My oil paintings began in 1992
with a
series of oil paintings of moose.
I wanted to reflect the
uniqueness of this state by painting the largest
member of the deer
family, the moose. After many outings to find
moose within
range of my camera lenses, I began to photograph
them with a passion,
and discovered I actually enjoyed photographing
the wildlife even more than the process of painting. The more I
watched them and discovered how they interacted with each other,
with
deer, and other species, the more I was in awe of them.
Their
average size and weight of 700 to 900 pounds appears larger
than
life in person. They move gracefully
through thick brush,
they seem to glide over fallen trees, shrubs and
rocks with long legs.
It is amazing to watch them gently
weave their antlers back and forth
to fit between tree trunks in the
thick woods of Maine. The largest
bull moose I saw must have been 1,200 pounds, and it was the only
moose that frightened me
enough to make my photographs unusable.
He was old, with
gray facial hairs on his muzzle and a massive broad
body. The most touching
scene I've witnessed was a cow moose
with her calf at a small pond. The calf
followed her every step and
seemed to perfectly imitate the same movements as the
cow moose.
