Bears: View From My Window

While cleaning cupboards in my studio this month I found this painting of a bear, the third and last I’ll share from a family gift book I created years ago. It’s not my favorite. I think of it as one of my “beginner pieces” and that it’s too tight with too many mid -range tones. The watercolors didn’t flow freely. I think I was thinking too much about illustrating “the book” by the time I tackled it. But I love the story of the bear I saw. My husband and I still laugh when we recall the encounter and I’ve shared it many times with friends when the subject of bears or living in the hills of Virginia comes up over dinner conversations.

Bear Encounter at the Bathroom Window

Here’s the story behind it…

…We had a lot of animal visitors when I lived in the woods in the Virginia hills. Black bears, copperheads, and raccoons were frequent visitors. Sometimes we surprised each other. A bear playing with our trash bin in the night looked through the bathroom wind and I looked out. We were face to face with just the glass between us. Both wide -eyed and in shock, I screamed and he leaped off the trashcan and ran away into the night.

NOW THAT I’VE SHARED SOME ANIMAL PAINTINGS AND THEIR STORIES, I HOPE YOU’LL SHARE SOME STORIES OF YOUR ENCOUNTERS WITH ANIMALS WITH ME.