So much to see....

I'm always excited to see moose. I love painting them - VERY unique looking creatures! So my morning painting excursion was a success before I even set up my easel.

I watched the moose meander through the field for a bit....

Then, back to scouting out a plein air subject. When the colors in this scene caught my eye near Elk Creek, I jumped on it - and set up quickly....

What captivated my artistic senses (other than the glorious color combinations, of course) was the organizing of the scene. There's a lot going on and I wanted to find a pleasing pattern for the shapes, including all those foreground logs!

A BIG difference between plein air painting and studio painting is the luxury of time. If I was doing this as a studio painting, I would 'fuss' for a LONG time over that log pattern before I would put it down in paint. But with plein air, there's no time for that. It's definitely more of an 'instinctive reaction' than a thought out process. Here are my 'reactionary' results...

On my way back, I came across a crowd at Blacktail Ponds. In the distance was a wolf...

While I was snapping my wolf photo, this Uinta Ground Squirrel was posing for me under the bushes at my feet....

There were more further out in the field, in great morning light...

Talk about interesting creatures. Uinta Ground Squirrels spend most of their life hibernating. They won't be 'above ground' much longer - the mature males will be going into hibernation in mid-July or so and the females will follow around the end of July. The young ground squirrels will disappear into burrows by mid-August. There's a short window of opportunity to take photos of them!

Later in the morning, I was off to the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center to paint a piece from the archives. They have a robin nest with an egg in their collection. Seemed appropriate, since I had been watching the robin nest on our gallery porch. Why not one more for my nest and eggs series. Since the subject was simple, I wanted to try an intriguing composition.

Robin Nest With Egg   by Shirl Ireland  10" x 8"
from the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center archives