Marc's Experience of Wildlife Painting

I got my first taste of mountain life growing up in Amityville, NY, when my Dad took me and my brothers camping and fishing in the Catskill Mountains. Later, after I graduated from Syracuse University with a Fine Arts Degree, I started working for an ad agency in New York City, but quickly realized that city life was not for me.

It was the late ‘70s and I headed west to California. I got as far as Granby, Colorado and that was it, I knew this I was where I belonged. I worked in Boulder for several years, which gave me unlimited opportunities to explore the breathtaking beauty of the Rocky Mountains. While volunteering for the North American Wildlife Federation in Golden I got some real hands-on wildlife experience working with a black bear we nicknamed “Disbear”, who had been rescued and was in the process of being reintroduced to its natural habitat.

Without a doubt, it was a case of meeting animals completely on their terms. I was photographing a herd of mountain goats near Summit Lake when apparently the signal went out, and I was charged by a large male. I stood perfectly still and he came straight for me, stopping about a foot away. Despite my shaking hands and an urge to run, I managed to get off a couple great pictures that I’ve since used as inspiration for several of my works.

One evening I was making dinner, and when I opened the screen door to take out some trash, I almost ran straight into a large black bear that had been attracted by the scent of the food and was lurking outside the door. I quickly went inside and closed the door, grabbed my camera and headed out the back door to get some pictures of the bear.