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This painting was inspired by a trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park this past summer, one of many visits I have taken over the years to observe, enjoy and be inspired by not only the beauty of the North Dakota badlands, but mainly the wild horses that call TRNP their home. Like many visitors to the Park, I love watching the horses interact within their tight family bands as well as watching the awe-inspiring and often confrontational actions between opposing stallions or bachelor stallions vying for mares. I feel very fortunate to have witnessed these beautiful creatures in their natural domain, something I read about and dreamed about as a young girl.

On this particular day, two bands were grazing in the same area. One band kept moving slowly closer to the other - whether this was the band stallion's idea to possibly steal a mare or two from the other band, I can only surmise, but the other band stallion was not having it! He charged towards the other band and they immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction! These two in the painting were on the run with the other members of their family as fast as they could run. After he got his point across, the angry stallion backed off, snorted, shook his thick mane, then turned back to his family to continue protecting them. What an amazing thing to witness!

I was hunting for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park one day in early May, a couple years ago. I saw turkeys, buffalo, but no horses. Although I was enjoying the scenery of the beautiful badlands of North Dakota, I was disappointed with my luck of the day. I meandered slowly not wanting to leave, but the day was growing short and I needed to get back home. The sun was low in the sky and the shadows were getting longer. As I approached the gate leading out of the park, I was thrilled to finally see a band of about a dozen horses with a couple brand new colts in tow! I hopped out of my vehicle, camera ready and here they came crossing the road to get to a creek on the other side for a drink. My luck was getting better as the sun began to cast long violet shadows, beautiful shades of lavender, mauves and blues. The band stallion was pushing the mares with authority and I found a tree to stand behind as he came closer. He looked me right in the eye, making sure I was no threat and letting me know that he could be! As the horses settled down to drink from the creek, he finally relaxed and began grazing, with the warm light on his back, shining like the sun, with those beautiful shadows in the background. One can never recreate nature in its glory, but we artists are certainly inspired to give it a try!

I have always and forever loved horses, wild or tamed and they make it into most of my paintings. Well, since I have been hanging out at Theodore Roosevelt National Park looking for the wild ones, I keep bumping into the bison herds there. One cannot help but be awed by these magnificent animals! So naturally they have inspired a few paintings and most likely will inspire a few more. Now I am hungry to learn more about them. I have read that a mother bison about to give birth, will wait out a freezing spring storm so that her newborn calf will have a better chance of making it. Amazing survival skills! I am looking forward to learning more about these wonderful beasts, one of the most powerful icons of the West.