30x 40
oil on panel
SOLD $3000
giclee canvas available The headwaters of Sakunka river are prime grizzly country in my part of the Rockies.

My old friend Barry Goodrich had a trapline in the heart of the area and everytime we went into the trapline we would see grizzly, especially along the gravel banks.

Now, thirty years later, the major threats to travel in that area are not accidently jumping a grizz but being mowed over by giant coal trucks. The road parallels the river and the coal truck traffic is dangerous. My how times have changed!

Barry died on the trapline a few years back and we spread his ashes in the spot he loved best. We never did see grizz actually fishing for trout and Dolly Varden as the painting depicts. Good memories rose to the surface as I worked on this one...it's sort of a memorial to Barry.

There is more drama concerning Barry's trapline. His good friend Percy Stevens, who was then trapping the line, didn't come out in late April. Barry, myself and old mountain man Billy Warn as well as the RCMP searched. No luck. No body was found. I think a painting on this search would also be appropriate and I plan to do one.