Great Grey at Sunset

The Great Grey Owl is the largest owl of North America and has long been a desire of mine to capture in art, while hoping to see it in the its’ natural setting while exploring the Alaska wilderness.

With the Great Grey Owl’s striking face, size, intelligence, and dedicated parenting I was led to a near obsession with these birds.   I wanted to create the perfect art piece to capture not only the image but also the spirit of these majestic birds, and yet dedicated as I was to the detail, accuracy, and embedded meaning in the art piece, it falls short of the grace and beauty of these incredible creatures in person.

I was truly lucky as halfway through the completion of this piece that when I was in the wilderness a few miles outside my home in Nenana, that a massive Great Grey Owl flew and landed just above me on a branch.  I knew then, as the owl and I locked eyes, that I was drawing the right bird at the right time.