Mountain Lion Family

Painter Dorothy Stembridge is a resident of Wanship, Utah, where mountain lions can occasionally be seen. The 2005 Council award oil painting by Dorothy Stembridge features a mother mountain lion and her three cubs in front of a lake. The female mountain lion, muscular and lean, turns back toward her cubs, while they pause in their play to focus on their mother. The cats' golden fur is distinct from the blue shadows of the dark woods and the fallen trees. The landscape nods to the great cycle that the cubs are being initiated into. The dying and fallen trees contrast with the grasses, fresh and green in the glowing light, as does the new growth that dapples the ground beneath the mountain lions' feet. Like the cubs, the season is still young.

2005 Council Award