Boo!

Changes are coming, but don't be scared...

Leap of Faith is changing to yellowstone North. Same blog, just a different name. While I'm at it, you'll notice a bit of a new look too - and I'll be working on that even more in the next month or so... just to keep things interesting around here.

And, we're starting an update of our website. I'll let you know when that's completed.

Oh, and I even freshened up our business cards and brochures. (Let me know if you'd like any of the 'new version'.)

 It may be fall, but Spring is in the air at Elk River Art....

 

Happy Halloween!

What's cookin' in the studio?

A peek at our latest work

 

Currently, John is working on a Big Horn Sheep sculpture -

 

He sculpts the piece is clay, which will later be bronzed. In the photos below, you can see the steel rod running through the middle of the piece to help with stability in the clay version...called the armature. This is removed in the final bronze.

 

I've been thinking 'wildlife' lately too...

The Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center staff recently closed the Fishing Bridge Museum in Yellowstone for the season. There was an eagle mount that needed some cleaning, so it was brought to the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center in Gardiner for 'maintainence'.



eagle study in oil

 

And a recent plein air piece...

Fall is fleeting - time to get out there and try to capture those amazing colors on canvas before the show is over.

6" x 12" oil   plein air   by Shirl Ireland

1/2 hour in Paradise

From our property....Driving south, we head into Yellowstone National Park in one mile. Driving north we go through Paradise Valley. We still marvel at the amazing place we live - in every direction....

We drove north about 30 miles or so through Paradise Valley in Montana yesterday - aptly named!

On the drive we saw 3 juvenile golden eagles, 6 wild turkeys, a kestrel, over 100 deer (white tail and mule deer), 50 to100 elk, 1 adult golden eagle, 1 adult bald eagle, 1 red tail hawk, 1 sharp shinned (?) hawk. I'm still sorting through the MANY photos.

We watched, and listened, as the 3 juvenile golden eagles squawked in the trees together. Then watched an adult golden eagle and a bald eagle wrestling in flight.

I think that about covers our 30 mile drive.

 

And, the scenery wasn't too bad either....

 

 

The 3 juvenile golden eagles put on quite a show for us....

The adult golden eagle flying over the Yellowstone River...

Part of the elk herd in the Valley...

Some wild turkeys...

And some of the white tail deer...

Yes, we live in Paradise - really.

Visiting with the neighbors

The bighorn sheep neighbors that is - They live in the hills around us. We see them often.

John's been working on a big horn sheep sculpture, so we wanted to 'visit with them'. It's good to watch them for a bit to spark ideas - their movements, their proportions - let all that sink in, and really look at them. Luckily, they obliged.

We hiked up to their terrain and 'hung with the sheep' for a bit. Interesting to just sit and watch...

Females or 'ewes' (back) with a 'lamb' in the front

Males or 'rams' - (left)

The lambs follow their mothers for the first year to learn home range and behavior....

As a painter, I look for interesting light on the sheep. Here are a couple photos that caught my eye. I like the 'blue cast' that their white rump takes on in the shadows....

And here, look at the back lighting on the ears set against the shadow - THAT could be fun to paint!...

 

Love how her eye is lit up in this photo....

 

Their rut is just about to begin....November/December. The rams will be "butting heads" (literally!) anytime now. And as winter sets in, we'll see them more often as they come down to the lower elevations.

There are some awesome rams around here with full curls that we didn't come across on this hike. We'll keep our eyes out as rut begins - and hopefully get more photos to post!

Bison in clay

John has been working on a fantastic bison sculpture. It's the clay model for a future bronze sculpture.

Love the movement and texture of this one. To really get a feel for the piece, I'll include a few photos of different angles....

 

Our Yellowstone Zoo

(photos from our windows)

 

It's that time of year -The fall elk rut in Yellowstone - so there is a lot of elk action these days....

 

We've been graced with a group, on and off, across the River from us. Sometimes they head back into Gardiner to the school football field, which adds another dimension to the games!

 

There has been a very young bull on the fringes of the herd, that this bull (in the center) is determined to keep at bay. We've enjoyed 'the show' and the bugling.

 

Who needs 'dinner and a movie', when we have this right out our windows?...

 

 

There has also been a lot of elk action in the center of the town of Mammoth. They get MUCH more attention from the Rangers there...

 

 

 

With a few competing bulls in Mammoth, it makes it VERY interesting....

 

 





 

 

If you have never experienced the fall elk rut in Yellowstone, put in on "your list". From about mid-September through mid-October, it signals Fall in Yellowstone and is an event you need to be here for....at least once.

Full moon rising...

The full moon always grabs my attention. There's a peaceful, reflective quality to it, that I want my paintings to emanate. It's a subject I love to try to capture on canvas.... and a challenging one, too! 

After my day of plein air painting for the Yellowstone Park Foundation, I'm particularly enthralled with Old Faithful. Always changing, the colors, the steam, the moody atmosphere - I can't get enough. I find fall to be a particularly beautiful time there. So I went back last night.

This is my study from just after sun set, as the moon was rising....

12" x 12"  Oil   Plein Air study   by Shirl Ireland

A little later in the evening, I took a photo for an idea you will see me exploring more....a nocturne at Old Faithful. Like I said, I can't get enough of the moods of Old Faithful!...Stay tuned.

 

 

 

The wildlife of the week?....Moose.

We've seen a lot this week....

 

From hiking in the back country - 

We came upon a bull, cow and calf....

 

To on our way to a soccer game,

very close to the road....

 

 

Always interesting around here!

And we even missed one....while we were at Old Faithful, friends checking on the house told us a bull moose walked right through the meadow across the river. Darn, I really would have liked to add that photo to 'Our Yellowstone Zoo'. I'm keeping my camera charged, in case he comes back through.

WOW! WOW! & WOW!

I'm not sure what headline to give the incredible weekend we just had at Old Faithful....

As guest artists for Yellowstone Park Foundation's 15th anniversary event, it was a fabulous experience. A phenomenal group of people dedicated to supporting Yellowstone National Park - And a weekend at Old Faithful Inn at one of the best times of the year, plein air painting... how could it get any better?

"Our corner" at the event.

While staying at Old Faithful Inn, I planned to plein air paint and donate all of my pieces to be auctioned off as a fund raiser for the Yellowstone Park Foundation.

Saturday was my day to paint, so I was up VERY early...and the light was with me! An amazing sunrise over Old Faithful geyser started me off.  I wanted to 'paint hard for the cause' and I managed to pull off 5 plein air paintings by 5 PM! -- I think that's a record for me.

 

My day of plein air painting near Old Faithful...

6" x 6"   Oil    Plein Air  by Shirl Ireland
Old Faithful before the sun rise just before erupting - a steamy, cold morning.
There was still a star in the sky I had to put in (top right).

 

6" x 6"    Oil   Plein Air  by Shirl Ireland
Old Faithful just after sunrise with the run off and steam after the eruption.

 

6" x 6"   Oil   Plein Air  by Shirl Ireland
Grand Geyser in the foreground - just after erupting

 

6" x 6"  Oil  Plein Air  by Shirl Ireland
Old Faithful erupting in mid day

 

6" x 6"  Oil  Plein Air  by Shirl Ireland
Castle geyser erupting with Grand Geyser erupting in the background in mid afternoon.

It was a challenging but great day of plein air painting in the Upper Geyser Basin. That was a lot of painting for one day!

By the end of the night, all 5 wet paintings had been auctioned off. So glad I'm able to support the work they do.