The Bear was originally going to be exactly that—a colorful black bear for my parents’ home in the mountains of South Carolina. But my mom had one request: she wanted me to surround him with mountain laurel, the native greenery that grows all around their property.
There was just one problem. I could have sworn she said rhododendron.
After confidently painting the wrong plant with vibrant pinks, I learned what she had actually asked for and went back to turn my rhododendron into mountain laurel. What I had planned on being a minimalistic plan turned into a lot of layers and time. But, that's always one of the joys of working with this medium. It dries quickly and we can be strategic with how we correct our happy little accidents. It became one of those little mishaps that makes me smile whenever I look at the finished painting.
Paired with The Stag, The Bear celebrates the wildlife and landscape my parents see just beyond their windows—and serves as a permanent reminder that I should probably ask my mother to repeat herself before I pick up a paintbrush.
