Johanna Lerwick

I travel to the Adirondacks every year and love to listen to the loons eerie call echo across the lakes. For this oil painting, “Along For The Ride – Loon With Baby”, I wanted a serene feeling with warm colors and still water as a chick rides on the parents back slightly tucked under a wing, just gliding along. Loons are not a very social waterbird and most of the time you see them far from the shores of the lakes, although I have been fortunate to see loons closer to the shore line to observe and photograph. Since loons need 30 yards or more in order to take off in flight they sometimes get stranded on a pond that is too small. Chicks can swim and dive within two the three days and withing the first seven to ten days can be seen riding along on their parents back.

Original oil painting of the polar family on a trek to sea ice. Polar bears are found all across the arctic in Alaska, Canada, Norway, Greenland and Russia. They may travel for miles to find sea ice as a platform to hunt seals, which is their main diet. Polar bears were listed in 2008 under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species in the US because of the ongoing and loss of sea ice habitats due to climate change.

This painting depicts a grizzly bear charging in from the bank of the river to hone in on a breakfast catch. Even though I have never seen a grizzly or brown bear in the wild I could only imagine the scene, with the morning sun starting to rise and fog lifting creating an enchantment backdrop for this grizzly bear painting.

During the Spring and Fall grizzly bears are active most all hours of the day and night. In the spring they need to replenish their body with food after being dormant most of the winter. In the fall they spend most of the time during the day and night finding and eating food, preparing for winter hibernation. During the summer months with warmer days, grizzlies take it easy during the day, napping and resting preparing for an active evening and nighttime.

Original oil painting of a river otter swimming softly, almost gliding through the calm water creating unusual ripples. I have seen many river otters, mostly in the water. A few times I have seen them on the banks, but as I got closer, in the water they go. River otters swim using their powerful tails and flexing their bodies. They are excellent swimmers and can swim about 7 miles per hour. Otters use their whiskers to sense where fish or prey are located, along with their sense of smell and sharp hearing. They can hold their breath under water from 4 to 8 minutes. As river otters are a member of the weasel family, they hunt mostly at night. Fish being their favorite food, but also feed on turtles, frogs and crayfish.

When I looked at my reference photos from one of the zoos, I knew I had to paint these Canadian Lynx. The little kitten kept watch of me with squinted eyes as mom seemed fast to sleep. Wanting to portray them in a natural setting, I decided to nestle them by a log. Naptime seemed the perfect title for this painting.

Montana is known for the nickname as the "Big Sky Country" which was my inspiration for On The Horizon. What better way to beautify a horizon then to have a herd of bison grazing at the top with big fluffy clouds rolling in!!! This is my interpretation of big sky country.

Original oil painting of a bobcat on the prowl as a fierce hunter. I love showing intrigue and expressions of the animals that I paint. In this painting I wanted to show a bobcat as a stealth hunter when something has caught the cats attention. A elusive wildcat he is!!! Bobcats are very elusive and are nocturnal, therefore rarely seen by humans. The cat gets their name from the tail as it appears to be cut off or bobbed. Bobcats roam throughout North America and are found in forests, swamps, deserts and even in suburban areas. I have only seen bobcats in the wild twice in my lifetime where I lived in the country. What a joy it was to see them in the wild!!!!