Inspiration to Creation

I love the Tetons!  The angular shapes are very different from the familiar Rockies.  But splendid indeed.  I had not been there in almost fifteen years.  Way too long.    But finally, here I am.  

I wanted to take in two sights.  One was these magnificent mountains.

We got a closer look by taking the new tram at Jackson Hole up 4600 vertical feet.   It was sunny and warm at the bottom and cold and windy at the top. I didn't think about weather change so I wore only my t shirt and shorts.  But there was always the next tram down to the warm valley bottom.  Instead of doing it the easy way, we  decided to hike all the way down.  Almost seven and a half miles.  Were my feet sore. Luckily there was a Four Seasons waiting at the bottom with a nice cold glass of wine.

The other thing I wanted to see was a moose.  There were moose sightings everywhere.  Napkin rings.

Photographs

Sculptures

Even butter molds

I followed the line of parked cars and people scurrying across a field in the Grand Teton National Park.  I knew there was some sort of sighting.  There was my moose.  He stood in the river, as close as a house across the street, half hidden in the brush.  I laughed out loud.  Moose are huge animals.  And funny looking.  He watched us and chewed.  I could see his teeth and  tongue through my binoculars.  He spurred me to paint this, my version of a moose.