Compare the first photo of buffalo here to the last photo. If you like power, the first photo says it all. You feel you're in a contest of power between two huge buffalo. They seem so strong, nothing could over power them. In the last photo, you almost feel sorry for this huge beast as he struggles against the cold of winter to find enough to eat. That's the power of the photograph, to let you see the world as the photographer sees it.
Donna

What vacation would be complete without seeing one of your grandchildren? This is my daughter's little boy, Nathan. He was eating chocolate, his face was dirty, but who cares? He's so happy and so much fun to play with. His brown eyes are as intense as his mother's were when she was his age. Interested in everything and everybody. He loves John Deere tractors, cauliflower and juice. Donna

I see color. Some people might look at this photo and say it's grey. If you look closely, you'll see every color of the rainbow in this sun dog. I think this is an interesting photo, just because of the color and the way the light radiates from the dog.
donna

Lincoln, Montana is a great wintering range for deer. Of course, they live there all year round, you can see them wandering the streets of town all summer. We got photos of these does just outside Lincoln.

When I first see the deer in winter's snow, I think, "How cute!" I see the beauty of the deer, the graceful shape of their slim legs, the huge liquid eyes... After that, you see how deep the snow is, how they struggle to get through it and the strength they have in their slim sinewy bodies. There's a world of knowledge in their brains, on how to survive. What plants will sustain them through the cold, best places for shelter, how to avoid the coyotes and wolves, how to teach their fawns to live through a winter. They're absolutely amazing creatures.
Donna

Any of my photos are for sale as giclee prints, I charge $25 for an 8X10 photo. I also sell reference photos for artists for $5 apeice. Reference cd's are available by subject matter, number of photos will vary, I have photos of mountain sheep, elk, deer, horses, lakes, mountains and more. Photo cd 's are also available for screen savers for your computer, varied subjects, all beautiful photos for $15 each.

A very large part of being an artist, is getting your own reference material. I spend a lot of time searching out animals for my paintings. We had the extreme good fortune to find ourselves in the middle of a herd of maybe 100 elk this weekend.

We were so excited. We were near Clearwater Junction, between Great Falls and Missoula. It's a nice wintering range for elk and deer. We like to roam around the side roads, hoping we'll see animals for photos.

When we spotted these elk, I got in the back of the truck and leaned over the cab, taking photos as Robert drove. It was awesome to be in the middle of this herd and hear them talking to each other. I heard their whistles, grunts and squeaks and saw them interacting with each other. Hunting season is over, so they're much calmer than they were a couple weeks ago.

This could have been the elk herd from the wildlife refuge near Seeley Lake. If it was, they're out roaming from their range, or maybe they don't know where it is?

On the subject of reference material and copyrights:

There are ways an artist can get reference material without taking their own photos. You can purchase the rights to someone else's copyrighted work. If you see a photo you like and you'd like to use it to create a painting, find out who the work belongs to, and ask their permission. Pay them what they ask for their photo, it belongs to them. Don't use their work, thinking you can "change it 15%" and that's legal. It isn't. It isn't legal if you take the image and turn it black, making it a silouette. Any photographer who took a picture, can recognize their work when they see it. If they can recognize it, you haven't changed it enough to be legal. Use your own photos, it's the correct way to gather reference material.

If you absolutely can't get your own reference photos, find a gallery of photos that's shared or free. The artist site wetcanvas.com has a reference library for it's users to share. The members there, upload reference work constantly. I'm sure there are other sites on the web that are similar. Copyright law is extremely clear, you must use your own reference material, or you must find the owner of the photo you like, and either get their permission or pay them the price they ask of you for using it.

If you look in photo and artist magazines, many times you'll see advertisements for someone who's selling reference photos by subject. The photos aren't terribly expensive and you then have legal right to use them.

Sometimes when artists are starting out, they use anything they can find to create a painting from. They see a photo they like and they copy it. After an artist has worked a while, they begin to learn about copyright laws and more about what's legal and what isn't.

So if you're someone who wants to become an artist, get your camera out and start shooting! I hope someday, you'll find yourself in the middle of a herd of elk, or where ever else you might desire to be. I took over 200 photos of these elk in a half hour. The light was fading, and most of the photos are blurry or dark, but I can use something from each of them. My mind will remember the feeling of being there, and the camera will give me the facts I need when I begin to paint my elk paintings.

Another thing will happen when you use your own reference photos. Your work becomes uniquely your own. You're not seeing and recording through another person's eyes, you're using your own vision. Your artwork will reflect this and become better and better. I think this is because you have total creative flow, from beginning to end of your project. It's like being in the middle of the elk herd, even though I can't put the grunts and whistles of the elk communications on the canvas, the feeling I got from being there, will become part of my paintings.
Donna

These cats are getting to me! I did Kalico Kat and Tuxedo today. I have prints and the originals posted in my ebay store. Go there and do a seller search for DAW Cat ACEO and you'll find my auctions and my store. These cats are really fun to do. I don't know why, but I feel like I need to be serious when I'm doing horses.

It's 20 below here today. The house feels chilly even with the wood stove going full blast. We'll have to cut wood again before dark.

Last night, I helped my aunt set up her new computer. She's 83 years young and just learning how to work it. Pretty soon she'll be surfing the net like a pro.
donna

Here's Marmalade. I needed my painting fix for the day. I started this, thinking it would be our cat Scarlet, but when it was done, it had a name of it's own. Sometimes a painting takes over and does what it wants to do. When you have the good sense to let that happen, you come up with something you like.

Even though I just finished this, and the paint is entirely wet, I look at it and don't remember painting it. It's such a funny feeling. I think this happens because when an artist is painting, they're so caught up in what they're doing, so wrapped up in color, line, value and form, they barely know they're putting all that down on the paper. It's a delicious treat for your subconcious mind, like taking a vacation! Donna