Wedding bear (when it all began) (2019, 45x60)

When my brother invited me to his wedding, I went through a gift crisis. He lives in Colorado, home to brown and grizzly bears and many other huge beasts. I decided that a bear – a standing grizzly, to be precise – would be the perfect gift.

 

I had no idea that I would actually encounter a standing grizzly scratching its back on a tree on a hike in Yellowstone Park. Fear had me speechless for a while and I think I had some kind of panic attack.

 

The bear stuck in my mind to the point that I had to paint more – we stand at around ten now!