2019-03-01 Western Art Collector

Another wolf painting in the show is Kyle
Sims’ work Willow Run, which was inspired
by the color harmony and the lines of the
wolves individually and together. “The wolves’
earth tone coats juxtaposed with the wine,
magenta and orange-like coloration of the
willow branches is a very pleasing display for
me, and you can probably find a lot of those
same colors in your own home,” Sims explains.
“The biggest challenge with this piece came
when I had to decide to lose two wolves and
crop the painting down considerably in size.
The other two wolves were going off of the
edges of the painting, cutting their heads off
essentially. While I felt like the shapes of those
wolves completed the composition, I had to
come to the realization that they also created an
uncomfortable feeling for the viewer. So, since
those other two wolves’ roles were included
for the purpose of a darker shape, I decided to
use the willow instead once I had cropped the
image down and this is what you now have.”
Ralph Oberg’s painting Coming Through the
Willows was a work that came to fruition many
years after he first found the reference material.
“In 2001 my wife, Shirley, and I were on a long
trip to Canada’s Yukon. We had driven all the
way up from Colorado, met friends who lived
along the Alcan Highway and started north with
them on the Canol highway on our way to a
wilderness fly-in lodge called Inconnu in the

Mackenzie Mountains,” he says.

“We stopped to camp along the road and

I did a small plein air painting. I got rained out,

but still got the basic light effect down,” Oberg

continues. “I’ve looked at it in my studio for

these 17 years and finally decided to use it for

the setting of this moose. It usually doesn’t take

that long for a good sketch to get blown up

bigger! Finally, I saw the painting in my head!”

Wildlife Discovery will be on view March 18

through 30, with works also on view by Mick

Doellinger, J.C. Dye, Veryl Goodnight, Bruce

Greene, Bruce Lawes, Shawn Gould, Stefan

Savides, Lindsay Scott, John Seerey-Lester,

Suzie Seerey-Lester, Adam Smith, Dustin Van

Wechel and Sarah Woods.

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For a direct link to the

exhibiting gallery go to

Bonnie Marris, Above the Clouds, oil on canvas, 24 x 48"

Ralph Oberg, Coming Through the Willows,

oil on mounted linen, 24 x 30"