Fresh off the easel - a new studio painting

Dawn Of A New Day by Shirl Ireland 30"x60" Oil

This is a painting that has taken a long time to complete. The story follows.....

The wolf pups were a spectacle, playing along with their mother in Otter Creek and drawing a crowd. I took my paints and arrived before dawn. The first morning light created great colors and shapes—just what attracts me to a scene. So I had high hopes for the study and put it in my ‘mental percolator’ to someday become a large studio painting of a wolf family. Then, on my last fall painting excursion to Fishing Bridge for the season, I saw her again. The alpha female of the Hayden Pack (mother of the pups playing at Otter Creek in the summer). But this time, she was laying by the road, I could see some blood on her fur. Her demeanor told me something was terribly wrong. She was close to the road… had she been hit by a car? Although, she was lying down, her head was up. She caught my gaze. I stopped for a moment. But I had the feeling I shouldn't be there. I couldn't help and it was not my place. I could do nothing but allow her peace. I went on, not wanting to disturb her—but wondering, my thoughts with her.

As I set up to paint at Fishing Bridge, a snow storm hit. I painted furiously as snow piled up on the easel. On my return trip home, she was gone. So still I wondered. Later, I heard she died that day. The Hayden Pack, as we knew it, was no longer. Only 3 pups remained after an attack from a neighboring rival pack. The pups had dispersed, leaving many to wonder if they would survive.

And survive they did. I heard many accounts of them being spotted looking quite healthy and large for pups of that age. So the painting evolved as well. Now I felt it would be symbolic to have 3 of the pups wondering away from the family group. And I knew I wanted to have the alpha female facing the viewer, reminiscent of her gaze on her last day here.

Finally, the studio painting is completed. It seems appropriate timing - February is mating season for wolves. So we've all come full circle and now it's time to look ahead to a new beginning.