"Surveying the Kingdom" shares a moment of quiet majesty as a mountain lion gazes across the expansive ranges of Big Bend National Park. This early oil painting invites you into an untamed world, serene and powerful. Inspired by one of our first hikes in the Chisos, I played with backlighting to create mystery around the big cat. I used muted colors in the mountains against rich shadows in the foreground to evoke the magic of early morning light play and vast distances that characterize the high desert.

There is beauty in this landscape, but you also feel connected to the solitary cougar, muscles rippling with grace and strength. I filtered light through the big pine to connect it to the cat and create a sense of intimacy, as if you are sharing a moment with this magnificent creature. This was my first painting in which I explored these things. I thought a lot as I painted.

I hope this vintage painting of mine resonates with you, sparking the same sense of wonder and gratitude for the natural world I felt as I painted it.

original vintage oil painting c 1984 / 16" x 20"  custom framed to 19" x 23" in the original frame