Watercolors and wilderness: a local artist’s adventures

One adventure consisted of riding over prairie dog country at four in the morning in the Badlands, bumping along while trying to spot endangered black-footed ferrets. 

Another time adventure meant being dropped off by a float plane in rural Alaska for eight days in grizzly bear country, four hours away from civilization by plane.

Yet another instance meant winding up Trail Ridge Road in Colorado and stopping at the highest visitor center in the National Park Service with an elevation of 11,769 feet.

For local watercolor artist Jessica Bryant, her paintings exist because of these adventures.

An artist who has completed eight residencies with the national park Artist in Residence program, Bryant has become known for her watercolor paintings. What remains little known, however, are the stories and inspirations behind her work. 

Badlands National Park

A family trip to the Grand Canyon in 2011 first exposed Bryant to the Artist in Residence program found in many national parks in America.

Thrilled by the idea of adventure and the opportunity to paint landscapes, Bryant researched the program, applied, and was chosen to spend time at the Badlands National Park in South Dakota in 2011.

“I went, thinking it was going to be a romanticized experience.  I’d be alone and could just paint.  It sounded great.”

With nothing else to do, Bryant befriended the park rangers and employees of the park, sharing meals with them and joining them on various excursions.  She soon realized that her key to discovering the history behind the landscapes was to absorb as many experiences in the park as possible.

At one point, Bryant found herself on a nighttime expedition to spot black-footed ferrets, a process that involved driving over bumpy prairie dog land while shining a bright light to look for eye reflection.

After a ferret was spotted, rangers marked the spot with a reflective marker and place a trap over the hole.

Bryant was able to accompany the rangers as they brought the captured ferret to the on-site scientist who performed health checks to ensure that the ferrets, which are the most endangered species in North America, were in good health.

More excursions like moonlight hikes allowed Bryant to see the park extensively and resulted in multiple paintings, some of which were displayed during her show at NIC’s Corner Gallery.

During her time in South Dakota, Bryant also shared her art skills with the local school through art classes.  She has since returned three more times to the Badlands National Park as an artist in residence.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Bryant’s next residency took her to the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado for the park’s 100 year anniversary.

While in Colorado, Bryant stayed in a historic old cabin that had also hosted ten different presidents over the years.

“There was a marmot that chewed on the roof every night and it was rather freaky sounding.  I would tell myself ‘I’m sure it’s fine, I’m sure it’s fine.“

The cabin was removed from the road a bit and had no cell coverage, which meant that every morning Bryant would drive 10 minutes to an area with coverage, call her husband and let him know her plans for the day, and then repeat the process at the end of the day. Most of her adventures were solo this time.

“It was tough, everything was solo.  There’s bears and a lot of other things, so I had to check-in frequently.”

When she wasn’t trekking through the wild on her own, Bryant shared her knowledge with park visitors in two different ranger program slideshows in her effort to give back to the community.

The residency resulted in a variety of landscape paintings that can be viewed here.

Western Arctic National Parklands

Bryant’s third residency was at the Western Arctic National Parklands up in Alaska and was an experience unlike the other residencies.

The residency began with an 8-day required wilderness trip accompanied by a park ranger.

The pair was dropped off about four hours away in an area within the Noatak Reserve only accessible by float plane.  The two were in prime grizzly bear country which called for extra safety precautions like sleeping a half mile away from where they stored and cooked food and carrying around a seemingly excessive amount of bear spray.

“It was a very different feeling.  I was thinking ahead of time, it’s going to be interesting watching that plane take off.”

Over the course of the eight days Bryant saw nine grizzly bears while exploring the landscape.

When not out in the field, Bryant lived in Kotzebue, Alaska, which was the jump-off point for expeditions out to the surrounding natural areas and habitats.

Living in Kotzebue gave Bryant an inside look into the life of the local Alaskans where she noticed things like the food prices, which were gargantuan compared to food prices in the rest of the states.

“The local grocery had some Costco things, like the animal crackers. It was twenty-seven dollars.  My first shopping trip totaled forty-seven dollars and I bought a pack of buns, a block of cheese, a box of crackers, and some milk.”

With an abundance of wildlife around, many locals never buy meat in the store, relying on their hunting and fishing skills for protein supply. Residents fly to Anchorage to shop for the remaining needed supplies.

Bryant went on to spend three more weeks painting and exploring, using the knowledge she gained to create her paintings.

Conclusion

When she isn’t roughing it in the wild, Bryant enjoys painting and time with her family in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  She also plays the bagpipes and leads the Coeur d’Alene Firefighters Pipes and Drums.

Her paintings can be seen in galleries all over the country and her most recent show took place in NIC’s Corner Gallery in the Boswell Building. 

Bryant also has taught watercolor in the past and continues to share her talent through various programs.

“To me, a place has its own personality, it is a living and breathing thing. I have the chance to share what my experience and what my relationship was with the subject, and to incorporate that into the painting.”