I don’t often mention paintings that have sold but this one has a special backstory. This painting was started on site at the old Belton Bridge in Glacier National Park. Our group was painting near the bridge on a beautiful summer day and a lot of people were there as is typical in Glacier in the summer. Kids of all ages were jumping off the bridge throughout the day.
I watched as this young woman climbed over the rocks and sat for a few minutes on the perch overlooking the clear aqua colors of the middle fork of the Flathead River. I quickly snapped a photo of the scene and immediately started the painting as she sat there. It was already late afternoon and I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the painting. I did as much as I could with the scene in front of me and using my camera shot to get the young woman’s reflective pose. Adding people to my landscapes is a rarity for me but I was really struck by this woman’s moment of solitude sitting on the rock outcropping.
Yesterday, the painting sold at the ARTFusion Gallery. Beth, the salesperson, told me that a man had purchased it. My immediate thought was that the young woman in the painting must have reminded him of someone. What a surprise when I learned that the man had told Beth that he bought the painting because even though he was a man, the young woman represented himself in that moment of solitude. He identified not with the gender of the person but with the soulful feeling of that moment in time.
What a thrilling story for an artist to hear. I truly touched someone’s inner being. There is no greater reward for creating art than that!
