It is all I can do to make this post, but I need to do so to honor a dear friend and a great artist. Sheila Rieman passed away on Thursday, Nov 17th, 2011. She was traveling (as she was always traveling) to an art show in Billings, MT. She was just outside of Billings when she had a car accident that took her life.

Sheila was a bright spot in so many people’s lives. She was always laughing and fun to be around, a true friend, always there to help, a hard worker, an amazing multi-talented person, a great teacher, a great artist. I can’t tell you how much she’ll be missed – by so many.

Just last week I tore the following poem out of the paper, meaning to file it away. In seeing it now I know that it was meant for Sheila. She has lived her life close to nature, with her own animals and the wild ones that frequent her space. Her great art has been a tribute to all of those things. Sheila, my friend, my family, I can’t tell you how much we will miss you. The world won’t be the same without you.

“The Song of the River” by W.R. Hearst

The snow melts on the mountain. And the water runs down to the spring.

And the spring in a turbulent fountain, with a song of youth to sing,

Runs down to the riotous river, and the river flows to the sea.

And the water again goes back to rain, to the hills where it used to be.

And I wonder if life’s deep mystery isn’t much like the rain and snow.

Returning through all eternity to the places it used to know.

For life was born on the lofty heights and flows in a laughing stream

To the river below who’s outward flow ends in a peaceful dream.

And so at last when our life has passed, and the river has run it’s course,

It again goes back o’er the selfsame track to the mountain which was it’s source.

So why prize life or why fear death, or dread what is to be?

The river ran it’s allotted span till it reached the silent sea.

Then the water harked back to the mountain top to begin it’s course once more.

So we shall run the course begun till we reach the silent shore.

Then revisit earth in a pure rebirth from the heart of the virgin snow.

So don’t ask why we live or die, or whither or when we go,

or wonder about the mysteries that only God may know.

I am busy doing sketches now in preparation for the Western Masters Art Show and The Russell Museum Auction next March. These six months will go by pretty quickly as I need to get a lot of work done!  Winter is conducive to spending lots of time in the studio, although I’m hoping we have a long, beautiful fall. We deserve it after last winter and spring!

I just ran across the image for this painting and thought it was timely. This subject is of the Kalispell / Whitefish, MT. area and was a painting I did during a quick finish benefit show for the Hockaday Museum last fall. The western side of the Divide is so pastoral and picturesque, very different from our more rugged East Slope country. “The Golds of Autumn” is an oil, 12″ x 12″.

Spring is so exciting in a place where you have the seasons. I love watching the earth come alive again! Driving to Red Lodge, MT this last spring, I was lucky enough to see these willows along the banks of Beaver Creek. They turn a wonderful yellow before they begin to bud out. I was attracted to the yellow as seen against the warm grays of the hill beyond. This painting is a small one, 9×12.

Need I tell you what Sishiqua means? I think every mountain peak in the western territories with a similar shape was given a similar name by one explorer or Indian tribe or another. This volcanic cone peak  is in one of my favorite places, near Augusta, Montana.

A few years ago, I forced my daughter to climb with me to the top of what is now called Haystack Mountain. The climb up and then down again was brutal, over big lava rock boulders. Smarter people quit half the way up. I was so tired when I reached the top I didn’t even take any pictures, darn it all, but the view was beautiful!

I did this painting to submit to the Paint the Parks Competition. It qualifies as a representation of the Lewis & Clark Historical Trail. Lewis camped near this spot on his return trip from the coast on July 8th, 1806. “Sishiqua” is an oil, 24 x 32.