I'm back in the studio after spending most of the summer researching new material and doing some work around the property, recently bought a bunch of large canvases for upcoming works too. I've spent some time at different farms looking for the perfect cow painting, but not sure I got the material I wanted. One of the farms had a creek running through the pasture, perfect setting, just couldn't get the cows to pose like they were supposed to. Also spent a great deal of time on the River doing some research . . . with a little fishing here and there. I can spend hours or days in the field trying to find the right composition, lighting and situation that will produce a good painting, not an easy task, but a challenge I truly love. Winter is coming so I thought I'd start another winter River scene, this is the first layer (underpainting), the painting will change quite a bit. Wakpa Wakan is the Ojibwe name for the river I love to paint. It means Great Spirit River. It's new given name was by European immigrants that changed spirit river to Rum River . . . I like to refer to it in the native language or just Spirit River, that's just the way it should be. There is an effort by a small group to change the name back to the original, but I'm told things aren't really moving along to well. I'm sure t's difficult to get changes like that to happen.