Yesterday I shipped my oil painting ‘Peace Keeper’ to its new home in Minnesota. Its always a little bitter sweet to send them off. As an artist I am very connected to my work and truly love my paintings. I appreciate this collector who added Peace Keeper to his collection of my art. I know that he and his wife truly love the bison that I paint. Having my paintings resonate with such wonderful people is truly a gift.

So why do I paint bison you may ask? The bison are native to our beautiful country and represent such profound power, strength and courage. If you ever see a bison in the wild, you too may be struck with awe and reverence as I was. This bison is looking at you, calm and peaceful, yet filled with great power and strength. He is the Peace Keeper.

I was blessed to visit Yellowstone several years ago with my family. We saw many herds of bison from a distance, but one early morning while driving, we quickly stopped our car as 70 or so bison came out of the woods and began trotting down the road towards us. I was amazed to see them, hear the sounds they make and feel our car vibrate from the pounding of their hooves. They passed by our car so close that I could have touched them. Looking into their eyes and hearing the low rolling sounds from the bulls and seeing the calves trotting along side their mothers. It was such a beautiful experience!

I think I will always be drawn back to painting the bison. They now live in my heart and soul.