The Bears

While on vacation, we stopped into a gallery we love which was hosting a reception around "Bears."  The three artists represented had each created a number of bear painting for the exhibit and the artists were supposed to be present (a snowstorm prevented some from attending).  We were lucky enough to meet Susie Cipolla, a well-known Canadian artist from British Columbia and I loved hearing her stories about how she painted the bears. 

She lives on a farm north of Vancouver and there are many bears around.  Black bears and plentiful and she is able to take hundreds of photos of the bears once they come out of migration. 

We asked her about this particular bear.  This was the mother bear and when she saw her it looked as though she had been hurt, hit by a car maybe.  She had two cubs.  The mother and the two cubs did not return the next year so she assumes that the mother and her cubs did not make it. 

This is one of her cubs:

Her work is extraordinary and you can see the entire collection here.  It makes it special to meet an artist and learn about their inspiration for their work.