A gallery dealer of mine and I were chatting once about a certain well-known wildlife artist, and the dealer said “I’ve heard all the stories about this artist copying others…but how can you wildlife artists keep coming up with original ideas?”
My answer to that: time in the field. There is nothing like going to the source - the animals themselves - for fresh inspiration, new light, seasonal stimulation, whatever. Whether your fieldwork is a zoo, a pasture, a park or preserve, or your own backyard - time with the animals will renew you artistically.
This morning I made one of my favorite field trips: driving the full Red Sleep Mountain loop at the National Bison Range, about 55 miles from my house. The road is 20 miles long and usually takes me at least 3 or 4 hours, depending on the wildlife. Today, the bison were in the high pasture and nowhere near the road (you’re not allowed to hike off road), but fortunately pronghorn were scattered all over the north side.
I also had the delightful experience of seeing, and even photographing (sorta) my first wild badger - I saw something small running through the prairie and my first thought was “cat”. Then I thought “what the aitch ee double hockeysticks would a kittycat be doing in the National Bison Range??” When I caught up to the critter my second thought was “raccoon”, but it was too low and lacked a tail. I lucked out and caught just a couple shots before the badger went to ground. Coolness! And, as always, joyous to be out soaking up Gorgeous Wildlife Energy.
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