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Richard
Ellis
This is the neighbors much loved lap dog, Sammy. Painted on an 8"X10"
This painting features Medicine Rocks State Park in southeast Montana. This sandstone monolith, protruding unexpectedly from the prairie, is one of many concentrated in the area. In past ages, Native Americans came here seeking communion with the spirit word. Today's visitors can still experience feelings of "otherworldly" connections through the intricate features and images eroded into the stone.
I just returned from a quick trip to the desert, so may be doing something from the Southwest soon. Love that red-rocks country.
This is an early morning scene of Bear Butte, a mountain on the north edge of the Black Hills, which has long been a spiritual place in the cultures of the plains Indians. Even today, Native Americans come here to pray and leave offerings to the Great Spirit. It is protected as a South Dakota State Park and is open to the public.
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This was obviously the patriarch of the picturesque junipers growing at Toroweap campground on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It's a magical place, well worth the thirty plus miles of gravel to get there.
The Sage Grouse is one of my favorite birds of the prairies. These males have arrived on the "dancing ground" early and are "warming up" for the full-fledged display wherein they "pump up" air sacs under the skin of their breasts to shows off bright green un-feathered skin patches and present almost grotesque caricatures of their otherwise stately selves. These displays are designed to impress the rather sedate females who will arrive on the Lek (formal name for the dancing ground) a bit later. I have chosen to paint them stately rather than grotesque. This painting is a 12 X 16 rendering, and looks rather nice in a gold frame. I call it "Sage Grouse Dandies" (or, tongue in cheek, "Looking for Love on a Lonely Lek".)
"Tarahumara Girl" "...This Indian girl was one Carol and I met on a trip to Copper Canyon, the highlands of Mexico. I will do the full figure with some nice background basketry, etc someday, but this is a start. The folds and undulations in the scarf and blouse were tough. I have more admiration now for the "still life" folks who do those draping "tablecloths.
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