Daughter of the Ancients

The Wind River area of Wyoming beholds a wonderful area of fascinating petroglyphs that are the inspiration for the background of this painting. There are few Northwestern Plains rock art that rival the fantastic spirit figures of the Dinwoody tradition. My model is actually Kootenai, but in this painting she depicts a young Native Plains girl, wearing a wool dress decorated with ribbons and dentalium shells, which were all trade items. The dress, feather fan and beaded bag are all from the collection of a dear friend who had been collecting Indian artifacts for over 50 years and was gracious and kind enough to share these treasures with me for my work. The luminous light around the figure represents spiritual energy and guidance from the divine.