Nelson in Progress

Recently I was blessed to stay at a beautiful Wyoming ranch for a two week residency. Every day I was up before dawn with my easel, wandering around the property, inspired by the Big Horn mountains and keeping company with the wild turkeys, deer and other critters. My favorite critter was Nelson, the family bird dog. Each morning he would come outdoors to explore, faithfully walking on a leash, looking like a champion silky setter. Later, he would fly past my easel full speed ahead, a complete mudball, eyes sparkling, tail flying and tongue flapping in the breeze! He lit up my day with his gleeful presence. I painted a plein air study of this location, and added him later, as I was lucky enough to capture a couple quick photos of him as he whizzed past. This painting was developed from that study.