Who, Who, Who Goes There....?

It was bound to happen sooner or later.  We enjoyed the cooler temperatures and beautiful scenery that the small mountain community of Ely, Nevada had to offer.  The folks at the Valley View RV
Park were the greatest.  I hated to pull out of there but we just had to return to the blazing Las Vegas Valley.  As we drove those 240 miles the closer we got to our destination the higher the temperature rose.  It is amazing just how much difference that 20 degrees makes.

It taken a couple days to get everything hauled in, cleaned up and put away.  My studio and the bedroom still have work to do.  I have turned my attention to my artwork as I have to get ready to deliver some pieces to hang at the Boulder City Art Gallery.  I also had several pending sales that I needed to attend to.  While I was away, I managed to do quite a bit of sketching but only completed one real painting.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I still have lots to learn when it comes to painting realistic feathers, but I didn't do too badly.  What an impressive bird of prey these creatures are.  The one we saw near our camper wasn't as big as this one and he stayed covered enough in the branches that we didn't get the best picture of him as I had hoped.  His presence impressed me and those eyes are amazing.  I hope I captured his beauty on this 10 x 20 canvas.

We just got a good high resolution photo of the piece and now I'm going to apply a coat of varnish so it can dry and we can finish off the back and install the hanging wire.  He is available for sale and will be soon on my website.  If you would like to see him in person, then take a drive out to Boulder City and take an hour or so to walk through that amazing art gallery out there.

We are planning to return to Ely in a few weeks.  I really want to see the Elk but they were high up in the mountains and so we no sightings.  We did see antelope, deer, wild horses, this owl and lots of magpies and robins so I was pretty happy about that.  The Success Loop must be breath taking during the fall color changes.  I'm hoping we can catch that before they get that first snow.