Boreal Owl at Denali

"This piece changed as I began, although from the beginning I knew the subject to be a Boreal Owl.  As I began, I kept thinking of Denali Mountain.  I often think about the mountain in a more spiritual sense as there is a special spot at the top of the little “mountain”, Toghotthele, that you can see the great mountain of Denali from.  The great distance between our little mountain and “The Great One” feeds my imagination as vast, previously glaciated plains are the only thing between the two.  Years of slow-moving ice sheet has grinded everything in between to fine silt, later blown into hills by wind and now held in place by the roots of plants like wild rose grasses and berry bushes that feed the rodents which in turn are hunted by our friend, the Boreal Owl.

The Boreal Owl lives in the shadow of “The Great One” for his whole life, and in his lineage for generations. He exists on the balance of the post Ice Age sub-alpine ecosystem mostly devoid of human interference.  The Boreal Owl lives his life in perfect harmony within the brutal yet beautiful and bountiful world under Denali.

The colors of Autumn in this region are particularly stunning as the blueberry bushes turn dark burgundy, the grasses orange, and the Cottonwood trees a neon yellow.  I wanted to catch this scene in the shadow of our greatest mountain, a mountain perpetually covered in snow that will never entirely melt.

Autumn in this region is fleeting as it begins with the snowline in the mountains having already begun to descend lower with every new snow.  Fleeting may also be the life of the Boreal Owl even as proficient as he is surviving in the sub-arctic of Alaska’s wilderness. His life is a necessary thread in the rope that is our pristine wilderness."

The Boreal Owl is drawn perched on a Cottonwood branch with the cool autumn breeze blowing from the left, in the same direction as the tilt of the owl’s head.  A small black spruce tree is also blowing in the background matching the curve of the owl.  I wanted to position these things in this way to frame the Boreal Owl by the moon, mountain, and clouds.