Night Bear I & II were inspired by looking up at the vast  Colorado night sky which puts our lives into perspective. Any non-polluted night  sky will do though. I often go out at night to look up and clear my head of life's details and worries. It's an opportunity to calm my mind. The majesty of nature puts our  problems into perspective. It's a reset. 

All of the dark Paynes Grey monoprint background is full of Cobalt line drawings of  objects.  There is a hand throwing dice (life's a crap shoot), a hammer with pounded nails( getting stuff done), a sled (nostalgia for the past), a teacup ( conversations with friends), a weigh scale ( judgement), a bird ( nature), etc.  Many of the images are symbols which I have used in works throughout my artistic career  (the pretzel, the apple, the running dog, the hopscotch game, acorn and little trees).

The big white bears  represent the majesty and grandeur of nature.  They are apparitions in the sky above and  they have their respective identifying constellations, Ursa Minor (" Night Bear I" ) and Ursa  Major ( "Night Bear II") drawn in with oil pastel in a very pale yellow.  They are in that order ( Minor on the left and Major on the right) merely because of the bears' poses which turn in towards each other.