EA Ranch WY

 One day of my Wyoming trip every year is devoted to mentoring a local art student and this year, my student was a really enthusiastic and personable young man named Eddie.
Eddie picked a nice view of a valley that cuts through EA Ranch for us to paint.
While we were painting, some strollers-by stopped and really complimented the block-in for this painting. An hour later they came back by and said, "Wow, that was such a strong block-in! It's amazing how a painting can get ruined in the last 10 minutes!"  Haha, how do you respond to a comment like that?

Eddie taught me some about his part of Wyoming, including that most of his generation was choosing to leave instead of work the land. He's staying. He told me that one day while he was driving to work, he saw the familiar sight of tourists pulled over on the side of the road taking pictures of nothing. Then, he said, he decided to pull over himself, to see what they were seeing. He said, "I saw how beautiful it is here, for the very first time." It was moving to listen to this teenager who absolutely knows what is valuable, and an honor to get to paint with him.