Last year I was honored to be invited by the Calgary Stampede to participate in a very unique experience. From August 27th – 30th, 2009, I spent three days visiting with the Cross family and touring their ranch, which is located about an hour south of Calgary. The Cross family is well known throughout Alberta, because in 1912, they along with three other ranching families came together and formed the first Calgary Stampede (together they would later be referred to as the ‘Big Four’).

Though I was born and raised in Calgary, I was startled by how unfamiliar I was with the landscape just south of the city! We visited forests, lakes, rolling hills, and animals of such wide variety that I felt as though I had stepped into a children's storybook! As well, the Cross family was exceptionally generous to us; they warmly welcomed myself and the two other artists I was with onto their land and into their home. It was a true honor to be served a steak for dinner that was prepared by the very same people who birthed, raised and cared for the animal. That is experience very few people will ever have.

Continue reading the project in Paintings (2010).