Blog

The Grizzly Bear Refuge at Kicking Horse Resort, Golden BC, graciously let me use their resident, 'Boo' as inspiration for my grizzly bear paintings.  Finding suitable animal reference photos is often a struggle as I am not a wildlife photographer. When not using my own photos, I always seek permission. Most are more than happy and often honored  to have me use their pictures as reference and almost all are amateur photographers, hobbyists, or friends. When I am inspired by a photo, it is important for me not to realistically copy it. I will still edit, crop, enhance, and  remove or add shapes.

So again, many thanks to the Kicking Horse Resort and in particular the photographer Wendy Chambers of Bears Interrupted Photography ( more on Wendy and The Northern Lights Wildlife Program later ). I hope my painting of Boo will help bring about a little more awareness.

A little bit about Boo, ( excerpt from the Grizzly bear Interpretive Center )

"Boo was born in the wild, not in captivity. Tragically, his mother was shot and killed by a poacher in June 2002, leaving Boo and his brother, Cari, orphaned and defenseless at just five months of age. The cubs might have been euthanized, but instead were given a second lease on life and a new home at the Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge.

Cari and Boo were named for British Columbia’s Cariboo Mountains where they were born. The Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge was built specifically for the orphaned cubs. Observing their behavior and life skill development has provided a unique opportunity for grizzly bear research. Observations about foraging, play, sleep, social skills, and many other activities are recorded daily. The cubs’ development was the subject of one researcher’s Master’s thesis.

Among other things, the refuge permits a rare in-depth analysis of grizzly bear hibernation. A log den was constructed within the refuge for the cubs to use in the winter. This custom-built den includes a motion-activated camera in the roof that allows continuous monitoring of activity inside. As a result, we now know that grizzly bears engage in limited activity during the winter, unlike true hibernators. For that reason we now use the more accurate term winter dormancy rather than hibernation when referring to a bear’s winter slumber.

Sadly, Cari never awoke from his first winter dormancy and passed away within the den. The provincial veterinary laboratory performed a necropsy and discovered that Cari had died from a spontaneous twist of his intestines.

Boo demonstrated great resilience by overcoming the loss of both his mother and brother. Since Cari’s death, Boo has lived alone at the refuge. Male grizzly bears are very solitary animals, however, so being alone is a natural condition for him. Nevertheless, Boo sometimes gets the urge to meet lady grizzlies during mating season. It was national news when Boo escaped from the refuge in June 2006 for this reason, before eventually returning voluntarily.

By observing Boo over the last 10 years, we have concluded that an orphaned grizzly cub can learn essential life skills on its own, without a mother bear’s guidance, provided the cub has suitable habitat, space, and opportunity like that provided by the refuge.

Boo will live out his lifetime at the Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge. He serves a vital role that we hope will benefit future orphaned grizzly bear cubs. We continue to learn from Boo, while at the same time allowing him to live the best captive life possible. He is an inspiration for everyone who comes to see him and he is an outstanding ambassador for this magnificent species."

Such a hard lesson to learn and we hear it all the time. Simplify. What are you trying to say? Do you really need that tree or that branch? Does it add to my design or is it distracting? We all know less is more. A painting is much more interesting if you don't give out all the information, you must give the viewer some credit. He knows it's a tree, he doesn't need to see every branch. There is more mystery in not defining every object, more imagination and creativity for you and more engaging for the viewer.

It’s impossible for an artist to paint every twig or pebble; those details are best left for the photographer. We must figure out how to best show it with shapes and patterns, using brush strokes, design and mood.

I really liked the way this painting was turning out but did I really need that background? Was it important for my overall message? If I needed it to look like Athabasca Falls, then maybe, but I had already changed the rocks so it really didn't matter. And no, it wasn't important. I took a photo, went to my computer and Photoshopped the background out. Yes I liked it much better. So, a few swipes with my large palette knife and it was gone. A simplified adjustment.

From a distance this painting looks very detailed and representational, but up close you can see from the strokes that it is implied detailing with abstract designs.  'The calming Force', acrylic 24 x 36 inches