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The Spring Release

Fish Creek Falls in early spring displays an amazing rush of the winter thaw.

14"x11" oil on canvas panel

A Lynx in Winter

Canada lynx are true masters of Colorado’s snowy Rockies. These elusive cats, largely wiped out by the 1970s, made a remarkable comeback thanks to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Between 1999 and 2006, 218 lynx from Alaska and Canada were released, mostly in the San Juan Mountains. Today, a stable population of roughly 75–100 animals thrives in high-elevation forests.

Built for deep powder, lynx sport oversized hind feet—often over 8 inches long—that act like living snowshoes, letting them glide across snow while chasing prey. Their thick fur with subtle spots keeps them warm and camouflaged. Compared to bobcats, they have longer ear tufts and a solid black tail tip. They’re patient ambush hunters, crouching trailside before launching powerful pounces.

In winter, lynx live and die by snowshoe hares, which make up the vast majority of their diet. They seek dense subalpine forests, willow thickets, and avalanche chutes where hares flourish. Hares have their own tricks: big snowshoe feet and white winter coats. This classic predator-prey dance plays out across the snowy landscape.

Lynx move efficiently on established trails or ridges to save energy, excelling where coyotes and mountain lions struggle. They breed in late winter, with kittens arriving in spring. Studies near Vail and the San Juans show they mostly avoid heavy motorized recreation but tolerate backcountry skiers, preferring denser cover and steeper terrain.

Federally threatened and state-endangered, these “ghosts of the forest” face ongoing pressures from wildfires and habitat loss. Yet their success story reminds us why protecting high-country wilderness matters.

7"x5" oil on canvas panel

Yarmonite - Ute Peacemaker and Promoter of Goodwill

Yarmonite (also spelled Yahmonite or Yarmony) was a Ute sub-chief who became a welcome figure among the early settlers in Routt County, Colorado.

He was part of the Ute people tied to the Yampatika and White River bands who had long summered in the Yampa Valley for generations. They came for hunting, fishing, and soaking in the healing mineral springs long before any towns or ranches existed in the area.

What set Yarmonite apart was his genuine role as a bridge-builder. In the late 1800s, as tensions rose between incoming settlers and Ute bands, he worked hard as a peacemaker, easing worries and fostering goodwill between the two worlds—especially in the stretch of country between Steamboat and McCoy.

He formed a warm friendship with the Crawford family. James Crawford, who founded Steamboat Springs, counted on him. Local stories say Yarmonite even warned the Crawfords of potential trouble around the time of the 1879 Meeker Massacre and continued visiting the Steamboat area every summer after the town got its start.

His legacy lives on all over the map. You’ll still see his name on Yarmony Mountain, Yarmony Park, Yarmony Creek and its bridge, a railroad siding near Gore Canyon, and right here in town with a neighborhood, a street, and even an old school in his honor.

Yarmonite passed away around 1900 at Fort Duchesne on the Northern Ute reservation in Utah, remembered fondly by the locals he had befriended. In an era of upheaval and forced removals to reservations, he stands out as a powerful symbol of cross-cultural respect and cooperation—one of the bright threads in Steamboat Spring’s early history.

If you’re curious, the Tread of Pioneers Museum has photos and artifacts that bring his story to life.

10"x8" oil on framed canvas

Sandhill Crane: A Profil

Sandhill cranes are found across North America including Northwest Colorado and Steamboat Springs. Fossil records date their species back 2.5 million years. Their primary habitat is wetlands, marshes, and grasslands. Sandhill cranes eat seeds, insects, and various roots. They're famous for their courtship dances where they bow, leap, and flap their wings to attract mates. Sandhill cranes mate for life and can live up to 40 years.

8"x8" watercolor and ink

Ulysses S Grant

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) rose from a modest Ohio childhood to become one of America’s most consequential leaders, preserving the Union and advancing equality during a turbulent era.

Born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, he entered West Point in 1839, adopting the name Ulysses S. Grant. A gifted horseman but average student, he graduated in 1843, fought bravely in the Mexican-American War, and earned promotions—only to resign in 1854 amid struggles with alcohol and family finances. He worked as a farmer, real estate agent, and clerk before the Civil War revived his career.

Commissioned a colonel in 1861, Grant quickly became a Union hero. His demand for “unconditional surrender” at Fort Donelson (1862) earned him national fame and promotion. Victories at Shiloh, the capture of Vicksburg (which split the Confederacy), Chattanooga, the brutal Overland Campaign, and the Siege of Petersburg culminated in Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. Grant’s persistence helped preserve the Union and enabled the Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment, freeing four million enslaved people.

Elected president in 1868, Grant championed Reconstruction. He strongly supported the 15th Amendment (granting Black men the vote), signed the Enforcement Acts to crush Ku Klux Klan violence, backed the Freedmen’s Bureau, and backed the Civil Rights Act of 1875. His administration prosecuted thousands of Klan members and saw over 2,000 Black men hold office in the South—though scandals and the Compromise of 1877 marred his final years.

After leaving office, Grant battled cancer while writing his acclaimed Personal Memoirs (1885), completed just before his death on July 23, 1885. Modern historians now credit him as Reconstruction’s fiercest defender and a principled champion of union and civil rights. His New York tomb stands as a lasting symbol of that commitment.

11"x14" oil on framed canvas

Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906) was a pivotal figure in the American women's suffrage movement, dedicating her life to securing voting rights for women and advancing gender equality.

Before the Civil War, Anthony fought for abolitionism, collaborating closely with Frederick Douglass and others in the American Anti-Slavery Society. After the war, she turned her energies to temperance, co-founding the Woman's State Temperance Society. She also advanced educational equality by helping desegregate streetcars and advocating for women's access to professions.

Her defiance and arrest in 1872 marked a bold turning point tied directly to her relationship with President Ulysses S. Grant: she voted illegally in a Rochester, New York election to challenge the 14th Amendment's protections, casting her ballot for the incumbent President Grant as a deliberate act of protest. This led to her arrest and trial, where her powerful courtroom speech—"Is it a crime for a U.S. citizen to vote?"—galvanized public support and dramatically highlighted women's disenfranchisement.

Anthony's relentless efforts laid the essential groundwork for the 19th Amendment (1920), ratified 14 years after her death and affectionately nicknamed the "Anthony Amendment." In 1979, she became the first woman featured on a U.S. dollar coin, a lasting symbol of feminist progress. Her influence continues to shape ongoing fights for civil rights and equality.

11"x14" oil on framed canvas

The Charm of Ronald Reagan

President Reagan's charm, wit, and ability to communicate effectively resonated with nearly all Americans in the 1980's. He was a president able to work across the aisle and bring about impactful economic change and strengthen national defense. Although President Reagan transformed U.S. politics, shifting it rightward in his 1980 landslide election and 1984 "50-state victory", he also signed the 1986 immigration reform granting amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. While his increase in national debt is controversial, his defense spending helped peacefully bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. President Reagan finished his last term with a 4.5% GDP and inflation and unemployment levels at historic lows. Polls continue to affirm his enduring popularity among most Americans who lived during his presidency.

In this 7"x5" oil on canvas panel, I was inspired by a popular photo of Ronald Reagan in his classic cowboy hat on his California ranch. In this painting, I attempt to capture the president's famous glow and charm that made him likeable and appealing to Americans of all political persuasions.

Rev Martin Luther King Jr

Through his leadership, courage and sacrifice, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, championed the civil rights movement through his powerful nonviolent protests and speeches. He helped end legal segregation, changed public attitudes about race, and expanded voting rights. Reverend King's legacy for America is the enduring idea that America must live up to our promise of equality and justice for all.

In this 9"x12" oil on canvas panel, I attempt to capture Reverend King's thoughtful image reflecting on an incomplete writing of the word, "Equality". Is complete equality achievable? If so, what more can we do, as Americans, to complete the writing and fulfill Reverend King's dream?