Impression Evergreen

"Bighorn Sheep Winter" Colored Pencil Rocky Mountain thunder cracks across the gray, November sky. Heard for miles around, the stirring echoes are from the violent clash between massive combatants who are desperate to prove their masculine dominance. The battles may last for twenty-four hours but the exhausted victor earns exclusive mating rights. The weapons of choice are the impressive, coiled horns that are the distinguishing feature of Colorado's state symbol, the bighorn sheep. They are the ultimate gladiators built to live along steep ridges and in rugged canyons. This fragile species must also carefully navigate the precipice of extinction as the sheep are extremely sensitive to artificial disturbances in their natural environment. It's a familiar story but the numbers are staggering - before 1800, two million bighorn sheep populated North America. By the year 1900, only a few thousand remained as hunting, loss of habitat and disease spread by introdu

"Sheep Lakes" Colored Pencil Set in a lush meadow, Sheep Lakes is another outstanding locale displaying the surreal beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park. Framed by a chain of purple peaks, the pastoral scene is a sight to behold. The thin, mountain air is infused with brilliant light that saturates a natural canvas already painted with pure colors. The small, reflecting pond is like a liquid mirror, reproducing the scene with remarkable precision. Even during summer, a current of cold air flows down through Fall River Canyon and seeps into the horseshoe-shaped park. The cool breeze permeates the pristine landscape and softens edges with a subtle motion-blur. As the region’s most recent glacier retreated, an outwash of braided streams deposited chunks of frozen debris across the valley floor. The ice-mass melted, creating cavities in the earth and when those depressions are filled with water, they’re called kettle lakes. Bighorn Sheep are attracted to this place

"Bighorn Sheep" Colored Pencil Mountain thunder cracks across the crisp, blue, November sky. The echoes from the violent clash between massive combatants desperate to prove their dominance can be heard for miles around. The battle may last for twenty-four hours but the exhausted victor earns exclusive mating rights. The weapons of choice are the impressive, coiled horns that are the distinguishing feature of Colorado's state symbol, the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Bighorn sheep are ultimate gladiators built to live in the steep ridges and rugged canyons of the mountains. This fragile species must carefully navigate the precipice of extinction as they are extremely sensitive to artificial disturbances in the natural environment. I know it's a familiar story but the numbers are staggering. Before 1800, two million bighorn sheep populated North America. By 1900, after the Western Expansion , only a few thousand remained. Hunting, loss of habitat and disease sp

Storm over Waterton Canyon The Platte River spills down from the mountains and carves an extraordinary gorge through the Rampart Range that concludes with a rugged canyon known as Waterton. This is where the South Platte emerges from the foothills and onto the boggy wetlands just southwest of Denver. The gravel service road that follows the river course is wide and flat making it a perfect track for biking, hiking or trail running. Bighorn sheep are the park’s feature attraction but mule deer, blue herons, black bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes also frequent the area. We approached the rocky corridor during a late June blizzard. Flakes of white, cottony seeds from gnarled cottonwood trees fell on us like a spring snowstorm. To the west, gray clouds foretold afternoon thunder showers so we picked up the pace. Before long, the steep, red walls had risen to one thousand feet. Dark-green shadows stretched across the narrow pathway. Just around the bend, water confined by an