Studio Journal #2

Into The Wilderness: The story behind the painting

Into The Wilderness - Oil on linen - 12×16

Sled dogs are going to become part of my work alongside the wildlife I’ve painted for years. The world I want to paint is becoming larger: wildlife, sled dogs, bush planes, and the human traces of life in wild country. They all belong to the same North that has inspired me for so long.

During my last few weeks in France, I came across the call for entries for the 2027 Yukon Quest poster competition. There were only eleven days left before the deadline, but I was immediately inspired and decided to go for it.

I started filling pages with sled dogs, exploring different compositions and trying to capture not just the dogs, but the feeling of being out there with a team in the northern wilderness rather than simply watching one from a distance..

Sled dogs Sketches

I kept moving dogs around, changing the point of view, bringing one forward and pushing others back, looking for rhythm, gesture and shapes. I wanted the viewer to feel part of the story, almost as if they were standing among the dogs themselves.

Eventually, one of those sketches became the composition I wanted to paint.

Making the Painting

When I was drawing these dogs, I kept having this feeling of going into the wilderness with them. That’s really what I wanted the painting to be about, and Into the Wilderness became the title.
More than anything, working on this little 12 × 16 made me realize how much I want to take these sled dog compositions further. I can see them as large paintings, becoming part of the northern world I have been imagining.

Yukon Quest 2027 Poster Submission

When I shared the finished poster, the response was incredible. It received 473 reactions, 90 comments and 13 shares on Facebook. What excited me most was seeing how strongly the painting connected with people in Alaska and within the sled dog community.

Regardless of the final poster selection, Into the Wilderness remains my painting, and the response confirmed something I was already feeling while I was working on it. I want to explore this subject much further. It opened another door into the larger world I want to paint.

My spirit was already back North

While all of this was happening, I was getting ready to leave France. My return to Alaska was already planned, and I had less than two weeks before I would fly back to the U.S., pack everything I could into my trailer in Montana, and start the long drive North.

The timing felt significant. I was sitting at a table in France filling pages with sled dogs, thinking about all the paintings I wanted to make. I already had more ideas than I could possibly paint.

The response to Into the Wilderness only added to that excitement. It felt like all of these pieces were coming together at exactly the right time.

I was ready to go.

Northbound

Less than two weeks later, I was back in the U.S., loaded my trailer in Montana and started the long drive North.

I crossed into Alberta and followed the road through western Canada toward Alaska, camping along the way and watching the landscape change around me. By the time I crossed the Alaska border, fall was already moving across the North.

Once I arrived, I dropped off my trailer, grabbed my pochade box and headed straight back into the wilderness. I spent the next week camping and painting outside, surrounded by the country I had come all this way to paint.

More from the road, and those first paintings from Alaska, in the next Studio Journal.