Hiking during our travels has been a great inspiration for the cow paintings. Five years ago we enjoyed a trip to the Dolomites in Northern Italy. While there I took many close ups of the cows I encountered during our hike across the largest meadow in Europe. I also enjoy traveling up to Hollister and Santa Ynez, CA to photograph the cows on many of the ranches. I usually take photos from the roadside. It's entertaining to see what the cows will do in my presence with a camera. Sometimes they are curious and stay close by "posing" for me. Other times they run as soon as I get to the gate. One time I encountered a bull who snorted and began to charge at me. By making portraits of these large animals, I feel that I have given them more of a personality. My cow images become almost human with their tag "earrings" and fluffy "hair pieces".