In early June of this year, my Uvalde, Texas, high school class of 1951 had its 60^th reunion. This time, I decided to stay somewhere up in the hill country north of Uvalde and use the extra time when I wasn’t attending reunion functions to take pictures to use as subject matter for my paintings.

I first tried to stay at Neal’s Lodges on the Frio River in the Concan area, however they were full up. They suggested that I try Utopia on the River, a bed and breakfast over on the Sabinal River just south of the tiny village of Utopia, Texas. I got a room reservation there and it turned out to be just what I wanted. It was located in a park like area along the beautiful Sabinal River. They have several miles of trails along the crystal clear river with rapids, waterfalls, quite shady pools and some of the largest cypress trees that I have ever seen. One of their cypress trees is the third largest in the state of Texas.

It was absolutely quiet there except for the singing of the birds in the trees and the muffled sounds of the nearby river. Early in the mornings and late in the afternoons, Whitetail and Axis deer were constantly going and coming through their grounds. If I didn’t look at them, they appeared to be very tame, however if I looked at them and or pointed my camera at them, they suddenly became very alarmed and would run off some distance away and then stop to look back and snort at me. That is their warning sign to all the other deer to be aware of possible danger.

Just after daylight on one of the mornings there, I went for a walk on the nearby county road. I came to a horse farm and some of the horses had to come over to the fence and check me out. It wasn’t long before we were friends and I could pet them. I got some good pictures of them, from which I made this oil painting. Doing this painting brought back the emotional feelings I had on that magical morning. I hope you will like this painting.

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