My Studio, ( the shop), sits on an acreage on top of a mesa in Western Colorado.  It is a special place with commanding views of Grand Junction, Colorado, as well as the Colorado National Monument, the Bookcliffs, and the largest flat topped mountain in the world, Grand Mesa. The area is between the mountains, and the desert, and the wildlife is abundant.  I have always been drawn to wildlife, and even got my college degree in Wildlife Biology.  So when I got a “Call for Artist”, from the city of Grand Junction for an art project in the center of a round about on 24 Road, I knew what my proposal would be.  Here in Western Colorado, the mile section roads are numbered from the Utah state line, and 24 Road, means it is 24 miles to Utah. The cross road is “G,” and you guessed it, the sections running north and south are based on the alphabet.   

To make a long story shorter, My proposal finished in the number one spot.  So I got to create a diorama of a wild life scene that is viewed as you drive in a circle. I went with life and a half size, because the scale of the 70 foot diameter circle.  I started with a 20 foot tall dead standing Ponderosa pine tree in the center of the circle.  At the very top of the tree an American Bald Eagle is landing on the highest branch.  She, “Merica”,  has a 9 foot wingspan, and is made from recycled steel, and stainless steel shines where the white parts of a bald eagle would be.   The largest animal is the Bull Elk. Eleven feet long from nose to tail and 11 feet to the tips of the antlers.  The Elk, “the Horn Section”,  is made from recycled metals, and depicts a bugling bull. 

As you continue around the circle, you come to a standing female Black Bear. She comes in at just over 9 feet tall. Behind her, in the tree is a small bear cub.  My son asked if I was going to name the bear Berry. I said it is a female, and he came up with Halle Beary.  The name stuck.  As you continue around the circle, the next animal is a bedded, mule deer buck.  This one was easy to name since a tractor part making up his cheek bone has the stamped word “Deere” on it.  So his name is John,…. John Deer.  I have glassed for big bucks and seen this shape dozens of times on a high ridge overlooking  huge valleys. Big bucks appreciate a commanding view as much as I do.  I am still in awe of these magnificent animals, and this whole 24 Road Crew will mark the intersection of 24 and G Road for many years.