08/06/2026
"Treehugger"
In late May, we viewed the craziest show, in our backyard. We were photographing buffalo babies for future paintings when we received a text from our neighbors. Two bears were in our backyard, one large cinnamon, one smaller black. This pair of hooligans, and the mischief they bring, is known throughout our neighborhood and beyond in the Kittredge area. They travel together, (or at least, they used to).
We rushed home to see for ourselves and what ensued was about a three hour contest of wills. The cinnamon bear had the black one backed out onto a branch, so far, we feared it would fall. They snarled and postured, clawing and shredding the bark, breaking branches, playing with our daughter's swing, sleeping, climbing up and down..... We watched it all from the surprising proximity and safety of our upper deck, sometimes eye to eye with the larger bear, who would shimmy down and leave, only returning to once again the threaten the smaller bear, although eventually, after full dark, he did not return, and the black bear made its escape. We do not know what provoked the disagreement, and we have not seen them here since.
I had the opportunity to get many reference photos of the cinnamon bear, while the black one remained harder to see, hiding at the tip of branch. I was excited to paint this critter, but first I needed to finish some foxes, so that took a while. Naturally, there will be more bear paintings forthcoming!
"Treehugger", now available, was completed yesterday, and I'm planning to varnish it later today. 16x20x1.5 watercolor on canvas, with painted edges, varnished to protect against harm from UV and moisture.
