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In 1996, I, Maureen, began to suspect that the bears dug many
of their nests in locations where they could enjoy the view and
began to accept the possibility that they have an aesthetic sensibility.
This past season, with the help of our cubs who often led me
to nesting sites, I became convinced that my theory developed
the year before was true. Within a week of our arrival at Kambalnoe
with the cubs, I discovered them curled up in an old bear's nest
and observed them sitting up and peacefully looking out across
the lake. The cubs and I discovered many more hollows in the
ground, with ever increasingly spectacular vistas.
I produced, over the next four months, an exhibition of three
parts, which I exhibited in Petropavlovsk. The first segment
of paintings were of the sites. I sat above the nests and painted
them as I perceived them. Then I would sit in these nests, imagining
that I was a bear, allowing the energy of the surrounding area
to influence my style. Looking out at the bear's eye level I
decided the bear interpreted the scene like an impressionist
painter. This segment, of a larger exhibition in progress, was
exhibited at the Cultural Centre of the Science Library in Pertopavlovsk
in October of 1997.
The final component was a line of 6 drawings of the cubs in
the nests. In the Petropavlovsk exhibit the two most common questions
asked by the Russians were: "What makes you think
the bears see the land like an impressionist?" and "I
too think they admire beauty, but why so many bright colours?"
I knew then I had them hooked. If they could ask those questions,
they were accepting a level of understanding about this animal's
intelligence not usually associated with bears. |