Granite Creek

Granite Creek portrays a moment of quiet in the Alaskan wilderness, where mountain, forest, and water exist in careful balance. In the distance, Granite Peak rises above layered slopes and drifting clouds, anchoring the landscape with a sense of permanence. From its base, the land descends into valleys and rivers while Granite Creek weaves through a rocky riverbed in the foreground.

At the heart of the scene, a brown bear carries a freshly caught salmon, a brief glimpse into the natural cycle that sustains the wild. A tree line bridges the space between the distant mountains and the foreground, reinforcing the connection between scale and survival. In a sense, this painting captures the natural cycle of the wild. The rain and snow falls on the mountains, the river carries the water downstream. The salmon spawn in the waters of the river where the bear later snatches the returning salmon just before fall and winter arrives.

Granite Creek is my most complex painting to date, primarily due to the level of detail exhibited throughout the painting. However, it has also become one of my favorite paintings.