26x20 inches. oils on stretched canvas. This is artist point in Yellowstone National Park painted from studies done on location.

In 1999 I was on a painting trip to Wyoming with some friends. We had been for a week in the Big Horn Mountains at a place called Ten Sleep. We got to Yellowstone and checked in at the big cabin next to Old Faithful. It was after dark. I got up the next morning to paint. I had my pastels and oils. After a couple of days I had a routine down and had made a few studies.

We finally made it to the famous Artist's Point. It was painted so many times by great artists that it was given this prestigious title. I felt it was too late and the sun was too high to start a study. I could at least take photos. I was looking down through the lens on my Hasselblad camera, lining up the shot. I almost dropped the camera when I saw the boy of about nine doing a sketch in a sketchpad. It was a perfect photo. He was unconcerned with the crowds and lost in his drawing.

I thought to myself, 'Well, if he can do it so can I'. I went back to the car to get my pastels and a couple of pumice boards. 

There was another element to this story. When his parents saw me taking a photo they thought he was in my way and ordered him to stop. He left disappointed. I wanted to say something and turned to them. It was a family with five or six children all in clean clothes that were old.  They walked off. To be perfectly honest I am crying as I remember this from almost thirty years ago. I remembered my own young years in a small Texas town wanting to be an artist without any role models to guide me.

I felt an obligation. I came back with my colors and stood behind the crowd until one by one they left and I was at the front with a clear view. I set up my easel and painted the scene for about forty five minutes. I was in a bit of a fugue state. When I finished I turned to see a large respectful crowd behind me. My friends were patiently watching and waiting on the rocks behind me. Everybody smiled and I waved to the crowd and started to pack up my colors and plein air easel. 

We walked toward the end of the trail. On the way the young lad and his family were walking toward  us. I felt a welling up of emotions because I had stolen his spirit and used it for my own art. As the family passed us I remarked softly to my friends so the lad could hear, "He's an artist!" I hope he heard me and I hope it gave back some of the spirit he gave me.

I rented an adobe cabin in Taos in 2000 and spent the winter and spring meditating and painting. I started "Spirit of Art" there and finished it from my photos and color study later in Texas. 

I would have to speak in person to anyone who wants to own this piece but it is time to let it go.