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I renamed my last blog titled "New Adventures" to now include "Part 1" as the title. My photos I took at my October vacation In Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons is continually inspire more paintings out of me.

I've lived my whole life in metro Detroit, so I don't get to see a lot of mountains and geysers. I've been to the Smoky Mountains a few times and they are very beautiful indeed, but the sights in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are unlike anything I'd seen before. Yellowstone has the highest concentration of geysers and hot springs in the world.

On our third day in the park, we stopped by the Midway Geyser Basin. On our way to a lovely hike to Fairy Falls, I was taken by a couple of spectacular springs with steam rising hundreds of feet in the air. I snapped some photos, then proceeded to the hiking trail. On the way, there, I was able to get a better glimpse at its colorful base. It was a stunning aqua/turquoise color due to the minerals in the water.

The rest of the stop afforded lots of other wonderful sights, including a red fox in the wood and a grazing bison just a few yards from the gravel walk back to the car. Naturally, I took lots of photos of all that, as well as Fairy Falls. I could do a dozen studio paintings just on the photos I took at Midway Geyser Basin. So far, I've done one. 

This is a 24" x 24" oil on canvas of the Midway Geyser from when I first saw it. This was painted with painting knives, as well as wall patch scraper.

Speaking of bison, I've been very eager to include some wildlife in the studio paintings I do based on my photos. I've already done one with Mule Deer that we saw in the Grand Tetons, and there's a lot more I'm eager to paint.

After a stop at Mammoth Springs, we took Grand Loop Drive. This may have been the same days as the Midway Geyser visit. On the left, we saw an incredible view of a herd of bison on the plains below some mountains. My latest painting is based on photos I took from when we pulled over to observe them.

This is a 36" x 18" oil on canvas, again, painted with painting knives and a wall patch scraper. My original intent was to make this a much more tightly rendered painting. After working on it a couple days, I was forced to leave it in a rough state for a couple days before I could return to it. Looking at it with fresher eyes a few days later, I loved its rough and more abstract feel. I decided it was pretty much done and just tinkered with some small details and a little recoloring.

My upcoming schedule is getting busy with some freelance and commissions. I'm not sure when I can return to my own work, but I can't wait to dive into my large stash of photos from Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and paint some more.