Ptarmigan Mountain by Harold I. Hopkinson

After I began painting full time in 1972 and established a studio in Cody, Wyoming, my father and I would go out sketching from time to time. His studio was in Byron, Wyoming, about 40 east of Cody. We would take our paints and set up somewhere to do a location painting. Ptarmigan Mountain west of Cody, Wyoming is always a dramatic sight and we often ended up painting at that place along the Shoshone, River. There was a period where Dad would do small tempera paintings about 6 x 9 which were usually brilliant little gems. From one of those small sketches my father painted this painting of Ptarmigan Mountain, one of the few paintings of his that I ended up with.

A note on the white-tailed ptarmigan: It is the smallest bird of the grouse family, about 12 inches or so, and is found in Alaska, Canada and the higher elevations in the Northwestern parts of the United States. It turns white in the winter and doesn't migrate. I'm told they are found on Ptarmigan Mountain, but I haven't been up there so I'm happy to take their word for it.

You Can Lead a Horse to Water, But...

A cowboy up the South Fork of the Shoshone River near Cody, Wyoming posed on his pinto along with his two pack horses. When he brought the horses up to the river, his horse drank his fill and the other two just stood there. So it really is true that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Pennsylvania Winter

A few years ago my daughter Heather and her husband lived in Hershey, Pennsylvania while he was finishing up with his medical internship and we visited them several times during that period.
(For all you chocolate connoisseurs and aficionados, I and I alone, decided that Hershey's Chocolate is the best chocolate in the world! Oh, yes! You can bring your froggy French Chocolates, your grainy German chocolates, your drippy Dutch chocolates, and any chocolate that you want to bring to challenge my Hershey's Chocolate, and you my friend, will crawl away in shame and embarassment that you even thought that your puny chocolate could taste better than good old "Hershey's".)
Anyway, Pamela and I visited one winter and I took my paints out to find some interesting things to paint. I came across this old stone home, brought out a large 24 x 36 canvas and had a great time painting in the snow. Growing up in Wyoming (did you know that they have a Wyoming, Pennsylvania?) I discovered that if you are dressed properly one can be fairly comfortable painting out in cold weather.

The Red Tricycle

A few years ago I was in Bountiful, Utah on a beautiful afternoon in early October. I was looking for a neat old building to paint and I came across this house and set up my easle and painted this painting. When I got back to my studio, I painted the little boy with the red trike, just like I had when I was five. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my cousin Denis Hopkinson and his wife Cynthia owned the old house and were in the process of remodeling it. Last night I talked to Denis on the phone and he said they are finished with the house and are now restoring the barn.