There’s just something about Wyoming that I really like. I’ve lived in the Cowboy State a couple of different times so I have some first hand experience here. Back in the mid ’70’s I lived in Jackson’s Hole and two other separate times I lived near Sheridan. Those were back in the days of my ranching career before I hurt my back and took up painting pictures for a living.

Saturday I headed up to Teton National Park for a weeks stay to do some painting and to attend the Fall Art Festival in Jackson which consists of a number of gallery shows to include a show at the National Wildlife Art Museum. I used to show in a gallery here but it’s been sometime so figured I ought to come back up and get reacquainted with the arts scene here. We crossed into Wyoming in the Flaming Gorge area and passed through Rock Springs.  No offense to the fine folks who live in rock Springs but we kept going and spent the night at the Highline Trail RV Park in Boulder, WY just a few miles before Pinedale. Great wide open country here. The Wind River Range spread before us to the East. The country immediately around us was primarily flat sagebrush land broken with some hay fields. Desert for the most part otherwise. Hot in the summer and pretty cold and snowy in the winter. The wind blows most of the time through here. From here north however is when it really starts to get nice.

I think what’s so appealing about the “wilds of Wyoming”, as we used to say, is the open expanse of sagebrush flats, and the beautiful mountains from the Tetons over by Jackson, to the Bighorns over by Sheridan down to the Snowy Mountains by Laramie and others in between like the Wind River Range and the Medicine Bow. All good stuff. Combine that great landscape with the sparse population and you’ve got a winning hand in my book.

The art scene in Jackson is top shelf. There are a number of first class galleries and for landscape artists it’s hard to beat. Of course so is Colorado’s art scene and landscape. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it is better up here, just different. My wife Kathy and I will be visiting several of the good art galleries here. As I mentioned, I used to be in a gallery here and I want to see if they are still in existence. I’d like to get some representation up here again.

Then there is the ranching and cowboy culture in Wyoming. I used to work for the snake River ranch here, just across the Snake River from Jackson. To say it’s big is an understatement. It’s huge. Lots of big country and lots of big ranches. It’s a land where men still tip their hats to the ladies and where kids grow up with a strong sense of values and work ethic. It’s hard up here if you are working outside for a living, especially in the winter. That’s one of the reasons I wound up in Montrose. I was looking for a milder winter climate. This was where I cut my teeth learning to cowboy in a real fashion. From there I graduated and years later worked on one of the largest ranches in the US, the Padlock Ranch out of Sheridan. Now I’m an artist painting pictures and visiting my old haunt.

For this trip I brought a full compliment of painting gear, both in watercolor and oil paints. I want to be flexible. The problem is, the weather forecast isn’t real good as there is 50% to 90% chance of rain through Thursday. We arrived yesterday, Sunday, and found the gallery filled with smoke from a wildfire in Yellowstone. We drove around today trying desperately to find some clear skies but to no avail. It’s obvious I won’t be getting any paintings done of the grand vista. This evening, just after returning to camp, it began to shower off and on. Hopefully this will wash the smoke out of the air. Otherwise I’ll have to look for more intimate scenes. The biggest problem with smokey skies isn’t just masking the mountains but the sunlight has a pale din to it which is reflected on everything, leaving all color very muted and dull.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we are headed up into Yellowstone to try and get past the fire and the effects of the smoke. Morning will be our best opportunity as rain is forecast for the afternoon. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll keep you posted. Internet is rare up here so these posts may be a day or so late but it’s better than a postcard. Mike out.

PS

Awoke this morning, Tuesday, to rain about 5:00  AM. Steady rain most of the morning. Finally decided to get out and see what we could see. Headed to Yellowstone and Old Faithful. More later.