone National Park, my wife and I often went to WestYellowstone to buy supplies.  One summer evening we happened upon a bull elk grazing along the roadside by the Madison River.  We stopped to photograph it and as we observed the animal the evening colors and shadows began to dance across the valley.    So engrossed with the medley of hues and peacefulness of the moment, all worries just seemed to slip away.  More than an hour had passed as we sat and watched the changing tones.

I contemplated what a magnificent place this is - a home to so many animals.  After deciding to include five bull elk in the painting, I titled the piece Bachelors Pad.  Because this area in the Park has for many years been the nesting spot for a pair of Trumpeter Swans, I felt it  would be incomplete without them.  I created this painting for Wyoming Cares to help them raise money for their cause and with the desire to capture that moment so the viewer might also find escape from their worries - if only for an instant.
 

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