Lori Franklin blends curiosity with delight in her colorful paintings that honor the Animal Kingdom and the spirit of western folklore.
When I’m not observing wildlife in their native habitat, I’m imagining scenes and stories from the critters’ daily lives—capturing them on my canvas, creating color-bursting, heart-expanding paintings. I haven’t strayed far from the Montana girl who preferred drawing her own lines on blank pieces of paper rather than conforming to coloring books—who basked on her favorite sun-warmed reading rock with a book, and could name every single one of the 64 crayons in that quintessential yellow and green box.
You’d think adulthood would’ve dulled my creativity, but oh no! If anything, time’s only sharpened my observation skills to the point that hearing nature’s stories and telling them on canvas is my full time job. As I work through a painting, I feel guided to listen, add, and subtract form and color with my intuition until the painting is done and the story is told.