"Shelter
Tent"
Oil on Panel, 16 x 20"
Price on request
I was inspired to produce this painting
after reading Charles Sheldons accounts of hunting in early
Alaska.
It is August 6, 1906. The hunting party,
having skinned their brown bear, has settled back to enjoy a
meal. They sit beneath a makeshift shelter tent and enjoy the
view. Their horses are also enjoying a feed on the ample grass,
and the men have gathered plenty of dry spruce for fuel.
Sheldon described this as the most attractive
and convenient hunting camp he had ever occupied in the North.
The shelter tent, which was canvas stretched over inclined poles,
was, he said, well erected and provided good protection for themselves
and their provisions.
Sheldon describes feeling guilty that
he was not out exploring and scouting for sheep, which was the
purpose of their trip. He was enjoying relaxing in front of the
fire too much; watching the chattering ground squirrels darting
through the camp; the red squirrels in the trees; the jays hovering
looking for tidbits; but most of all the absence of mosquitoes
which had plagued them elsewhere. Such is the joy of camp life.
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