Sometimes a painting begins with the wildlife, and sometimes it begins with a place. The snowy woods in this painting are based on a photograph I took at Eno River State Park after a snowfall in 2026. I stopped to photograph the scene because I could already imagine a painting taking place there—I just didn’t know yet what animal would enter it.

That became this moment: a white-tailed buck bounding across the snowy forest and over a fallen tree, while a gray squirrel watches from a safer distance. I like the sense that we’ve arrived in the middle of something already happening. Where is he going, and why did he choose to cross here?

This is the original painting, so there is only one. It measures 18” x 24” and is painted in oil and acrylic on a 1-1/2” deep gallery wrapped canvas. The image continues around the sides, so no framing is required unless you prefer a framed look. The snowy woods began with a real winter afternoon at Eno River State Park, but the story that takes place there came from my imagination.