LINDA GORDON

As a kid, I would spend hours with a sketch pad or sitting at my grandpa's easel creating ... well, a mess in my mom and dad's basement. I was the "happy painter" and no surface in the room I painted in was spared of brush spatter. Sorry Mom. I painted wild horses, landscapes, grand mountain vistas that I knew one day I would see in person. I grew up in Illinois, but I dreamed of living in the Rocky Mountains. As often as I could, I would ride my bike to a nearby forest preserve where I felt a deep connection with the natural environment. As years went by I traded in my bike for a car, bought a cheap 35mm camera and visited state parks, any place I could find where there was still open space, but still dreamed about exploring the mountain wilderness areas of the west. Originally, I took up photography to build up a reference photo collection for my painting, but photography became my passion. I learned a long time ago, that you don't need to live in an area surrounded by grand mountain vistas to find beauty in nature. Beauty is all around us if we just take the time to look.

I finally made it to the mountains and made northwest Wyoming home.