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I have some questions for you with no right or wrong answers. I'm curious who you are that stop by and read this. Something a little above and beyond a name. What makes you, well, YOU. Some questions are dream/goal oriented, some are very personal and I'd be surprised to get answers for those but all should make you think. What if? Why not? What could be? etc.. Feel free to pick one and comment, respond to all of them if you wish, that would be awesome. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Have you ever had a dream? What is it? What's stopping you?

 

Have you ever smelled a scent that took you back in time? How did you feel?

 

Have you ever looked at a picture and had deja vu? Did you ever figure it out?

 

Have you ever dug your toes in the sand of an ocean beach? Did your toes get hot or cold?

 

Have you ever drank lake water up on the north shore of Lake Superior? If not have you drank water from a source out in nature? Was it the best water you've ever tasted?

 

Have you ever went rock climbing? Did you get stuck and know "this is it, it's my time."

 

Have you ever hiked up a mountain and pushed yourself to go farther than you've ever gone. Was the air just a little more cleaner and refreshing than normal.

 

Have you ever stood up to a bully? Did they back off thereafter?

 

Have you realized that no matter what any one says, your a good person? Did you realize at that moment you took back a little control of yourself?

 

Have you ever thrown out a question to the wind not really expecting an answer and then got your answer? Did the answer surprise you?

 

Has the sound of silence ever deafened you? Did it calm or agitate your soul?

 

Have you ever stood in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere and listened to the symphony of nature? Did you smile?

 

Have you ever realized that your life as you thought it to be was really not? Did you pull the wool from over your eyes? What are you waiting for?

 

Have you ever chased a Pronghorn Antelope? On foot? Yeah, didn't work so well for me either...

 

Have you ever stared into the eyes of a moose... at twenty feet? Did you suddenly discover prayer?

 

Have you ever watched a mud caldera bubble? Did you think of hot chocolate?

 

Have you ever stood on a 2000 foot cliff overlooking the valley below? Did you feel like a mountain goat?

 

Have you ever felt Mountain Goat fur? What did it feel like to you?

 

Have you ever ran out of a sauna and immediately jumped into a lake that was iced over a week ago? Did you walk on water getting out? (That makes three of us to have ever walked on water then. You , me and Jesus.)

 

Have you realized yet the true power of your smile?

 

We had relatives vist when we lived in Whitehall, Montana for a couple years. We decided to drive east to Red Lodge and take the Beartooth Highway back West to Cooke City to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone. A trip through the park would complete the tour.

Let me start by saying that I'm partial to the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park. The Beartooth Highway however is all that and then some. 60 miles of the most amazing scenery and mountain vistas you'll find anywhere. CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt went so far as to declare it 'the most beautiful drive in America'. I kid you not, it is that glorious of an experience.

The first leg of the drive out of Red Lodge involves climbing the side of a mountain like a Mountain Goat. Going to the Sun is a white knuckler for me, this had every fiber of my being tightened up in fear. I don't do well with heights. You climb the side of the mountain at what surely feels like a 45 degree angle and are treated to a stunning view of the valley below as you climb. WAY BELOW! Before you know it though your at 8000 feet and starting the leg of the journey on an alpine plateau that takes you across two mountain ranges and reaches heights of 11,000 ft.

If you go you must stop and visit the fire tower. Just as you start the downhill trek you'll come across it. Do it. You won't be disappointed. Up in that tower you'll be treated to one of the most tantalizing views of a mountain range you'll ever come across. The day before the ranger told us a momma grizzly and two cubs strolled through as well.

I tell you about the Beartooth because of a very cool experience I had at the very top that smashed any pre-conceived notions I may have had about personal limitations.

A few miles from the first rest area and overlook there is another overlook/parking area. The mountains are still holding onto their snow in mid-august like a mother clutches her baby when a stranger passes by. Down in the bowl of the valley on the east side of the overlook is a beautiful blue/green alpine lake and to the west is more snow covered peaks.

On this day we could see snowboard trails on these peaks. This was extreme snowboarding in an ultimate adrenaline junkie heaven. No bunny hills here, this was the real deal and one wrong turn could be fatal. We stood on the edge of the mountain to the east overlooking the lake watching the herd of mountain goats half way down the steep face. The mountain goat kids were playing in the snow, bouncing and chasing each other and ol' Billy goat gruff kept an eye up the hill at the small crowd watching them.

We stood watching the goats when down the hill from the parking area strolled the crazy kid with the snowboard. "Dude your crazy" I thought reminiscing about days gone by in my youth and bombing ski runs (on a smaller scale) and jumping 20-30 feet in the air. I was most definitely envious in a wistful way. "This guy is going to do it!" I said to my wife as he looked over the edge and dropped his board.

The crowd had gotten quiet, not that we were boisterous in the 40 degree - 30 mph winds (oh yeah, bring a jacket) but a definite silence fell. We were all thinking the same thing, "No way!". With a single hop the end of that board dropped out of site. No hesitation to think about the consequences, simply strapped in and BOOYAH/SAYONORA over the edge. Everybody stepped forward to watch as the boarder sizzled diagonally across the face of the mountain then somehow turn it around and back across. The mountain goats took off and were halfway to the lake in the blink of an eye. Amazing. What an arena to play in. They call it Top of the World for a reason.

Now here's the best part and made the whole crazy experience of this boarder on Top of the World just a little bit more unique and special. Right before the descent the hat and goggles came off for a final adjustment. When the hat came off a cascade of long sandy blonde hair poured out of that hat. I was stunned because I was close enough to see with my own two eyes.

"Dude" was a girl. Oh man, You go girl!

I had to smile.

 

 

If you can dream it you can do it. What's your dream? What's stopping you?

Tipping Point

©2010 Bill Werle
Acrylic 16" x 20" canvas

Sometimes in life people get pushed to the edge of breaking. Whether that point is financially, sanity or the will to continue living. It happens by their own hand or happens out of their control but it happens. When it does a tipping point occurs.

The Bald Eagle was on the brink of extinction, they had reached a tipping point. Thankfully we understood and took steps to restore balance. We realized that mistakes had been made and righted the imbalanced scales.

We as compassionate beings need to realize that our fellow man make mistakes and can push themselves to the tipping point. We need to take steps to make things right for our feathered and furred friends as well as our fellow man. Compassion, forgiveness and sometimes a needed kick in the hindquarters can right the scales again. Either way we need to bring them back from the tipping point. Extinction should never be an option.

 

http://billwerlefineart.com/works/563491/tipping-point

 

 

Patience is a Virtue

©2010 Bill Werle
Acrylic 16" x 20" canvas

Wolf Lodge Bay at the northeast end of Lake Couer D' Alene is a congregating spot for Bald and Golden eagles every Nov. & Dec. This also coincides with the spawning of Kokanee salmon in that part of the lake.

The trees these days are filled with these large birds. Their amazing eyesight allows them to spot the kokanee from their perch in the trees on the ridge surrounding the bay which is an extraordinary feat, since almost all fish are counter-shaded, meaning they are darker on top and harder to see from above. There has been more than one year where I've sat for over an hour watching an eagle that was in a lower tree scanning the lake.

Patience. A virtue lost on a lot of people these days if not society as a whole. These birds survive on patience and survival means a successful life to an eagle.

Good things come to those who wait. Sometimes results aren't immediate or gratification has to be delayed. It's astounding how this concept is lost on a lot of people. In an era of succumbing to every whim and desire instantly with no care or thought to consequences we could take a lesson from the eagle.

If we put the time in, put the effort in, and yes, this means dealing with the harshness of the winters in our lives, we survive successfully.

Patience IS a virtue.

 

 

Happy New Year everybody!

 

Most of you know I'm a quote junkie and yesterday I posted this to my Facebook profile.

 

If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person. ~ Fred Rogers

 

I got to thinking about it and thought about the people I've come across that have influenced me. I would like to start the new year by directing you to an amazing artist, William Suys Jr, who had a direct influence on who I am as an artist today. We've never actually met but starting in my late teens until I moved west to Spokane we had his art hanging in our house. Amongst all the mounted fish and my fathers photographs was some of the most beautiful work I'd ever seen. I still have one of his colored pencil drawings of the Twin Cities surrounded by a snow fence and now my son has one of his fish calendars.

Mr. Suys has grown exponentially as an artist since those days of my youth 25 years ago. He is now a master Oil painter with an eye for portraiture that I believe ranks him up there as one of the current best artists in America. His work can be on the humorous side to very thought provoking but always with a masterful eye for color and the magic of light.

 

 

ABBONDANZA III: Corie's Cornucopia

There was one particular piece we had hanging for awhile that really struck a chord with me. It was a simple piece really but that was what made it so magical. It was two terns flying in a blue sky with a puff or two of clouds. It was the perfect example of the saying "there is beauty in simplicity".  It impacted me in such a way that I still think back to that painting as reference when designing a painting of my own. I want my work to make someone sit back and think "Wow, I feel that". That one piece showed me the importance of "less can be more".

 

About ten or so years after my meltdown regarding my art I came across Mr. Suys website, William A. Suys, Jr. Fine Art , after a chat with his sister. I saw the phenomenal growth in his work and was inspired to make an effort to break out of the mental cage I'd locked certain hopes and dreams in. It took a couple years to truly build momentum and set them free but it did. Thank you Mr. Suys.

 

The line in that quote above, "how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of." is what hit home for me. Think about how many people you've crossed paths with and how they've influenced your lives. Alternatively, think how you may be influencing lives. I think especially to the young minds of our children. Are we sending them the right message in our daily lives.

 

What artist has been your biggest influence? Has somebody crossed your path unbeknownst to them and had an impact on your life? Feel free to share it with us.